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Armor/AFV: British Armor
Discuss all types of British Armor of all eras.
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FN SLR 7.62mm question.
joegrafton
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United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 08:31 AM UTC
Hi,
I'm not sure if I've come to the right forum but I need a little question cleared up, please.
I'm modelling the British SAS Land Rover Pink Panther (Tamiya 1/35th) & have some resin SLR's to add to it.
I am modelling my Land Rover during the secret war in Dhofar circa 1974.
Would the FN SLR which was issued to the British Army at the time have wood furniture (butt, grip, fore grip, etc) or had they changed over to black plastic by this time?
Thanks for your help.

Joe.
DaveCox
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England - South East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 08:39 AM UTC
I was in the mob in 1974. All the SLRs I saw had plastic furniture.
Dannyd
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England - North West, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 08:57 AM UTC
The only SLR with wood furnature i saw in my time in the Army 1989-2001 was my troop Sgt in basic training, he had wood furnature on his personal weapon, apart from that I saw some RAF Regt guys with some, not all of them on Catterick training area with a few.


Regards

Dan
DaveCox
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England - South East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 09:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text

The only SLR with wood furnature i saw in my time in the Army 1989-2001 was my troop Sgt in basic training, he had wood furnature on his personal weapon, apart from that I saw some RAF Regt guys with some, not all of them on Catterick training area with a few.


Regards

Dan


I think we gained a few wood-equipped pieces in 1982.........most of the Argentine weapons were of that type.
joegrafton
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 09:12 AM UTC
Okay, well thanks for that fellas. You've been a great help!
While you're here, what about the GPMG?

Joe.
DaveCox
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England - South East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 09:27 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Okay, well thanks for that fellas. You've been a great help!
While you're here, what about the GPMG?

Joe.


Being a gunner I didn't see too much of the Gimpie. I think they were wooden butts. We were mostly issued with either the SLR or the bloody-awful Sterling SMG.

panzerbob01
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: March 06, 2010
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Posted: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 - 12:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

The only SLR with wood furnature i saw in my time in the Army 1989-2001 was my troop Sgt in basic training, he had wood furnature on his personal weapon, apart from that I saw some RAF Regt guys with some, not all of them on Catterick training area with a few.


Regards

Dan



I think we gained a few wood-equipped pieces in 1982.........most of the Argentine weapons were of that type.


For whatever little it may be worth: My Argentine specimen has a phenolic (plastic) butt which is actually a dark green-black , and black phenolic fore-grips. All of your mates from the BAOR I worked with in the FRG back in the later 70's had SLR with blackish plastic furniture. Only SLR I ever met with real wood were older Canadian (C1) and (A1) Australian versions and early 60's FN FAL originals. Oh, and many of the older Israeli pieces had varnished wood furniture - on both standard and HB versions.

Bob
10digitdeeo
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Ontario, Canada
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Posted: Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 02:06 AM UTC
I've seen C1s with wood furniture around still, in the backs of arsenals, growing mold.

Our GPMGs still have the wood butt, though I'm not sure about the British ones - but my guess is in the '70s, they probably still did.
AlanL
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 03:35 AM UTC
Hi Joe,

There were still SLRs with wooden butts and grips in 1972, I think around late 71 early 72 they started to replace them with plastic grips, I remember this change over happening, just not 100% sure of the date.

GPMGs had wooded butts too.

Al
zapper
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Skåne, Sweden
Joined: October 18, 2005
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Posted: Thursday, May 02, 2013 - 04:09 AM UTC
From 1972 and London:


From:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/are_me/6347175219/in/faves-k_garrett/

Cheers,
/E
Jonmarin
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, May 12, 2013 - 08:51 AM UTC
Odd that the vehicle on the right has the silver galvanised bumperettes & bodywork trim, usually this would be painted over on an army vehicle, even though the galvanised finish often didn't take the paint very well, presumably due to a lack of surface preparation?
I think Guards regiments held onto FN SLR's with wooden furniture longer than most as it looked "posher" for ceremonial duties.
For 60's & 70's info I'd suggest searching for images of British Army troops in northern Ireland for that period to see what weapons were in common use at that time period.
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