Introduction

The 25pdr Field Gun needs little introduction, being an easily identifiable Artillery gun that came into service with British and Commonwealth armed forces during World War Two. The 25pdr is still in service with some countries around the world, but finished service with the British Army in the 1980’s. Models of the QF 25pdr are currently available from Bronco Models, Dragon Models, Tamiya and I believe one is due from AFV Club. RB Models recently released the front portion of the barrel and muzzle brake for the QF 25pdr Mk II/I.

Contents

• Turned aluminium barrel
• Brass muzzle brake
• Brass collar
• 4 Brass securing bolts

Review

First impressions of this barrel from RB Models are very good as most of the detail present on the QF 25pdr has been faithfully replicated in the scale metal barrel offering. The aluminium barrel has had rifling replicated and too a reasonable depth, it should be explained though that the rifling is not rotated around the inner face of the barrel but goes straight down, for what can be seen this is perfectly adequate. The muzzle brake is very nice with the exception of the ridge detail on the flat surfaces; I do not know if this is by design or due to the milling process, but this detail is not present on any of the 25pdrs in use with The Garrison. The collar is very finely detailed and from what I can see accurate. There are also four bolts supplied with the barrel in brass; however only one of these is needed, not two as indicated on the RB Models website. A bolt should only be added to the top of the muzzle brake and not the bottom. The capture device for this nut is not supplied in the kit and can be replicated with a thin piece of plasticard and a small punched nut.

I checked the measurements of this barrel against one of The Garrisons 25pdrs and the results are below;

• The brake portion is 1 scale mm too long
• The full muzzle brake is 1.5 scale mm too long
• The overall length of the barrel is 3.5 scale mm too long

If I am honest this inaccuracy does not bother me and is more than made up for by the improved look of the barrel. The fact that there is no clean up means there will not be any flat spots to worry about and the muzzle brake will do away with the need to hide the usual join.

Conclusion

Depending on how important accuracy is to you and whether 3.5mm is going to be obvious to your eye, I do feel this is a worthy addition to any 25pdr model as it will improve the overall look of the finished artillery gun. In fairness to RB Models it is possible that there are differences in length depending on where the gun was upgraded and what renovation has taken place to it.