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WW2 Era, Vickers K Machine Gun 100 Round Drum Magazine & Loading Tools in Fitted Wooden Transit Case, as used by the LRDG, SAS & Parachute Regiment. Sn 23565 - 23565 The Vickers K machine gun, known as the Vickers Gas Operated (Vickers G.O.) in British service, was a rapid-firing machine gun developed and manufactured for use in aircraft by Vickers-Armstrongs. The high rate of fire was needed for the small period of time when the gunner would be able to fire at an attacking aircraft. The weapon was also adopted for land use during World War II. The Vickers K was fitted to light and medium bombers in RAF service such as the Fairey Battle and Handley Page Hampden. It was also used in gun turrets, such as the dorsal turret in the Bristol Blenheim was the standard Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm "Telegraphist Air Gunner" machine gun, on British built carrier aircraft such as the Fairey Swordfish. The Long Range Desert Group was supplied with large numbers of the Vickers G.O. for use on its vehicles. They were used in single or custom built twin mountings. The Special Air Service adopted it for their hit and run tactics, mounting it in pairs on their jeeps. Over the years, it was assumed by some that the latter services took the phased-out VGO because they could obtain no other suitable machine guns but with its high rate of fire and low-friction locking design (which proved resistant to jams from sand), the LRDG and SAS found the G.O. markedly superior to either the .303 Vickers or the Bren gun. In a similar manner, the Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron of the Reconnaissance Corps mounted the VGO on jeeps when they were attached to the 1st Airborne Division during Operation Market-Garden in September 1944. Royal Marine and Army Commandos used the VGO for infantry support/squad automatic weapon briefly around D-Day. In military terminology, it was known as Gun, Machine, Vickers G.O. .303-inch. The Royal Navy’s Vickers K began to replaced the Lewis gun on board Motor Torpedo Boats from 1942 onward. This is an extremely rare 100 round drum magazine for the Vickers K machine gun that was used extensively by the Long Range Desert Group in World War 2 after it was phase out with Royal Air Force. The gun had a high rate of fire of 1000 rounds per minute and large stocks were available in Africa after being phased out by the RAF. The gun found favour with the Long Range Desert Group in the Desert in Worls War 2 due to its light weight and high rate of fire to arm their vehicles in single or twin mounts. Reloading was made easy by pan magazines which helped to keep dirt and dust out of the weapon and ammunition. The gun was used by elements of the SAS, the Parachute Regiment, and Army Commando units during assault operations on D-Day, and was the only land-based weapon that even came close to matching the MG 42's high rate of fire. This is an original Vickers K gun magazine with 2 tools contained in its original transit case which would have originally held 2 magazines. The magazine retains its original cloth carrying handle and the drum has wear to its original blued finish. the wooden green painted transit box has 2 compartments and would have been issued for land purposes as opposed to light blue for the RAF or dark blue for Royal Navy use. The wooden transit case ha dovetailed joints and reinforcement on the corners has 2 turn buckles on the front and clasp on the lid. The case has feint yellow stencilling to the front 100 RDS MAGAZINE MKI. The case retains its 2 original rope carrying handles and the inside of the lid has the original loading instructions glued to the lid. Inside the case is a wooden pull out piece with metal brackets (the winding plate) to hold the magazine for reloading. There are also 4 reloading tools in the case. The price for this original and rare magazine, loading plate, tools and wooden transit case includes U.K delivery. Sn 23565 £2,250.00
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