Colt Vickers Ground Gun - - or NOT

[bigbore]

I recently came across this pic of what is being called an original Colt Vickers ground gun.
If you have a spare Colt water jacket and front cap, and want to install it on a colt aircraft vickers gun I would guess the jacket may not properly align when screwed onto the AC guns trunnion. Maybe you would have to shorten it a turn or two because you want it to align as close as possible to the index mark on the front cap. From just this pic, I wonder if the 2 index marks are more of a give away or the steam tube protruding so far that you can see it from this angle? I wonder who would do such a thing, then I think this may have been done in 1978 because someone wanted to convert their $200 aircraft vickers into a ground gun using a $75 Colt 1915 parts kit.

[Black River Militaria CII]

Yes, this Vickers has been the subject of some speculation due to the non-alignment of the front cap witness marks with the jacket marks. Having assembled a number of mismatched front endcaps to Brit and Colt Jackets I have not had to shorten jacket length at the front by one turn so the witness marks are close. The alignments have been very close and required very slight shaving of the jacket front edge to allow the cap to rotate about 1/10th or less of a turn for full seating. Same for the trunnion ends.
Without scrutinizing the jacket, I can't tell if it is Colt or Brit, but I'd surmise that it is Colt and could ve original to the gun. The gun has a large brass plate over the top rear of the jacket so any marks are covered or have been removed. The plate covers could possibly be the rebuild of the upper part of the aircraft receiver trunnion which is usually cut away on aircraft guns or possibly just to cover damage to that part of the the original trunnion and jacket on the gun.
The water plug hole location in the seller's picture of the added brass plate has been rotated clockwise significantly away from the usual position on a 1915 Colt. This is a major indicator of possible non-originality of this jacket to this gun, but it could have been done for a different reason which I suggest below.
A standard steam tube would still properly fit into a slightly shortened jacket and if not it can very easily be modified to fit so that isn't evidence of anything.

The front endcap is correctly serial numbered and ID'd for a standard Colt 1915 ground gun and that number is, apparently, the registered number of the gun. The important question about the provenance of this gun is what serial number is stamped on the inside upper rear of both sideplates and one other place on the receiver. If the receiver number is the same as the endcap, then it is more difficult to tell what happened to this gun and why the brass plate? If the numbers all match, it is possible that the plate was put there to cover some sort of damage to that part of the trunnion and jacket of a complete ground gun. The water plug hole could have been moved lower to allow the plate to cover the damage. This possibility could be verified with some lighting and small optical equipment viewed through the water hole or from the barrel hole in the front endcap, etc.

I suspect you meant to write "1968" instead of "1978" and you meant the year of the Amnesty. At that time there would have been absolutely no reason to construct such a 1915 Colt Vickers. There were disassembled MGs as well as unregistered, complete MGs available during those years and ongoing but there were no "kits". Parts were generally plentiful and aside from J.C. Earl in Phoenix, whose prices were iincredibly high for the time, a complete, excellent Colt 1915 could be had for $350 and up. No one at that time was building registered ground guns from ventilated jacket aircraft receivers, a way of building more registered ground Vickers from Brit and Aussi parts and which didn't start happening until much, much later.

Hard to tell when this work was done on the gun but it could have been at any time. It could have been done to repair and preserve a Colt Vickers prior to the Amnesty, too. Note that the font and character of the stamped numbers on the endcap are very, very similar to the stamped numbers on the brass plate.

One of my favorite MGs is a Colt 1915 Vickers that belonged to Fox movies studios and is so marked on the rear, top of the jacket. If I recall the price was $1500 in the early 1980s.
if someone has an opportunity to closely inspect this controversial Vickers it would be very interesting to see what he has to say.

FWIW

[bigbore]

 

A standard steam tube would still properly fit into a slightly shortened jacket and if not it can very easily be modified to fit so that isn't evidence of anything.

 

My concern with the steam tube is how much it is protruding beyond the front cap. Have you ever seen one on any vickers/maxim stick out that far?

 

ETA compared to my Brit Bickers, which is only a sample of one...

 

EETA here is also a pic of a 1915 I stole from sadefensejournal.com

Edited December 5, 2020 by bigbore

[Black River Militaria CII]

Yes, I am well aware of that but don't consider it an issue of any importance compared to others, and it is not possible to offer an explanation for that without seeing it. Over the years I've encountered a number of thick rim steam port heads on watercooled MGs and also have seen a number that were obviously shop made for repair that were not identical to factory. With the other obvious issues with and alterations to this gun, it is fair to say that part is probably a repro to repair the steam tube.I had several of these parts made for such Maxims as the 1904 US gun and Russian 1905 etc.

No doubt a standard Vickers steam tube might fit and take care of that issue.

The altered location of the water port at top rear of the jacket is a major issue needing explanation. FWIW

[bigbore]

Yes, I am well aware of that but don't consider it an issue of any importance compared to others, and it is not possible to offer an explanation for that without seeing it. Over the years I've encountered a number of thick rim steam port heads on watercooled MGs and also have seen a number that were obviously shop made for repair that were not identical to factory. With the other obvious issues with and alterations to this gun, it is fair to say that part is probably a repro to repair the steam tube.I had several of these parts made for such Maxims as the 1904 US gun and Russian 1905 etc.

No doubt a standard Vickers steam tube might fit and take care of that issue.

The altered location of the water port at top rear of the jacket is a major issue needing explanation. FWIW

 

Again, thanks. Im just too bored and with them not responding to my emails, my mind wonders. If we had pics of the SN inside the plates, and on the bottom of the trunnion, we'd know 80% of the story. Looking at their pics today, I'll wonder if the fill plug is only screwed in 1 turn because the new hole wasnt cut tapered.

[bigbore]

I'm always searching for Colt Vickers stuff and I just came across this:
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/82/3489/colt-1915-vickers-machine-gun-with-accessories

 

My goodness, someone has more money than brains, or just had no idea what he was bidding on. The description even says it has Drill Purpose stamps on parts...

Edited November 20, 2021 by bigbore