[OldSoldier]

I have a line on a fluted jacket Vickers parts kit. The kit is a hodgepodge of Drill Purpose parts and is missing the fuzzie spring and cover. I suspect the trunnion is worn. Anyone have an idea of the value?

 

[IMBLITZVT]

Well its probably worth about as much as an IMA kit or maybe a little less... maybe. It depends if its got other WWI parts... or is it just the jacket?

 

[762x51]

IMHO the jacket alone is worth more than an Australian kit complete.

You seldom see these sold and unless the price is really out of sight then you have a good find..... Wish I had found it....

 

[MG34_Dan]

Be very careful with DP Vickers parts.

When I was getting ready to build my Vickers, I bought two DP parts sets with fluted barrel jackets. It turns out that not only were both trunions worn out, but both water jackets had corroded from the inside. Both were full of pinhole leaks but were covered with years of paint so they were undetectable.
A word to the wise "Stay away from DP parts kits".

 

[OldSoldier]

Dan - thanks for the sage advice. You've given me great cause not to rush into it. I also appreciate the near like new Aussie parts sets even more.

 

[jmann]

I just recieved a select aussie parts kit from ima yesterday. Wow, the waterjacket has no dents and 99%paint coverage. Everything associated with the jacket is unissued. Reciever parts were good also. It even had an all brass feedblock instead of the one with the steel strip inlaid.
I dont know about semi guns but I have been looking at transrferable guns and the corrugated jacket seems to bring about $1000 over the smooth jacket on them. I ended up going with a corrugated jacket just because I like the look, but after getting the aussie parts kit yesterday I must say the smooth jacket looks sexy as hell. Have I mentioned this thing is mint

 

[IMBLITZVT]

Well besides the problem with DP, I think it matter what else is in the kit. I mean unless you have other WWI parts, having a Fluted jacket on a WWII parts kit is going to be stupid. So you need the flat booster...etc. Otherwise its probably not worth a whole lot more. I figured about the same difference as a missing fusee cover...

 

[OldSoldier]

When I was getting ready to build my Vickers, I bought two DP parts sets with fluted barrel jackets. It turns out that not only were both trunions worn out, but both water jackets had corroded from the inside. Both were full of pinhole leaks but were covered with years of paint so they were undetectable.
A word to the wise "Stay away from DP parts kits".

You can probably answer a question. I assume fluted water jackets and trunnions from smooth jacketed guns (or for that matter water jackets and trunnions between similarly jacketed guns) are not easily interchangeable. Is this a valid assumption?

 

[jmann]

The center section, corrugated or not, should screw between the trunion and endcap of another jacket. The trunion itself is part of the back cap of the waterjacket. In theory you could replace the trunion and endcap from a worn out dp corrugated gun with the same parts from an aussie gun and be good to go. However the corrugated part is usually also trash from what I hear. Replacing the trunion on a vickers would usually involve replacing the whole waterjacket because the jacket with the worn out trunion is not usually any nicer than the one with the good trunion. Replacing the trunion is essentially like building the gun from a parts kit, except you start with the grinder and turn the gun into the parts kit first

 

[OldSoldier]

Jmann - The issue is that there are holes for the chain hangers and plugs through the water jacket and trunnion within the front and rear threaded areas of the waterjacket. The pic shows the two holes in the trunnion.

Will these holes align when a different water jacket is mated to a differenct trunnion?

The center section, corrugated or not, should screw between the trunion and endcap of another jacket. The trunion itself is part of the back cap of the waterjacket. In theory you could replace the trunion and endcap from a worn out dp corrugated gun with the same parts from an aussie gun and be good to go. However the corrugated part is usually also trash from what I hear. Replacing the trunion on a vickers would usually involve replacing the whole waterjacket because the jacket with the worn out trunion is not usually any nicer than the one with the good trunion. Replacing the trunion is essentially like building the gun from a parts kit, except you start with the grinder and turn the gun into the parts kit first

 

[jmann]

If they did not I dont see why it would matter. Just clean up the holes in the jacket after it is screwed onto the trunnion. Even if you had to rebore a separate set of holes in the jacket, using the existing ones in the trunnion of course, the old ones would be covered by the trunion/endcap which threads over the jacket and is sealed with solder. The old holes in the jacket would never be seen once the trunion was screwed on and the solder would keep them from leaking.