As Advertised.
Hmm, well – the date was very close to April Fools
Day and I was none too sure that I hadn't just made a fool of myself !
- Previously I had arranged with the helpful Christchurch Police Arms Office
to organize the required 'Mail Order Form'. It was the
following Thursday when the couriers van handed-over the parcel and I
was able to open it - then screw the concentric 19 inch x 2"
diameter barrel/silencer unit onto the action, and have a good look at it.
Yup – the head-space was way too much and the bolt was really stiff and notchy when I tried to extract a fired case– the chamber looked rough but usable.
- I spent the next couple of hours with wooden toothpicks and fine wire-wool scraping off assorted muck and replacing it with a smear of oil – the Enfield looked much better for it but my jeans gained a few oil stains.
Next
day I went round to my favorite local gunsmith (since retired)
Rod Woods
who initially said he thought the way to fix it would be to set the
9mm barrel back one full turn and reface the chamber to match the
bolt-face.
- Note: Rod has previously made a batch of accurate true replica De-Lisle Carbines in .45"ACP. **News Flash** - Note 2: Rod says he's still making accurate replica 'De-Lisles' e-mail: gundoc@xtra.co.nz
Brilliant – what Rod had done – in less than an hour - was determine what 9mm magazine I needed, ream the chamber, weld the bolt and adjust head space, de-rust the firing-pin and make another stronger spring, reduce and smooth the trigger pull – refit and test fire. - And he also sold me an old double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun (to convert to a coach-gun).
The needed missing magazine proved to be a Walther P 38 seven/eight round pistol mag and had to be modified by adding a rib to the rear face to engage it with the original magazine release catch on the rifles trigger guard. - Luckily one came-up on-line for sale a few weeks later and I got it for $100 and rushed it into Rod where he attached the required rear rib and cold-blued it.
9MM NATO Caliber Fully Silenced Bolt-Action Rifle Now (with telescopic sight).
The 9mm Lee Enfield / De Lisle rifle shoots very quietly & well ( better than I do) and with a
telescopic sight added is accurate out as far as I've tested it. -
Used with standard supersonic 9 mm loads it is much quieter than a handgun
– but when loaded with heavier sub-sonic 147 grain 9x19mm rounds
it becomes really refined & quiet enough to use without hearing
protection. - It actually is a great fun gun to shoot.
_________________________________
THE
DE LISLE COMMANDO CARBINE
W G De Lisle developed the idea of a
silent rifle for covert combat use during WW2. - His first prototype
was a .22" rim-fire caliber built with a full barrel moderator on
a Browning semi-auto action, - and he proved it shooting rabbits and
other small game in the countryside around his home in Berkshire UK.
He offered this first prototype to Sir Malcolm
Campbell of Combined Operations in 1943. The .22"
was rejected but he was asked to develop a 9x19mm version. This
second prototype using supersonic 9mm ammo was also rejected as
unsatisfactory.
- So De Lisle was then asked to build a further rifle in .45 ACP – this third attempt was successfully tested and found to be much quieter than silenced handguns such as the Welrod single shot used by occupied Europe resistance fighters.
An Original De-Lisle Carbine? - No, Sorry it's a copy !- So De Lisle was then asked to build a further rifle in .45 ACP – this third attempt was successfully tested and found to be much quieter than silenced handguns such as the Welrod single shot used by occupied Europe resistance fighters.
De Lisle was granted a patent (number 579,168) and put
in charge of making a batch of the .45ACP carbines at the British
FORD factory, Dagenham – where an initial batch of 17
was built and issued for field testing by the Combined Operations
Commandos in "SS" Operations against the German occupying
forces.
- These being successful, - a further batch of approx 130 units was made with alloy silencer bodies by Sterling Armaments - including a small number built with folding stocks adapted from the STEN Gun and a pistol grip - for airborne forces use.
- These being successful, - a further batch of approx 130 units was made with alloy silencer bodies by Sterling Armaments - including a small number built with folding stocks adapted from the STEN Gun and a pistol grip - for airborne forces use.
Folding Stock 'Paratroopers' Version De Lisle.
The De Lisle Carbines were built on the Short Magazine
Lee-Enfield (SMLE Mk3) and used
.45 ACP caliber barrels from the Thompson sub-machine
gun. These barrels were turned-down and ported by cross-drilling, and
bell-mouthed,- and were fed by seven round M1911 Pistol magazines.- Their full over-barrel silencers were 15 inches (38cm) long and 2 inches diameter.
- They were so effective with the sub-sonic 45 ACP ammunition that it was said that the sound of the bolt action being worked to load was louder than the shot being fired – so much so that the underside of the bolt was drilled and fitted with a rubber pad to quieten its metal-to-metal contact with the action!
Link to video shooting a replica De Lisle Carbine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUALdGog4U
Every time I shoot a well silenced gun - I end-up with a face-ache from too much smiling at the refined 'Click - CLANG' from each shot on the steel plates.
The De Lisle Carbines were used extensively on covert
operations by British and Allied Forces during WW2, and later again
in the BURMA CAMPAIGN, the MALAYAN EMERGENCY and even in the KOREAN
WAR. Furthermore it is strongly rumoured that the British SAS
used them against IRA Fighters during "THE TROUBLES" and in the FALKLAND ISLANDS war (Islas Malvinas). - The
fact that none have ever been released as army-surplus suggests that
they may continue to be valued for undercover use.
Sectioned
Model De Lisle Commando Carbine
________________
Marty K.
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
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