Royal Flying Corp, UK

[Angel_Eyes]

Does anyone know anything about the issue of short barreled '76's in .50/Poss. 110? to the Royal Flying Corp in the UK during WW1?

I have tried Googling this with no positive result.

An acquaintance of mine claims to have one of these marked RFC and wants me to make him a scabbard for it.

[Grizzly Adams]

Howdy Angel Eyes! 

I have never heard of any 1876s being issued to the RFC, but if they were, Buck Stinson would know.  He reads this board, so he may pick this up.  You can also send him a PM.

GA

[ndnchf]

The '76 seems like an odd choice for the Royal Flying Corps.  Perhaps RFC stands for something completely different?

[Buck Stinson]

I'm with ndnchf.  Maybe RFC stands for something else.  Production on the 1876 ended in 1891, so I would think it impossible for these guns to have been issued to any group during WW1.  Where did you get your information?

Buck

[leverman]

RFC does stand for the Royal Flying Corp formed during May of 1912, during the first world war the Corp was initially used for flying over the enemy lines for recognisance etc, then the opposing forces began firing their service revolvers at each other, then the pilots resorted to taking up 12 bore shotguns as well for personnel defence, the aircraft were then fitted with machine guns that were fired by the observer in the second cockpit. Prior to the fitting of a machinegun, the pilots took up 12 bore shotguns for firing at the enemy, could some of these have been the Winchester lever action MULTI SHOT shotguns to extend the firepower as opposed to our Brits  double barrelled game guns firing only two shots a time. There has always been a huge source of weapons supplied from America to us Brits in times of war, except of course one. If you want to read more of the history of the RFC nearer home, Google www.canmilair.com those young men in their flying machines were real heroes, no parachutes either.   deerwarden

[Mean Bob Mean]

Does anyone know anything about the issue of short barreled '76's in .50/Poss. 110? to the Royal Flying Corp in the UK during WW1?

If it was .50-110 it was a model 1886.

Cheers,

Mean Bob Mean

[Angel_Eyes]

I came by this info at a CAS match in North Yorkshire, from the owner of the said rifle, so it is possibly subject to some error.

I thought it might be a '76 because of the possible calibre stated,, but I can't be sure. as I have not had the rifle in my grubby little paws.

The only thing I know is that he said it had a 19" barrel and was marked as RFC, and he said the calibre was .50 by (poss) 110.

It was just that the info available piqued my interest and even various searches of Winchester sites failed to unearth anything further.

If he does get in touch with dimensions for the saddle boot, I will pass on any further info.

[sail32]

In 1897, a NWMP detachment represented Canada at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in London and they were carrying 1876 Winchester carbines.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hist/ori-deb/debuts12-eng.htm

[Mike]

I would get a photo of the gun as this will help in identifying the gun and also help with making the scabbard.

[Trailrider]

I doubt any '76 would be chambered for .50-110. That cartridge was too long, and was chambered in the HiWall and M1886 lever action. The '76 would have been chambered in .50-95 WCF. A lever action rifle would have been a bit awkward to use, but I suppose where there was a need, there was a way. In addition to machine guns fired by the observer in the back seat, eventually both sides armored their propellers so the guns could fire forward without shooting off the propeller. Then somebody (Messerschmidt or Tony Folker???) designed a cam mechanism that interrupted the machine gun's mechanism when a blade swung in front of the muzzle. That's when things got serious, and the pursuit (fighter) plane was born!

[doketx]

It was Anthony Fokker who designed the interrupter gear which let the machine guns fire through the propeller.  He came up with the idea by asking himself "Why not let the prop decide when the gun will fire?"  O.K., that's my little bit of trivia for the day.