Product Details
A RELIC .303 AERIAL MACHINE GUN BY BROWNING, no visible serial number,
circa 1939, formerly comprising part of the main armament of a British Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft and retaining its barrel with partial flash-hider and cooling jacket, the majority of its receiver and some internal parts, TOGETHER WITH a display board with applied plaque reading '.303 BROWNING MACHINE GUN FROM HURRICANE P3708 OF 257 SQUADRON, DEBDEN. SHOT DOWN BY Bf110 IN COMBAT OVER THE THAMES ESTUARY AND CRASHED AT NAZEWICK FARM, FOULNESS ISLAND, ON SUNDAY AUGUST 18th, 1940, AT 6.00PM. SEARGENT A.G. GIRDWOOD BALED OUT, WOUNDED IN THE FOOT, AND WAS ADMITTED TO FOULNESS HOSPITAL. AIRCRAFT WAS WRITTEN OFF'.
Other Notes: The .303 Browning machine gun was a British variant of the highly-successful and ubiquitous .30 calibre M1919 that was used in many theatres of war in the 20th Century by various armies, navies and air forces. It was designed and developed by John Moses Browning and the later .50 calibre version is still in use today with the U.S. Army.
The Browning .303 Mk.II was adopted by the R.A.F. and re-worked to suit both offensive (fixed-mount) and defensive (swivel-mount) use. It was essentially the 1930 Pattern belt-fed Colt-Browning machine gun with a few minor modifications, such as firing from an open bolt. In its wing-mounted offensive guise it had a rate of fire of 1,150 rounds per minute.
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Estimate £1,000-1,500