"Repro Lewis Gun Magazine":
http://www.target-arms.co.uk/product_in ... cts_id/410
Can anyone spot the biggest mistake?
"Repro Lewis Gun Magazine":
http://www.target-arms.co.uk/product_in ... cts_id/410
Can anyone spot the biggest mistake?
Erm, the big hole through the middle of it? 
A Proud Member Of 'Team Spleen!' who play mainly at Gunman Airsoft, Tuddenham, Suffolk.
Half way down the page on the website for the vac-formed Lewis machinegun, you can buy the mag on it's own for $35, that's got to be better than buying 2 biscuit tins...the biscuits in a tin that large would probably cost you £20 in the first place!
Show me a man who will jump out of an airplane, and I'll show you a man who will fight!
General James M. Gavin
CRY HAVOC AND LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR
"Repro Lewis Gun Magazine":
http://www.target-arms.co.uk/product_in ... cts_id/410
Can anyone spot the biggest mistake?Erm, the big hole through the middle of it?
Nope. There should be a "big hole through the middle of it". Granted, the latch mechanism is missing (and I'd appreciate it if anyone has pictures/video of how that works), but that's more of an omission than a mistake.
Nope, and a clue: Any exact copies of it, no matter what they're made of, will also have the same mistake.
Is it not deep enough to take another layer of bullets?
Nope, but it is to do with the layer of bullets...
Nope, and a clue: Any exact copies of it, no matter what they're made of, will also have the same mistake.
OK, given that this is not the WWII quiz thread, and people have been waiting two days now for an answer, please put them out of their misery.
You've got nothing to ein, zwei, drei, vier
OK, given that this is not the WWII quiz thread, and people have been waiting two days now for an answer, please put them out of their misery.
OK.
Count the number of rounds in a single layer of a real Lewis drum mag and you'll find 25, NOT 24. The real mags have 25 "spokes", those "reproductions" have 24 - probably due to laziness - 15 degrees is an easier number to use than 14.6 degrees.
The "infantry" mags have 2 layers, and the space of 3 rounds is taken up by the helix and feed mechanism, so (2 x 25) - 3 = 47.
This is also why the twice-height "aircraft" mag is 97 rounds - (4 x 25)-3, rather than 94 (2x47).
Considering the ratchet-pawl method used to rotate the drum, I don't know if a 24-spoke drum would fit properly, let alone feed properly.
Very stitch-county, I know, but I've been looking at the Lewis in A LOT of detail recently...
Dammit I thought about that but dismissed it because I assumed it would be one layer of 24 (as shown in the pic) and another layer of 23 on top = 47.
Dammit I thought about that but dismissed it because I assumed it would be one layer of 24 (as shown in the pic) and another layer of 23 on top = 47.
You may have been almost right, but for the wrong reason.
I've not seen a real, loaded Lewis mag in-the-flesh, but I assume the helical track would probably allow only 24 rounds to fit in the top layer because there's not enough room for the top-most 25th, and 23 in the bottom because of the feed mechanism, but there are still 25 spokes.
Check out this:
Just an idea.
Looking at the mag movement, i'd suggest that the mag does not need to rotate fully, just agitate, giving the impression that it is rotating.
It might be mechanically simpler to do.
To the tune of "Mademoiselle from Armentières"
Napoleons army ran away, As you do
The guard stood firm for Frances Pride, As you do
They said the guard will stand and die
But we heard what their Colonel cried
It wasn't pretty I tell you.
Resistance is fertile
Or do it the way the real one does - The casing is dragged around by a ratchet/pawl system at the back end - the wide, flat part behind the mag houses the levers which move the ratchet system.
If the casing could be made to rotate separately, the actual BB mag could be a fixed cylinder inside,
If you did have a gravity fed lewis, feeding through the centre of the mag, you may have trouble with the spinning - "Centrifugal force" (actually a combination of centripetal force and momentum) could throw the pellets to the outside wall of the mag where they won't be able to drop down and feed.
Of course, you could then drill holes in the edges of the mag and have it fling pellets in all direction, just to confuse the enemy 
-Matt
Not sure if I got my point across properly.
What I mean is have a fixed magazine that doesn't move inside a moving outer shell.
Most custom airsoft weapons have niggles - since they are homebrew. The safest way of trying to ensure that not only the weapon in question looks good, but also performs well is by following the K.I.S.S method.
No point have a Grade A looking piece that shoots worse than Porta's damaged K98k
K.I.S.S method...?
OH keep it simple stupid...
No point have a Grade A looking piece that shoots worse than Porta's damaged K98k
thanks bastard
ill have you know i bench fired my k98 at a target of a4 today
all 8 rounds within a six inch group @ 15m
not bad considering how bent and buggered it was
on the lewis gun i love the idea, i think a gravity fed mag would work fine if you angled it inside like a shallow funnel
"Take that you rotton helping of strawberry flan!"
Joseph Porta to "strawberrys and cream", in the sven hassel book ,ogpu prison
Now that I've started on my Brit loadout, and with Sealion in September, I'm also thinking of having a go at a Lewis gun.
Going along the lines of KISS I like Heide's idea of the mag being a big hopper to feed down to a winder into the hop unit. I'm thinking of using an M14 as a donor gun and basically covering it with a Lewis looking shroud. That barrel cover looks suspiciously like a section of down pipe or possibly drainage, and I think with a combination of Osma weld and hot glue gun I'll be more in my comfort zone with the working materials, and will keep the weight down.
I'll post pics and keep you informed as I go and will probably throw in a few questions too 
Edit: Found some really good clear pics here http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/detai ... n_1914.htm
i know im joining a bit late but ive been thinking of a lewis too and the barrel is easy ,if you use steel exhaust pipe (avaidable in straight lengths and various diameters from motor factors ) you can also get reducer sections ,meant to use to connect two different diameter pipes together and they look exactly right for the front of the outer barrel housing ,all with the benifit of weldability,ok its not ally but painted it would look perfect.
also the mag rotation idear is easy too,having the lower part of the mag sloted in place in the gun in the normal way and with the normal mating facing down like a p90 an using a circular chanel fixed to the lower part of the mag for the bb's and having the top (visible )part sprung to rotate and push follower around the chanel in the lower part ,as you fire the top will rotate with the ammo used .ok it wont simulate the corect angular rotation per shot but it would be simple and look dam good .also can use p90 gearbox and hop together so no fusing about compatibility ,belive it or not nearly all guns have different length nozzles on the gearbox ,even the p90 and the thompson both use version 6 gearboxes but the nozzle is different length ,these little things can cause head scratching when you dont know and find that you cant get any decent fps from the finished gun ,so if you use p90 gearbox and hop then you know there wont be an issue to solve.ps just purchased both items (arived today )from http://www.g-military.com cost under £70 delivered .hope this helps
armoury
m1a1 Thompson,sten mk2,mp40,stg44,sterling,mk2 bren gun,lee Enfield no4 mk1,Mauser Kar98, Walther ppk,smith and Weston m10 and Mauser m712
Give me a big enough hammer and a place to stand and I could fix the world.
i'll kill a man in a fair fight or if i think he's going to start a fair fight or over a woman or.......
a problem shared is a problem halved ,but an advantage shared is no advantage at all
if a job's not worth doing then its certainly not worth doing well
