.256 Rifles

[pgardiner1418]

I am at the moment transcribing the War Diary for 2/7th Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment and therein is a reference to the battalion receiving .303 rifles as per below.

1915

Nov 19; 525 .303 rifles received from WEEDON. In bad state of repair. Barrels worn, corroded & many minor defects.

Nov 20; 517 .256 rifles dispatched to WEEDON together with available bayonets and 105825 rounds

.256 amm.

Would it be safe to assume that the .256 Rifles being returned are Japanese Arisaka's or were there other weapons issued in .256 caliber to units not yet overseas?

All the best,

Paul.

[johnreed]

I will think that 256 is the quantity not the calibre.

John

[TonyE]

No John, the .256 inch was the British nomenclature for the 6.5mm Arisaka rifles issued to the Kitchener Armies and the Royal Navy. Notice it also says ".256 amm.".

Paul - yes, these were the Arisakas. there were no other .256 inch rifles issued.

Regards

TonyE

[pgardiner1418]

John, Tony,

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. I thought they were Arisakas but wanted to be sure as this transcription will be accompanied by notes.

It is interesting in that 4 days before they send the .256 rifles back they note,

"209959 rounds of .256 Bde Reserve Am recd from 2/1 Bde RFA, ASH"

I have taken ASH to be Ashford but as yet am not 100%

Would anyone know which Weedon is mentioned in the diary extract as there seem to be a couple to choose from.

Thanks again,

Paul.

[TonyE]

The date is interesting. We did not start production of .256 inch ammo in the UK until February 1916, so this must have been Japanese Type 38 ammunition, either made in Japan or assembled in the UK from Japanese components.

Japan supplied 20 million rounds of loaded ammunition and about 22 million sets of components (cartridge case, primer and bullet) in late 1914 and early 1915. A contract to load the components was given to Kings Norton Metals Co. in May 1915 at a cost of £1. 5. 0. per thousand..This was also Type 38 ammo and was known here as "Cartridge Small Arms Ball .256 inch Mark I".

The British .256 inch Mark I had the later type 38 pointed bullet, but ironically the Mark II was the earlier round nosed Type 30 that we manufactured principally for Russia.

Regards

TonyE

[pgardiner1418]

Tony,

There must be thousands of snippets of information within war diary's that when added together help to make a bigger picture.

By the way the 209959 rounds that were delivered to 2/7th Kings from 2/1 Bde R.F.A. on the 16th November were sent on to

C.O.O. Weedon on 21st of that month.

All the best,

Paul.

[Steven Broomfield]

Isn't Weedon in Bedfordshire?

[4thGordons]

Northants I think

[pgardiner1418]

Gentlemen

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread, I am now very much the wiser.

All the best,

Paul.

[Steven Broomfield]

Northants I think

Somewhere up north.

[Old Tom]

According to Wikipedia Weedon, Woolwich and Pimlico were the main Ordnace depots pre war.

Old Tom