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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Barr & Stroud Infantry Rangefinder


Richard Fisher

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Another video I've put together that might be of interest here. This time on the Barr and Stroud Infantry Rangefinder. It's the infantry one as it is 80cm as opposed to the artillery instrument that was 1m long.

 

Two of the three we have in the collection are from the Great War: one 1916 and one 1917. Used with every machine gun sub-section at that point so quite prolific.


Also used with mortars and even as an infantry company item.

It's one of our longer videos but there was a lot to talk about and it went quite quickly!

 

https://youtu.be/zIpUnjCrj8E

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Barr and Stroud rangefinder issued to Armoured recce units in the 1960s. As I recall anyone with some eye problems couldn't use them. In any case in practice they were seldom removed from their container.

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Always worth viewing, thankyou.

 

Robert

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On 04/05/2020 at 20:37, Keith Woodland said:

Barr and Stroud rangefinder issued to Armoured recce units in the 1960s. As I recall anyone with some eye problems couldn't use them. In any case in practice they were seldom removed from their container.

 

Yes, they were certainly being used quite late on. With advances in mapping, they seem to have been used less and less.

 

14 hours ago, 4thVBGH said:

Always worth viewing, thankyou.

 

Robert

 

Thanks Robert. Glad you find it interesting.

 

All the best

 

Richard

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  • 5 months later...

For those interested in learning how the range-finder was actually used, we're in the process of re-creating the training scheme from 1942. Whilst a Second World War scheme, the instruments didn't change and it will be 95% applicable to Great War training as well. Two of the three range-finders we're using are Great War dated.

 

 

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I once had a B&S Rangefinder that had maker's plates from both wars. Originally made in 1917 and recommissioned in 1941 possibly with new eyepieces.

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I have seen that with Australian Army rangefinders as well. They were not a cheap toy and they liked to get a good life out of them.

Cheers

Ross

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On 04/05/2020 at 20:37, Keith Woodland said:

Barr and Stroud rangefinder issued to Armoured recce units in the 1960s. As I recall anyone with some eye problems couldn't use them. In any case in practice they were seldom removed from their container.

 

I thought they were coincidence rangefinders, adopted because they were more tolerant of eyesight issues than stereoscopic, although stereoscopic have some advantages in producing accurate ranges quicker on ill-defined targets?

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5 hours ago, Chasemuseum said:

I have seen that with Australian Army rangefinders as well. They were not a cheap toy and they liked to get a good life out of them.

Cheers

Ross

 

I've never seen anything dated later than 1942 so it might be something I'll dig into and see when the contracts were placed. They stayed in service for longer than the Vickers so I can only assume that anything other than total destruction could be repaired.

 

14 hours ago, Gunner Bailey said:

I once had a B&S Rangefinder that had maker's plates from both wars. Originally made in 1917 and recommissioned in 1941 possibly with new eyepieces.

 

That would have been interesting to see, and whether it had been 'upgraded' to the latest Mark. One of those in the Association's collection has been updated from a Mk III to a Mk III**

 

3 hours ago, MikB said:

 

I thought they were coincidence rangefinders, adopted because they were more tolerant of eyesight issues than stereoscopic, although stereoscopic have some advantages in producing accurate ranges quicker on ill-defined targets?

 

Yes, they can accomodate problems with eyesight by the coincidence adjustment settings and the astigmatisers. Each individual would have their own coincidence adjustment setting. We'll be covering that in Lesson 3.

 

The first two lectures (Introductory and Lesson 1) are now available for the public (www.youtube.com/VickersMGCollectionResearchAssociation) and Lesson 2 premiered for Patrons (www.patreon.com/vickersmg) this morning. Our next filming session is next Sunday so we'll have the rest to roll out over the next few months.

Edited by Richard Fisher
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1 hour ago, Richard Fisher said:

stayed in service for longer than the Vickers

For Australia the Vickers stayed in service for a long time. In the late 1970s SAF Lithgow was given the contract to fully refurbish a large number of Vickers. These were all in .303 and we no longer had the capacity to manufacture the ammunition in country and had been buying .303 from India through to 1975 to support the requirements of the Army Cadets (I do not know the actual orders but I estimate the requirement as about 2 million rounds annually, but they may have been buying several years supply at a time.) They were only disposed of out of war reserve in late 1988 or early 1989. All .303 weapons were disposed of at that time.

Cheers

Ross

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