*RARE Britains Ltd Model 4.7 Naval Gun with Original Box and Accessories, Set 1264, 1915 Patent*
The original box is marked with the patent 1215-1915 and the serial no 34218/30, the same serial no is embossed underneath the gun. Set no 1264 is marked on the box. Amorces Caps in their original boxes are also included. See photographs.
This is the 4.7 inch Naval Gun. This gun gained its box number in 1915 when a patent was taken out by the toy maker, to stop other manufactures pinching Britains Ltd designs. Britains Ltd has been making this basic gun design since 1902. The 4.7 inch Naval Gun was modelled on the original concept when the British Navy used guns from HMS Terrible (with makeshift gun carriages made from heavy wood beams, and wheels made from heavy plate steel) as field guns during the South Africa War.
Britains Ltd experimented with a process called Fuming which is similar to the coating of electrical wire used in electrical motors for insulating the wire when wound onto to the drive shaft. This process of Electrolytic Passivation is to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of the metal alloy surface that gives a harden surface against degradation. The method left the surface of the lead alloy in a blackish coating. This experimental process applied to some of the guns during the First World War until 1924.
*Condition*
This a rare example in good working order. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
