Canadian Browning .303s -- different from British?

[Dave Hadfield]

Hi all,

I know that the standard Browning .303 in British aircraft is a license-built version of an American design, but for the Canadian-built Hurricanes, I imagine they would have used Brownings built in the USA directly, not importing them from the UK. Much simpler.

Is this true? Would the Neutrality Act have got in the way?

Anyway, if the Brownings installed in the Canadian Hurricanes were made in the USA, would they have been different from the ones license built in the UK? Visual differences?

Thanks,

Dave

[Matt Gunsch]

I would think they would be the same, otherwise the supply chain would have to carry double the parts to support 2 weapons that do the same job.
Sten guns made in Canada were the same as Stens made in the UK.

[Spitty]

British,Canadian and Australian arms were all very similar off memory.Only thing that might have changed were the firing solenoids but off memory that was between USA and UK built units.

[Dan Jones]

I recall reading somewhere ("Freedom's Forge" possibly) a good many of the British Brownings were built in the US, so I suspect there's no difference at all.

[Dave Hadfield]

Thanks!

[mdwflyer]

Did I read right, 2,664 rounds of 303 british?

[Matt Gunsch]

Did I read right, 2,664 rounds of 303 british?

303 is a rifle sized round, they don't take up that much room, it is about the size of a US 30/06.

[mdwflyer]

Did I read right, 2,664 rounds of 303 british?

303 is a rifle sized round, they don't take up that much room, it is about the size of a US 30/06.

You are right, slightly smaller in size to 30-06. I was thinking more about the 40-50$ for a box of 20 ....

[Tulio]

Not directly related:

In July 1969, during the El Salvador - Honduras 100 Hour War, Honduran's airplanes machine guns / cannons were experiencing lots of jammings .

The Hondurans had purchased ammo from the British, and their dimensions albeit expressed in the same caliber, were slightly bigger, thus causing the jamming.

A shooting war is a bad time to find that your ammo does not work...

The armorers and airmen worked long hours with lathes -according to history of the conflict- to resolve the issue.


Saludos,


Tulio

[shrike]

There are a number of differences. The .303 guns will have a different barrel, bolt and extractor, of course, for the British round.
The British guns were specified to fire from an open bolt only (no synchronized use then)
The cooling shroud was called out with long slotted holes rather than round, and I'm sure there were some other differences.

That said, you will occasionally see British, or at least 'export' barrel shrouds in pictures of US stateside gunnery training, suggesting that some at least were US made.
Given that the US, while ostensibly neutral, manufactured Mosin Nagants and the P-14 Enfield in large numbers during WWI, it would not be surprising if they made .303 guns for export.

[fortrena]

Good day,

Please note that John Inglis Company Limited of Toronto produced a sizeable number of Browning 0.303 inch aircraft machine guns during the Second World War. As of (late?) 1943, if one is to believe a contemporary publication, it might have delivered as many as 33,000 of these.

All the best,

[shrike]

Good day,

Please note that John Inglis Company Limited of Toronto produced a sizeable number of Browning 0.303 inch aircraft machine guns during the Second World War. As of (late?) 1943, if one is to believe a contemporary publication, it might have delivered as many as 33,000 of these.

All the best,

I had assumed Inglis would have made them, but I could only find Bren production with a casual search. Makes perfect sense.