Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. When IMA purchased 55,000 weapons from the Royal Nepalese Army in Kathmandu Nepal in 2003 we received 18 World War One .303 British fluted jacket water-cooled Vickers machine guns with matching tripods.
These guns were the complete Vickers contract specially supplied for the mountain Kingdom of Nepal and were serial numbered N1 through N18.
These Vickers guns were a special order in the mid 1930s however the contract was routed through some international arms dealers of the day no doubt because of political or commission based considerations.
The principal go-between was one Rameshwarlal Bazaj who placed this special order with Soley-Grimard, a joint venture between British and Belgian arms brokerage houses. Originally the quantity was to be 36 units but was cut by 50% to just 18 and these were shipped in 1935.
The guns have some of the earliest Vickers features including of course the fluted water jacket and were supplied in the original commercial satin blue finish.
Extraordinarily, each gun was fitted with an optical sight mount very similar in style and location to the MG 08 optical system (sight regrettably absent). Additionally each gun was accompanied by a matching numbered tripod (number location is on original tripod data plate). Each of these original tripods was made by COLT and are the U.S. Pattern but the data plates were customized. Still showing VICKERS MACH. GUN / TRIPOD / MARK IV on the upper half the Colt inscription below was removed and SOLEY - GRIMARD stamped in its place. This was done presumably in the hope of future reorders.
Across the center of the data plate is a large rectangle stamped NEPAL № 12, which matches the gun. The brass crossheads are all marked with matching serial numbers but plus 100 resulting in N 112 on this example, making this an incredibly rare, very limited Vickers contract with a hint of intrigue of the pre WW2 covert arms market. Please note that at some point the chains and mounting pins were removed from the crosshead, probably to use as spares long ago.
This parts set comes in its original wood transit chest with inlet to allow use with the optical sight mount. Despite arriving in Nepal just before WWII it appears these never left the mountain kingdom during the conflict and as a result have remained in remarkably good condition retaining most original finish etc.
The Vickers Parts set offered here has Serial number N12 or 12 on most of the major components, with the exception of the lock, which was probably replaced long ago as the main wearing parts. Marked parts include the water jacket, feed block, top covers, spade grip assembly, crank lever assembly, barrel extension plates, and more. There may also be crossed out markings next to the new serialization as well. Many components also bear early markings of V.S.M. (Vickers, Sons & Maxim), very desirable early markings. There is no barrel included with this set, as they were not able to be imported.
History of these weapons is discussed in some detail on pages 112 to 115 in the book GUNS OF THE GURKHAS by John Walter, which chronicles the Nepalese cache acquired in 2005.
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- This item is completely legal within the USA. International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and Local laws. Everything for sale on ima-usa.com is completely legal to own, trade, transport and sell within the United States of America. Every display machine gun and machine gun parts set and gun sold by IMA, Inc is engineered to be inoperable according to guidelines provided by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF). Please note that the requirements for each display gun or parts set are decided on a per case basis by the BATF, and may require deactivation or omission of some internal components. For more information on this offering, please contact us. Not available for Export.
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