Original British WWII Gun Cleaning Set Original Items

Original Item: This is the standard set of cleaning accessories issued with British and Lend-Lease rifles, carbines, and machine carbines (submachine guns) during WW2. The Bottle, Oil, Mk 5 is made of Bakelite and may be black or brown. The Pull-through, Single, Mk 4 was issued with rifles, machine carbines, and machine guns such as the Bren, Vickers, Lewis, and Browning. (A very small number of short pull-throughs were made for the Sten Machine Carbine, but these are rarely encountered. Official documents indicate that the Pull-through Mk 4 was to be used with machine carbines.) The wire gauze is to be wrapped through the middle loop of the pull-through.

The set consists of:

– Bottle, Oil, Mk 5, Complete

– Pull-through, Single, Mk 4B

– Gauze, Wire, For Pull-through

– Flannelette (four-by-two in the Royal Army), 2×4 inches, 0.5 yd.

The British Army instructed troops in how to carry the oiler and pull-through in the butt stock of the rifle. The butts of some Thompson submachine guns were also modified to permit this method of storing the equipment. First, the looped end of the cord is held in the palm such that about a finger-width of the end loop hangs below the palm (Figure 1). This little extension loop will make it easy to extract the pull-through assembly from the butt stock when it’s needed. Wrap the cord three times around the palm (Figure 2), and then wrap the balance of the cord around the palm loops you have just made (Figure 3). The oiler goes into the butt stock first, with the cap upwards (Figure 4. This figure shows the older brass oiler. The set offered as JMB4531 represents the 1941 – 45 equipment.). Then the pull-through assembly is inserted. The weight is started into the small hole and the cord into the larger hole below the oiler (Figure 5). Make sure the loop faces the butt trap door. When the pull-through is fully seated, it looks like Figure 6.