Thread: Bubba what have you done?

The lever looks kind of ok-ish. Skeletor's double braked AK is wrong on so many levels though.

@kiwi_greg how would the double brake work.... Something to experiment with

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

Attachment 100323

Looks like a bubba special, but isn't. Can anybody identify this gun and it's history?

I have an original Charlton (the 'stick & string machine gun') in my collection. They are hand-made and fitted but when properly set up are surprisingly nice to shoot on semi-auto. Full-auto is a bit of a hit and miss affair, but the guns were only meant to be used as a semi-auto, full-auto being saved for 'emergency' according to the handbook. Out of the original 1500 there are now only 10 left in the World.

Originally Posted by gundoc

I have an original Charlton (the 'stick & string machine gun') in my collection. They are hand-made and fitted but when properly set up are surprisingly nice to shoot on semi-auto. Full-auto is a bit of a hit and miss affair, but the guns were only meant to be used as a semi-auto, full-auto being saved for 'emergency' according to the handbook. Out of the original 1500 there are now only 10 left in the World.

Do you ever shoot it or is it too rare for that?

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Do you ever shoot it or is it too rare for that?

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

Testfired only after some restoration work.

Originally Posted by gundoc

I have an original Charlton (the 'stick & string machine gun') in my collection. They are hand-made and fitted but when properly set up are surprisingly nice to shoot on semi-auto. Full-auto is a bit of a hit and miss affair, but the guns were only meant to be used as a semi-auto, full-auto being saved for 'emergency' according to the handbook. Out of the original 1500 there are now only 10 left in the World.

Did they ever have more than a 10 shot mag?

Is there any way to tell if its NZ or aussie made, ive heard the the aussie ones were made by electrolux and were a bit less agricultural than the hastings made ones.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Is there any way to tell if its NZ or aussie made, ive heard the the aussie ones were made by electrolux and were a bit less agricultural than the hastings made ones.

All the production Charltons were made in NZ (Hastings) and are very 'agricultural' looking. Electrolux in Aussie only made a very small number of prototypes and are distinguished by having a neat sheet metal shroud over the working parts. The NZ Charltons were meant to have a purpose-built Bren style magazine which were ordered from Aussie but when they arrived they didn't fit without modification. Consequently, the guns were issued with the standard 10 round mags until the modified mags were finished. My gun is fitted with an original modified Aussie made Bren-style mag.

Originally Posted by gundoc

All the production Charltons were made in NZ (Hastings) and are very 'agricultural' looking. Electrolux in Aussie only made a very small number of prototypes and are distinguished by having a neat sheet metal shroud over the working parts. The NZ Charltons were meant to have a purpose-built Bren style magazine which were ordered from Aussie but when they arrived they didn't fit without modification. Consequently, the guns were issued with the standard 10 round mags until the modified mags were finished. My gun is fitted with an original modified Aussie made Bren-style mag.

I heard the majority of the guns built were destroyed in a warehouse fire, one went up for sale in palmy I think, about a year or two ago. would have been nice to take home!

Yes, a fire at the Palmerston North racecourse in December 1944 destroyed 22 million Pounds worth of military equipment including all the Charltons (withdrawn from the Home Guard and replaced with Brens by then) except the small handful in reference collections and one with the inventor.

I had the privilege of cleaning the one in the auckland museum along with a whole lot of other stuff back in the 80s with a bunch of guys in imas. I thought it was heavy, unwieldy and would be fired only as a last resort. A friend made a "non firing" replica that had pride of place in his lounge for many years.

You might find this photo of my Charlton of interest.

Awesome �� that’s pretty dam rear

Originally Posted by gundoc

Yes, a fire at the Palmerston North racecourse in December 1944 destroyed 22 million Pounds worth of military equipment including all the Charltons (withdrawn from the Home Guard and replaced with Brens by then) except the small handful in reference collections and one with the inventor.

Sad, but it does make the few left more interesting than they already were!