Jawa Ion Blaster; Enfield details

[steelol]

I'm in the process right now of building two Jawa Ion Blasters from deactivated Enfields and I looked through the few pictures that are online of the actual prop. I spotted some details, that I'm not aware anybody has noticed yet or at least I haven't seen anyone replicating them to this detail.
I would love to hear some opinions on these details. And maybe someone here has some better picures of the prop to clearifly the questions

- The first detail, that I spotted is that the safety catch had been removed ( marked in green)
- Then I noticed that the stock had the cutout (marked in yellow) for the volley sight, that had been reoved together with the safety.
- The thing, that is still not clear to me is the cocking piece (marked in red). I compared the lenght with the 2 versions of cocking pieces and it is definetly shorter. But appears to be longer than the bolt itself with the coking piece removed. I edited in the 3 pictures to compare it

On the second picture (a screenshot from the movie) it also looks like the front piece of the bolt was removed.

 

[ed-209]

Wow! Never noticed!!!
Still, after all these years, we find things about these props that we've all stared at but never noticed.
Good eyes, steelol and welcome to the RPF where no matter how much we know...we always have more to learn. --Ed

 

[OdiWan72]

Good eyes!

I researched the details of the documented Jawa blaster for many many hours, when I (re)built mine.
But I decided against total screen accuracy, since my Enfield is in excellent shape and I basically wanted to keep it that way. In addition to that, finding really accurate wooden parts is quite a task by itself. There are a LOT of variation of the shaft and shoulder stock, while only one is really dead one to the blaster we see on screen

 

[Collectorchris]

I used to be a huge collector of US and UK Small arms from WWI and WWII.

The parts you mention in green are the safety and rear volley sight arm. The volley sight is a feature from pre-WWI - end of WWI. Most were removed after this time, because volley firing was a thing of the past. This feature was also found on the P14. These rifles served in many different theaters of war during their tenure from Europe, Irland, Africa, India, etc... some even seeing service during the Vietnam era. Many had modifications made in the theater they served as well.

The stock appears to be an older stock which had the notch for the volley sight and has been cut down in both the front and rear.

The bold could simply be cut-off as a means of deactivating and ensuring it could not chamber a round. Also with many of these, the bolt cannot be removed unless the safety is in a certain position. It has been a while since I have messed with these, but I believe everything I have mentioned is accurate.

Finding an older stock with the volley sight cutout is a difficult thing and would be highly sought by a collector. I would highly advise against modifying anything other than a de-milled or sporterized version of these old weapons and ensure the stock is either WWII era which is more common. A few years ago, a sporterized WWII SMLE could be found at Flea markets and pawn shops for $125 or less.

I hope this helps some and doesn't muddy the waters more.

 

[xbadcardx]

I wonder if these were the inspiration for the Jawa SMLE:

Tumblr

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your people.

www.historicalfirearms.info

Cut Down Lee Enfield - Page 9

The white star was used prominently on all Western Allied vehicles from 1942 onwards-by D Day 1944 Allied air control was almost 100% and it was very important to indicate you weren't German

www.warrelics.eu

 

[steelol]

Good eyes, steelol and welcome to the RPF where no matter how much we know...we always have more to learn. --Ed

Thanks for the warm welcome

But I decided against total screen accuracy, since my Enfield is in excellent shape and I basically wanted to keep it that way. In addition to that, finding really accurate wooden parts is quite a task by itself. There are a LOT of variation of the shaft and shoulder stock, while only one is really dead one to the blaster we see on screen

That is true, especially for the volley sight. But removing the safety, the bolt head and the cocking piece is not even a permanent action, so I was curious why I had not seen any one replicating it. I have a blank firing Enfield, so I might get a second bolt with the front and rear removed for display purposes

Finding an older stock with the volley sight cutout is a difficult thing and would be highly sought by a collector. I would highly advise against modifying anything other than a de-milled or sporterized version of these old weapons and ensure the stock is either WWII era which is more common. A few years ago, a sporterized WWII SMLE could be found at Flea markets and pawn shops for $125 or less.

In Germany we have actually a huge marked for deactivated guns, but I haven't seen one with the volley sight notch yet and you are probably right, that these would be a shame to convert because of their rarity. But filing the notch shouldn't be too difficult and removing the safety, the bolt head and the cocking piece is not permanent

Tumblr

Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your people.

www.historicalfirearms.info

Cut Down Lee Enfield - Page 9

The white star was used prominently on all Western Allied vehicles from 1942 onwards-by D Day 1944 Allied air control was almost 100% and it was very important to indicate you weren't German

www.warrelics.eu

I didn't even know that these exist and it even has the volley sight even though it is useless in this configuration. But you are right; it might have been the inpiration. the entire mortar as an Ion Cannon would be cool too

 

[eethan]

I always thought it wasn't even an inspiration, that they actually found one already in the configuration that we see. don't know for sure of course though...

 

[Collectorchris]

I could see some old war movie using this. Would be kind of like the Vietnam era grenade launcher for a WWI/WWII flick.

I could even see some real world application of an armory cutting a stock down to a pistol grip, shortening the barrel and affixing the grenade launcher solely for that purpose during WWII. I don't know how hard to handle it would be but, it would make it easier to carry a launcher and riffle, than having to add the cup to a rifle or carrying two.

 

[eethan]

This is a real life application. what do you mean? they were used for WWII I believe to lauch grandes or smoke. I even saw some pictures i think of them being rigged with cables on the trigger to fire automatically if I remember correctly.

 

[eethan]

found it again, I didn't dream it:

 

[woodman]

My replica version has these details.

Woodman

 

[steelol]

My replica version has these details.

Woodman

realy nice one. What did you use to keep this safety part in place? Glue?

 

[MastahBlastah]

I've been doing some research as I have a Jawa build in the works as well (It'll be a ways before I get to it.) Has the disparity in color between the stock and other wood pieces been discussed? I believe these stocks are removable (can anyone confirm?) If that's the case and this blaster was made by someone who knows guns, could it be possible that given the rarity of this particular enfield (evidenced by the volley sight cutout) they decided to spare the original stock and sub in a newer one to cut down, hence the lighter color?

Just spitballing here!

 

[steelol]

I believe these stocks are removable (can anyone confirm?)

Yes, they are removable. Unlike most rifles, on Enfields the front wood stock is a seperate piece to the buttstock. The buttstock is easily removable by a long screw, accessible through the buttplate. The front stock is removable by removing the triggerframe and some other things first. For my build I used stock parts from diffent guns to match the diffent colours (darker front and lighter buttstock)
Also you have to pay attention to the size of the buttstock as they came in diffent sizes ( 3 I belive)