Flame Weapons.

Discussion in 'Weapons, Technology & Equipment' started by von Poop, Dec 3, 2006.

  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Sadly, a hypothetical question:

    If I bought the Churchill Crocodile mentioned here, located a fuel trailer, restored it like the one at Cobbaton, got it all running and filled it up...

    Would a fully functioning flamethrower be a legal thing to display/own in the Uk?

    Seen some pictures/film of Yanks displaying man-portable gear... just wondering.

    Cheers,
    Adam.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  3. Kyt

    Kyt Very Senior Member

    Sorry VP, but under the Guidance to Police Forces on the THE FIREARMS ACTS 1968-97, flame throwers of any sort are prohibited
     
    Wapen likes this.
  4. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I'm wondering if within an insured showground where pyrotechnics are part of the deal anyway it would be ok. There are all sorts of legitimate flame-guns in the entertainment industry that don't really fit into the firearms laws, but the principle of operation's the same.
     
    Wapen likes this.
  5. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    You are just a teeny little bit insane, aren't you?:p
     
    Wapen likes this.
  6. Kyt

    Kyt Very Senior Member

    Vp, you s*d, you're making my head hurt. The whole pyrotechnics usage regulations seem to be covered by a myriad of laws and rules - sort it for yourself:D!!
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Herroberst

    Herroberst Senior Member

    Wouldn't a Tiger be more fun?
     
  8. BulgarianSoldier

    BulgarianSoldier Senior Member

    In Bulgaria we have a saying "Rules are made to be broken.."
    But i also hear that flametrowers are prohibitet.
     
  9. Kitty

    Kitty Very Senior Member

    Laws? What are these laws to which you refer?

    I. WANT. A TANK. WITH. A. FLAME. THROWER.
     
  10. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Wouldn't a Tiger be more fun?
    The economically feasible school of fantasising comes into play though.

    To Obtain & restore a Tiger = £ 'N'Million.
    To Obtain & restore a crocodile = £22500 & let's triple that for trailer, restoration, transport and general worst case scenario, call it £75k+++

    Come to think of it I think the Tiger would still be less fun, you'd never be able to fire it. But the Crocodile, it's flamethrower and a field full of scrap cars could be immensely enjoyable.
     
    Wapen likes this.
  11. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    ok, well the best of both worlds would be a "Flammen-Tiger" then wouldnt it?? And HO and VP could crew it!!!!
     
  12. Kyt

    Kyt Very Senior Member

    VP, if you do get one, do you take requests? There's a few council officials I know who need warming up a bit.
     
  13. Herroberst

    Herroberst Senior Member

    The economically feasible school of fantasising comes into play though.

    To Obtain & restore a Tiger = £ 'N'Million.
    To Obtain & restore a crocodile = £22500 & let's triple that for trailer, restoration, transport and general worst case scenario, call it £75k+++

    Come to think of it I think the Tiger would still be less fun, you'd never be able to fire it. But the Crocodile, it's flamethrower and a field full of scrap cars could be immensely enjoyable.


    Good Point, serious question, How long could the unit fight before refueling? Given a set spraying time.
     
  14. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Good photo-survey of a Crocodile sans trailer here:
    The Churchill Mk.VII Infantry Tank

    On Flame duration; Chamberlain and Ellis says 80 1 second bursts of 80-120yds from a full trailer, Perrett implies that there was a problem with losing the propellent Nitrogen pressure on the fuel so unless fully gassed up before use the amount of shots could tail off quite considerably.
     
  15. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    We had the lifebelt type of flame throwers, a round canister on your back, they were in reserve. If the tank was hit by a bullet you would be in the centre of a 25 foot envelope of flame NOT NICE!
    The Company flame thrower are buried deep underground in a wood in Belgium.
    Sapper
     
  16. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    The Company flame thrower are buried deep underground in a wood in Belgium.
    Sapper
    As regards man-portable gear that seems like the best place for 'em, not much dissent on getting rid of 'em from all concerned I presume?

    Any personal experience of the Crocodiles Sapper? Wouldn't they have cropped up occaisionally in the engineering world?

    Cheers,
    Adam.
     
  17. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    oddly Adam. no we did not come across them, though the AVRE were about everywhere, we never had anything to do with the Crocs, damn near everything else. I recall they had a fearful reputation, as did our dustbin mortar tanks.
    Sapper
     
  18. 51highland

    51highland Very Senior Member

    "........We advanced, supported by 'Crocodiles', but the fighting was intense and bloody. The Crocodiles would spray long spurts of flaming liquid as they went, the screams of those on the receiving end were terrible. The smell of burning flesh is something that stays with you forever, a horrible sweet sickly smell. The bodies we found looked just as if the were made of tarred pipe cleaners........"
    2934077 Sgt George Sands MM. 5th Camerons, Reichswald Forest, Feb 1945.

    V.P. you better add another few grand for fuel tax !!!!!
     
  19. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    More Grimness from here, which seems to make the dumping of man-packs even more reasonable :

    WO 291/308, "Effect of flamethrowers on military personnel", which says that information from flame actions showed an average expenditure of 270 gallons per death, 9 gallons per prisoner.
    Physical effects are discussed in WO 231/32, "Notes on Wasp and Lifebuoy"


    51H, Good point ... 400 gallons of fuel (?) That's not going to be cheap...
     
    dbf likes this.
  20. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Newly uploaded Intelligence Bulletin article on German 'Fougasse' flamethrower from the consistently top-notch 'Lone Sentry':
    Fougasse Flame Throwers, Intelligence Bulletin, November 1944 (Lone Sentry)
    Based on a Soviet design they're not something I'd ever heard of.

    A little on Japanese man-portable gear from the same source:
    Portable Flame Thrower - Japanese, Intelligence Bulletin, February 1945 (Lone Sentry)

    And from older articles,
    German man-portable:
    Lone Sentry: Portable Flame Throwers, German (WWII U.S. Intelligence Bulletin, April 1944)

    Italian:
    Lone Sentry: Flame Throwers, Italian (WWII U.S. Intelligence Bulletin, December 1942)

    Cheers,
    Adam.
     

Share This Page