Drip Fire Rifle
Invented by Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry during WWI, while fighting in Gallipoli. The Drip Fire Rifle was a way to jerry-rig a rifle using readily available materials so that it would randomly fire on its own. The Australian forces set up a whole bunch of these Drip Fire Rifles, and in this way were able to fool the Turkish forces into thinking they were actively manning the front lines, when in fact they were all sneaking away in boats. From abc.net.au:
His invention involved water dripping from one ration tin into a lower tin attached to a weight, which was tied to a trigger. Depending on the hole in the ration tin, the lower one could take between 20 minutes to an hour to fill. The weight would then pull the rifle trigger. The resultant sporadic fire sounded like any other night, and mirrored the rhythms of the Anzacs that the Turkish forces had grown familiar with.
Comments
A clever setup to deceive the foe. The Anzacs must have moved pretty quickly to retreat from their positions.
I have one of those rifles and it is a very good handling rifle. With this rifle, a Lee-Enfield, which was the common issue for the British and Anzac forces, it was only good for one use set up like this.
I have one of those rifles and it is a very good handling rifle. With this rifle, a Lee-Enfield, which was the common issue for the British and Anzac forces, it was only good for one use set up like this.
Posted by KDP on 09/18/17 at 08:59 AM
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Category: Inventions | War | Weapons | 1910s