Extremely Rare WW1 & WW2 US M1915 Colt Vickers Machine Gun Tripod

This is an extremely rare WWI & WWII US M1915 Colt Vickers Machinegun tripod with links to both world wars. Only Colt Vickers tripods were manufactured with the very distinctive large foot on the rear leg with a two holes futher up this leg to attach the data plate and leather transport strap. This example has matching numbers to the body and cradle of A2883 applied by the British and Colt factory matching numbers to all three legs and the body of 4342. Another unique feature is the brass Fusee stop plate rivetted to the inside of the cradle frame, again only seen on Colt Vickers tripod cradles.

 

The history of the Colt Vickers and their tripods is fascinating and somewhat tragic. Colt only made 12,125 guns and tripods during WWI with production ending in September 1918. Around 1,000 were lost in action during WWI and 2,888 were converted for air force use, leaving around 8,000 left in serivce. At the begining of WWII 500 were shipped to the Dutch East Indies and 200 to the Philipines, all of which were captured by the Japanese. This left around 7,000 guns with tripods of which the majority were then shipped to the UK under the Lend Lease agreement in 1940-41, and this tripod is one of those. It was accepted into British military service in 1941 and has the corresponding date, inspection and Broad Arrow acceptance stamps on the tripod body, cradle and elevation body / housing. After the war the British offered to return all their stocks of guns & tripods back to the US however, the US declined declaring them as obsolete, so the British cut them up and dropped them all into the North Sea making those that survived incredibly rare and sought after. On the rare occasion that they do come to market its usually in the US. You are unlikley to ever see another one here in the UK with such compelling provenance.

 

We have pictured the tripod fitted with a 1918 dated British Vickers for reference only. The Vickers IS NOT INCLUDED and will be available separately.