Lovatt calculator - SMLE Mk VII

Hi,

How in the hell did you find the only thing that google does not know anything about lol?
Did you purchase it?

Sincerely,
Theis

Go over to milsurps & ask in the Enfield section.
You’ll probably even get a history of said item too.

I have a note out to my friend Martin Pegler... If anyone knows, he will.

Very cool item. Yes, Google has never been stumped. Nor has my library. This is cool!

Cheers,

Sirhr

What kind of batteries does it use? Does it require an internet connection or is there sufficient internal memory?

?

Ok... well, you stumped my friend Martin Pegler, author, military historian and former head curator at the Royal Armoury at Leeds! He has some e-mails out at this point as well!

We both agree that it appears to be WW1. And also note that it would not (necessarily) relate to Lord Lovat's Commandos... the butcher and bolt bunch... as Lovatt is spelled with two T's. Also, WW1 saw a lot more of this 'buy it at the Army Navy Store' pukka kit that likely did not help much when you marched into machine guns carrying little more than a bayonet or swagger stick.

More to follow.... but so far, you have stumped Google AND one of the world's top firearms historians...

BTW, if you hang out here and don't own Martin Pegler's book on the history of U.S. Military Sniping... shame on you!

https://www.amazon.com/Sniper-History-Marksman-General-Military/dp/1846034957

Buy here. Get several copies!

Cheers,

Sirhr

BTW, is that in a museum? Or a private collection? I assume a museum collection based on the photograph which has other collection items with it.

I also have a note out to the curator at the Springfield Armory. They have a collection of 'kit' that they brought back from Europe after WW1 for study. Officers were under orders to buy up (or steal or trade for or acquire) any and all interesting military technology. There is a display at the SA museum of the stuff now.

Cheers,

Sirhr

Wondering if this is a one off invention that couldn't get financial backing.

A slide rule of sorts to account for spin drift?

Figure true wind based on the appearance of the range flag in the center dial than add your range presto spindrift calculated for.

Brits complicating what the Americans factored into the construction of the '03 sight slide.........

Interesting piece of kit. There is a Provisional Patent number on the lid... that would be the starting point for looking for info if someone was so inclined. Someplace in an archive that most probably resembles the warehouse from the closing scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark is the document containing the answer.

You mean to say the Brits have a tendancy to over-complicate and design things? Who knew??‍

Hi,

You should contact google and get them to run a contest on finding information, lol.
Make a bet with them that you have an image to something that is un-google-able......

Sincerely,
Theis

Mk 7 ball had a G1 BC roughly in the .400-.450 range from research/educated guesses I've done in the past. ~2450fps muzzle velocity if memory serves. Can test it against JBM.

As a son of Empire it looks like a wind deflection scale for Full Bore shooting. The instructions relate to a square range with flags.

I can't even find anything referencing the provisional patent number, photos, nothing.

AIAW said:

I can't even find anything referencing the provisional patent number, photos, nothing.

Click to expand...

Hi,

I have checked UK and International patents...nothing.
Am I the only one that wants this device?

Sincerely,
Theis

THEIS said:

Hi,

I have checked UK and International patents...nothing.
Am I the only one that wants this device?

Sincerely,
Theis

Click to expand...

True. It's like some phantom device that isn't supposed to exist in this realm. It's sort of easy for us to see what it does, but quite amazing that there is no searchable info on it.

It is probably a century old or so... there are probably only paper documents for that patent submission... digitizing all those old files would be laborious.

interestingly enough, a gentleman from West Virginia filed for a US Patent for an "analog calculator for determining the deflection of a rifle bullet due to the effects of wind speed and wind direction..."

Application US20170046542 filed on August 11, 2015.

OP, I would suggest you send that photo off to Ian McCollum.
he has resources world wide and might be able to find some info.
Check forgotten weapons.com

Spoke to a friend of mine, an expert in Full Bore and arcane knowledge. His advice was pointed and blunt. But it is worth repeating in full given some of the weird and wonderful exchanges on SH.

"It looks like some sort of psychological crutch for tech nerds who can’t read wind..."

Another possibility is it was part of an old Milton Bradley board game...