Hi Dave...Been a long time.....Thanks for that great testimonial especially from you , the recognised expert on these MG's.....One point that has occured to me recently , that you may be able to explain is this.....Respect to DrI,DVII.etc...Where the empty belt shoot is only big enough for use of (?40mm) Parambellum type narrow belt......Why , (when presumably it would have been better from opperation of MG ref.,feed block ,and storeing live belt etc,. )..did they not make the "used belt" shoot big enough for the wider(including indexing fingers ) standard 08 belt in the first place.?....Just wondering , is it possible that the small exit shoot was deseigned for disintigrating links initial..and for some reason , these were not taken-up or were opperationaly unsucessful....this then leading to subsequent "fix" of using the widely seen Parambellum belt.?......Also , was there some form of tensioning applied to the belt after the shoot tube exit , to prevent the used belt from"concertinaring " up and jamming inside the tube.?...(this seems to have been necessary with the Vickers..SPAD & Nieuports &Sop Pup)
.....Best Regards ..John.