Hmmmm, why did lantern manufacturers have such bizarre naming conventions? Did the proximity to fuel eat their brain cells or something? I guess you have to accept that this is an X246A because it's factory stamped by Tilley so... it must be an A, but we all know it isn't really! An A looks like a better made B with screw on frame legs whereas this is a Guardsman. Sometimes I think they simply couldn't be a$$ed and stamped anything they could find using whatever they had to hand. Still, it's a very shiny Guardsman that will clean up well - nice find and probably a bit more sought after because of the stamping on the tank.
For some reason these turn up now and again, I found one earlier in the year, not quite as nice as yours. 1961 Tilley X246A - Guardsman? Nice find.
I see according to the reference gallery that the Guardman style as well as the later style pumps were were used on the August 1961 X246A . Guess it's up to me to decide how to complete it. The December 1961 X246A in the reference gallery has the Guardsman style pump.
Full quote above in this thread. I’ve looked through the listings here of the X246As and conclude: 1. The X246A with the Guardsman tank/frame were stamped X246A in Dunmurry while they were gearing up for the new-style X246A that came on the market in October 1961. At least some of these were made at Hendon (“Made in England” stamped on the base plate), but stamped X246A in Dunmurry (“Manufactured in the United Kingdom” on the side of the tank): 1961 Tilley X246A - Guardsman? 1961 (December) Tilley X246A It could be that Tilley were using old X246 stock, rather that making the Guardsman style tank at Dunmurry. 2. The Guardsman X246A date from April 1961 to December 1961. 3. The new style X246A date from October 1961. Some Guardsman X246A tanks may have been made in Dunmurry (if not stamped “Made in England” on the base plate), so everyone who has one should check the base plate. [See also Neil McRae’s Pressure Lamp Catalogue] Cheers Tony @Mackburner
Another “Made in England”/“Manufactured in United Kingdom” Guardsman X246A: Tilley X246A September 1961 Brown Hood Cheers Tony
I’ve just obtained a somewhat rough x246A Guardsman with the ‘made in England’ / ‘manufactured in the United Kingdom’ markings. It’s dated Aug ‘61 and was a local find. So there must be a few out there.
Great finds and interesting stuff It does seem that the base plates were made in Hendon .. presumably they knocked out tons of spares to help in the transition period i don’t know if a guardsman base plate (stamped made in england ) would even fit in the normal 246a font but if it did you might have another variant..
Thanks Tony, yes i did see that and all grist to the mill I will have to have a measure up at some point regards p
Above in this thread, I said the “new style” X246A came on the market in October 1961. @Sedgman has now pushed this date back to September 1961: 1961 (Sep) Tilley X246A Cheers Tony
