.303 Bullet ID
- Thread starter Jim567
- Start date
No extras mags.
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This was not my quote.
All my current magazines in my rifles are serial numbered to the receiver.
The older Lee Enfields I owned did have the loop and I did know what it was for.
Regardless I am correct, LEs use both magazines and clip/chargers.
No extra mags were not a statement from me.
If I was i harms way with a L E I would want one or two extra!!
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This was not my quote.
All my current magazines in my rifles are serial numbered to the receiver.
The older Lee Enfields I owned did have the loop and I did know what it was for.
Regardless I am correct, LEs use both magazines and clip/chargers.
No extra mags were not a statement from me.
If I was i harms way with a L E I would want one or two extra!!
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The very first MLMs were issued with a spare magazine, these spares were ordered to be returned to stores in 1890 & from then on Lee Metfords & then the Lee Enfield were issued with one magazine.
Indeed the Belmont .303 ammo is pulled & replaced with a different projectile using the original powder, the factory is just 2 miles up the road (same street) as me, i know Bruce the owner & have verified that fact with him.
Btw they were tracer rounds, not incendiary
Indeed the Belmont .303 ammo is pulled & replaced with a different projectile using the original powder, the factory is just 2 miles up the road (same street) as me, i know Bruce the owner & have verified that fact with him.
Btw they were tracer rounds, not incendiary
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I think you'll find that these were the correct color codes for primer sealant.
United Kingdom & Commonwealth Countries before 1955
including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa
Blue would have been Incendiary, Ball would have been Purple (which might be confused with Blue under some lighting, but tracer was either White, Grey, or red.
United Kingdom & Commonwealth Countries before 1955
including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa
Code:
Bullet Type Color of Tip Color of Annulus
Amour Piercing Green Green
Ball None Purple
Incendiary Blue Blue
Observing Black Black
Proof None Yellow
Tracer Short Range White Red
Tracer Dark Ignition Grey Red
Tracer Long Range Red Red
Mike Irwin
Staff
Early rifles, Lee-Metfords and the first variants of the Lee-Enfield, had no charger guides. The magazine was loaded by hand and was intended to be held in reserve, and only used by order of an officer. Otherwise, the rifles were intended to be singly loaded. The spare magazine was intended to be a replacement for a damaged one or, in extreme circumstances, used if there wasn't time to reload the primary.
The first Lee-Enfield to incorporate an integral charger guide was the Mk I, adopted in 1902, although some Pattern 1895 (Magazine, Lee-Enfield) rifles were retrofitted with charger guides based on experience in the Boer War.
Even so, the loaded magazine was still to be held in reserve and the rifle single loaded.
The loop on the magazine was a keeper. Its original purpose was if the second magazine had to be used.
Once the second magazine was dropped with the advent of charger loading, the keeper was retained to make sure that the magazine wasn't inadvertently lost. Replacing a lost magazine could be something of a pain in the ass when you're half-way around the world.
I believe the keeper was finally discarded during World War I, when a lot of frills and non-essentials (magazine cutoff, volley sights) were dropped to speed production.
The first Lee-Enfield to incorporate an integral charger guide was the Mk I, adopted in 1902, although some Pattern 1895 (Magazine, Lee-Enfield) rifles were retrofitted with charger guides based on experience in the Boer War.
Even so, the loaded magazine was still to be held in reserve and the rifle single loaded.
The loop on the magazine was a keeper. Its original purpose was if the second magazine had to be used.
Once the second magazine was dropped with the advent of charger loading, the keeper was retained to make sure that the magazine wasn't inadvertently lost. Replacing a lost magazine could be something of a pain in the ass when you're half-way around the world.
I believe the keeper was finally discarded during World War I, when a lot of frills and non-essentials (magazine cutoff, volley sights) were dropped to speed production.
The keeper chain was dropped along with the loop on the magazine, but the loop on the rifle remained, probably because no one ever told the makers to eliminate it. It was later used to retain a canvas receiver cover, and some collectors assume that was its original and only purpose.
Jim
Jim