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DennisCA

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I was cleaning/sorting my ammo closet and I came across some ammo that (for some reason) I didn't mark them. Yes I know it was dumb. :o
Any-how I took some pic's in the hope someone could postively ID them.
(I couldn't get them real sharp but you get the idea)

h2io.jpg

(Full-Lenght View)

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(Close-UP)

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(I had to draw it out and take a pic - my camera couldn't get a decent shot of the markings) Thank goodness I know powerpoint!

I'm thinking it's 8MM Mauser or .303 ammo but I've been wrong before!
(My wife will vouch for that)
 
Cupro-nickle jacketed Mk 7 (VII) .303 British ball. Cordite filled & corrosive. Bullet is a 174 Gr FB FMJ.
Loaded in November of 1939 in India by Kirkee Arsenal.

KF or K Indian Government Ammunition Factory Kirkee (or Kirkee Arsenal), near Poona, INDIA. In 1918 this factory had the capacity to produce about 5.4 million rounds per month. It is known to have manufactured .303 cartridges.
Click to expand...
 
If it still fires, it should be safe, but highly corrosive and erosive. I am not an ammo collector, but if you take it to a gun show and stop by a collectors' ammo table, the dealer might take an interest. I have no idea of the value.

(Just FWIW, that production rate is rather small; in WWII, Frankford Arsenal produced about 1.1 million rounds of .30 ammunition a day.)

Jim
 
I think it's worth no more than any other 303 brit surplus. the cordite has a nasty reputation for sticking in the barrels and burning, making the barrel erode faster with sustained fire. however for average shooting, it shouldn't be a problem. it's not very consistent and with some of it the cordite takes a second to fully ignite so you have quite a fireball and possible fire hazard. it's safe to the shooter but I wouldn't shoot it in tall dry grass.
 
So you have some .303 Brit ball ammo, loaded two months after the start of WW II.

As ammo, its nothing much, but as a WWII collectable, it is something. Not a big something, but something. I've got some 1940 & 44 stuff. I won't shoot it, someday it will wind up in a period correct display. I also have a couple boxes of 1938 German 7,92mm, and its not going to be shot, either.

There is still some surplus stuff out there that wasn't made during the war years, and of course, you can still get new .303 Brit, so why shoot it?
 
Safe to shoot, probably. Ammo that old is sometimes click...BANG, but that's not hazardous, just annoying.

Collectable? kinda-sorta, its up to the buyer who may be trying to finish out a collection & is looking for that exact variant. .303 was made literally over 1/2 the world in hundreds of plants large & small in huge quantities.

AS an example I have a sealed crate of 1944 .303 British in cloth belts for the Vickers machine gun. I offered it up for trade to collectors, the deal being swap the sealed case, belt & ammo as a collectable for an equal quantity of "shooting ammo", no one was knocking the door down, so I'm keeping it as "emergency reserve ammo":D

Regarding the comments about it being "bad, but not dangerous". This stuff was fired in millions of rounds through tens of thousands of Lee Enfields over several decades. Most of them survived the experience, the better cared for ones survived it well & are still shooting perfectly 78, 80, or 90 years later!

If you can tolerate the potential for click...BANGs I'd shoot it & clean for corrosive ammo. Ammo comes in 2 forms, corrosive & non-corrosive, there's no such thing as "semi corrosive", "mildly corrosive" or "horribly corrosive" Its either corrosive or it aint!:)
 
That was one of the places I offered it.:(

At first I thought I was "doing the right thing" by not wrecking a "valuable collector's piece" to salvage 250 rounds of shooter ammo.

My theory was that a collector might value the intact sealed item a bit more than I would as a shooter. Option "B" was to open it, pull the ammo, shoot it & sell the opened crate/spam can/belt to a collector. I figured that at the worst I had 250 rounds of .303.

I was offered 100 rounds of Pakistani click bang by one guy & just laughed. Why would I trade 250 rounds of decent MilSurp for 100 rounds of known dicey click bang?:rolleyes:
 
Yeah, that's a problem these days. Its tough to find someone who still believes that a trade should be fair value to both. Too many people think a trade should be profit to them, and screw you.
 
I still don't understand why he thought I'd go for it. All I had to do was shoot the stuff. There was zero traction to his offer, but he made it anyway.:confused:
 
I still don't understand why he thought I'd go for it. All I had to do was shoot the stuff. There was zero traction to his offer, but he made it anyway.
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There those out there who are always "fishing" for that sucker. Usually you find them running pawn shops.
 
yeah, like the guy that sold me a low serial springfield for $200 over value buy trying to sell me a model 1917 with a cracked handguard for $350 over value. worked... now I have a gun I almost never shoot.
 
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