.303 Inspection

[TonyE]

The .303 Inspector's Dummy U Mark V seems only to have been made by ROF Blackpole (BE) and Royal Laboratories (RL) in the UK during WW2. In the Commonwealth they were made by Australia and Canada. BTW, you are correct about MG being Footscray No.2.

The original specification for Inspector's rounds called for a tinned case and a blind cap chamber, but during war time this was relaxed and they can be found with any combination of anvil and fire holes.

The U Mark V was introduced in 1918 to be a stronger version of the previous Mark IV.

There were (obviously) five Marks of inspector's cartridge, Marks I, II and III being round nosed and Marks IV and V with spitzer bullets. Anything prior to the Mark V is difficult to find and the early Marks are quite rare now. In addition to these there were two marks of special steel inspection cartridges to be used by armourers with machine guns, one round nosed the other pointed. Both are exceedingly rare today.

Finish on the Mark V can be anything from white metal (early) to bright plating to a dull cadmium type of finish on the Australian examples. The photo shows a British example plus a couple of different Australian ones.

Post war they were made by ROF Radway Green right up to the end of the .303's life with the cadets in 1973.(although the very last ones had a ball headstamp)

I can post some pictures of the early versions if interested.

Regards
TonyE

 

[christhurston]

Many thanks,Tony,these rounds certainly add some visual interest to a display.I suspect that there will be quite a few I'll be wanting to add to the collection,I'm not going to get away with just adding an RL example to the WW2 section.

The spitzer bullet version produced prior to 1918 will,I assume,be marked U IV,and probably looked a bit different to the later types. I may find one,who knows,likewise with the earlier round nosed versions,it would be handy to see what they look like,Tony,just in case!!!

 

[TonyE]

Inspection

The use of the "U" for Inspector's was only introduced in May 1926, so the headstamp of the earlier type was simply "R^L 13 IV". It could be identified by the tinned case. It has an empty cap chambr with anvil but no fire holes.


I have a spare one........

Regards
TonyE

 

[relbut]

303 Inspection

Australian U Mk V box and hstp. The cartridges are dull grey with cupronickel bullets. The cartridges from the box shown are without headstamps.

Les

 

[MissingSomething]

Australian Inspection Rounds

I have a part box of Australian ones as well....

The flat tinned ones have no headstamp...

 

[christhurston]

These MG stamped inspection rounds have certainly travelled far from their sunny homeland,Footscray No2 was perhaps the only producer of these?

If my info is correct there are at least a dozen different h/stamps found on.303 rounds made down under,some factories using more than one.I've not spotted any WW1 dated examples yet,perhaps it wasn't quite the same then?

I did think that if I concentrated on wartime dated rounds it would keep my collection to manageable proportions.I'm not at all sure about that anymore,different makers,different loadings,different parts of the Commonwealth,not to mention US production.I'm trying hard not to think too much about different dates!!!!

Regards Chris.

 

[smle2009]

Know how you feel Chris! Dates were a non starter with me as the early ones were undated anyway,1889-99 were dated but it was not until 1907 that the date appeared on .303" again.
I tried to confine myself to British 'types' but soon started on commonwealth and US 303.....where will it end?

Tony

 

[TonyE]

Inspector's rounds

Here is the picture of some inspector's rounds as promised.

Left to right:

Inspector's Mark III, h/s "R^L 12 III", empty cap chamber with anvil but no fire-holes. Tinned brass case (although little tinning left)

Inspector's Mark IV, h/s "R^L 16 IV", empty cap chamber with anvil but no fire-holes. Tinned brass case.

Inspector's Mark V, h/s "R^L 18 V", empty cap cahmber without anvil or fire-holes. White metal case.

Inspector's U Mark V, h/s "B^E 1942 UV", empty cap chamber with anvil but no fire-holes. Brass case chromed.

Inspectors U Canadian Pattern, h/s "DAC 40 U LP", empty cap chamber with anvil but no fire-holes painted red. Brass case chromed with four holes and metal spacer. "LP" means "Local Pattern", not "Loading Practice" as has been stated in the past.

Regards
TonyE

 

[TonyE]

Headstamps

These MG stamped inspection rounds have certainly travelled far from their sunny homeland,Footscray No2 was perhaps the only producer of these?

If my info is correct there are at least a dozen different h/stamps found on.303 rounds made down under,some factories using more than one.I've not spotted any WW1 dated examples yet,perhaps it wasn't quite the same then?

I did think that if I concentrated on wartime dated rounds it would keep my collection to manageable proportions.I'm not at all sure about that anymore,different makers,different loadings,different parts of the Commonwealth,not to mention US production.I'm trying hard not to think too much about different dates!!!!

Regards Chris.

There are a lot more than a dozen headstamps found on Australian rounds, even if dates are excluded!

With all the different factories, different loads etc, I have over sixty different Australian headstamps so far in the new book and it is not finished yet.

As for the size of a representative collection of British and Commonwealth .303, I do not collect every date nor the minute differences in headstamp letter size etc., but my collection is well over a thousand different headstamps.

Regards
TonyE

 

[christhurston]

A very interesting selection of inspectors rounds,Tony,many thanks for showing these.They certainly would add a great deal to any display with their different plated finishes and case metals.

My thoughts on the number of makers down under and elsewhere reflect my stage one novice status,I'm afraid.I'm not only disregarding dates but the different loading stamps as well,and although I'm including tracer and incendiaries when I come across them,each one up to now has a different maker.

This can't go on,of course,but it's keeping me going at the moment,I will eventually progress to the different loadings from each of these makers.I doubt that I'll remain on the green side of the turf long enough to get anywhere near your considerable collection,Tony,but it does give me something to aim for!!!

Regards Chris.

 

[TonyE]

.303

Don't worry, the bug will get you, it is no use resisting. Soon you wil be looking for a specific mark of a specific load from a specific maker with a specific date!

BTW, you copy of the book is on its way and I will answer your PM about the Inspectors IV.

Cheers
TonyE

 

[relbut]

303 Inspection

This is a bundle wrapper for U Mk V. Although never used as such, in the course of its life it was used as packing in a tin of Grenade Blanks H Mk IZ (RL 1940), the grenade blanks were broken down and cleaned of the blackening and reloaded as sporting ammunition by Super Ammunition Co (?). From what I gather, a lot of the packing was wrappers (I have one of 303 Drill Mk VI) with some box labels dating back to 1918, although the tins I have are only packed with plain paper.

Les

 

[TonyE]

Labels

A nice label. It seems that old labels and wrappers were often used as packing or for other uses. I have a number of the larger outer labels that were used as scrap notepaper in the factories.

I would like to have seen some of the early wrappers that go back to 1918 though.

Regards
TonyE