7.92 m/m x 57 on belt

[Bockscar]

I came across this little lot of 7.92 m/m x 57 rounds complete on a non disintegrating belt at the weekend at my local flea market....It has restored my faith again as it has been quite some time since I have purchased anything as the collecting has taken something of a holiday lately!
The rounds as purchased were in a filthy condition, and it will be neccessary to give them a light clean in order to display them (As well as read the headstamps!) I took the opportunity today to clean up six of them to show the difference from when I got them.
All of the rounds are different in some respect - for example there are German rounds and Polish as well as Yugoslavian and these all come in different case and projectile materials. I dont appear to have any "doublers" at this stage as far as the headstamps are concerned - which is a bonus as far as I am concerned! (Just love headstamps!). I have even found one 1915 dated Polte manufactured round as well! It looks as if whoever had these before me used the belt as a means of displaying the different rounds.
So this bunch shall keep me busy for a while doing a bit of cataloging and cleaning. The Starter tab on the belt is stamped "dfb 2 42" and the belt itself is stamped "6 40", the makers code being un-identifiable.

 

[jonnyc]

For my personal taste, you have cleaned those bottom rounds way too much. Lots of collectors prefer a natural patina to a polished look. I only clean rounds with a lightly oiled cloth. That way no color markings or other distinguishing characteristics get lost.

 

[hangarman]

Same here. Don't go for the highly polished look, they were never like that originally. If you want to remove the tarnishing, try rust remover (phosphoric acid) , be sure to wear ppe. This should remove the tarnishing without giving it the "key ring" look.
Hangarman

 

[Dave83]

Belt and rounds

Nice find i agree pls dont clean the rounds to much now there are looking like new !!
This kind of round and belt was used for the German MG 42 and MG 34

Wbr David

 

[peashooter]

I am with you I like to give mine a good clean and get rid of all the crud, they soon start to colour up again and it is each to there own on the cleaning front. Very nice find there

Richard.

 

[Bockscar]

Thanks for all the comments regarding cleaning (or not cleaning!) the above rounds. I have been collecting for many years now and I can honestly say that as a rule I never clean any rounds that I pick up. However, these rounds were in a real state - What the picture did not show was the old oil on the belt and rounds that had gummed up over the years after being becoming contaminated with dirt and grit - a real mess indeed! This is the reason why the rounds were cleaned.

 

[Falcon]

WD-40 on a cloth works very well to remove crud without destroying the patina. A scrub with a brass bristled brush also removes any heavier dirt or virdigris without giving it the polished shine. If you do polish with brasso, make sure to avoid excessive handling, as any finger marks will be very obvious. Nice find anyway, if you don't mind saying, how much did you end up paying for it?

 

[pointblank0]

Same here. Don't go for the highly polished look, they were never like that originally. If you want to remove the tarnishing, try rust remover (phosphoric acid) , be sure to wear ppe. This should remove the tarnishing without giving it the "key ring" look.
Hangarman

I'm not too sure. Give them a couple of years and they'll all start ageing again at roughly the same rate anyway and look like fantastic mint examples after not too long. Nice find!

 

[Bockscar]

WD-40 is the only thing I use on any cartridges I have that need cleaning...discovered how good it was years ago, I does a lot of things but I dont think you will ever find " Good for cleaning your ammo" printed on the can! We have really fine abrasive pads in the work that are totally useless in the abrasive role - cheap rubbish I reckon, but are great for this job...I would say they are more like a sort of rough cloth, and when soaked in the liquid and applied they take the rubbish off fairly quickly.
I also know that the metals shall darken down over time too as age takes its course with them. One other thing though was the fact that the picture of the rounds was taken on a flash setting on a white background...I think maybe this has set up some false colours so that the "dirty" rounds actually look quite clean and the cleaned rounds look real shiny. I can assure you that this is not the case.
As for the cost? well, I do know the guy on the stall from many years back and he gave me a good deal at....well, that would be telling wouldnt it! - anybody up for a guess?