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Ammo box

smle2009

smle2009

Well-Known Member
My wife found this box on a pavement in the middle of Bournemouth a few months ago!(got her trained) it's obviously not British as it refers to NATO 7.62mm ball as cartridges! I am guessing that it may be Dutch because of the UN No has NL as part of the code(Nederlands?) the code is UN/4A1/Y10/S/93/NL/DEF996, can anyone confirm or correct my guess,any info would be helpfull, sorry if I have asked a obvious question but I do not collect ammo boxes and know zip about them
Cheers Tony
 

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Hi Tony,
can't say for sure of the origin of the box, but guess its either Dutch or Canadian. But look at the loading datas - RG - so at least it contained British made ammo.
Erik
 
Hi Erik,
Thanks for the info,Radway Green do contract to other countries & are no longer a Royal Ordnace factory so sell to the highest bidder,British forces are now using Swiss made ammo!
Cheers Tony
 
Hi SMLE
I am 99% sure that it is Dutch as the UK have GB on & I am sure I have seen/used german ammo tins with D.
Further to my earlier comments elsewhere here, due to the great british gov`t & our lack of dedicated RO factories our men & women are using Spanish, German & Belgian made NATO spec ammo. Not that I am against the lovely happy clappy EU club - much - but I have little confidence on relying on a foriegn power to supply quality, reliable & consistent ammo. Sabotage springs to mind - I`m not paranoid & I know DQAG do (or are meant to) quality checks but still not happy with this situation.
Also just got back from USA & they have a shortage of NATO spec reloading bullets!!
Sad git I am I couldn`t help looking & asking!
 
can you post a pic of the catch? Its definately Dutch as you guessed, the UN code says so.

My guess is its an M2A1 but the top edge should be straight and not angled . It might be a bitsa with a "foregin" lid.
 
Hi CplCombat,
photos of catch as requested
Cheers Tony
 

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M19A1 Can

Having posted some images of my Canadian ammunition cans on this forum, I have just learned from Ammocat that this type of can is a M19A1. I believe that your example is from the Netherlands.
 
Thanks Ed,
I do have some other ammo boxes,I confess to using them for tools & keeping bits & pieces in!!!! maybe I should put some on for Identification,the only two I have in my collection(to display linked ammo) are a U.S. 30 cal & a Brit 7.62mm,would'nt even know the M or L No's of them! Did have a nice wood 303 box but the pup took to use it as a chew!
Cheers Tony
 
M19A1 Ammunition Can

Here is an image of a Canadian can with the M19A1 stamped on the end face with the manufacture's initials (S.C.F.) and what looks like a year of manufacture (94).

IMG_2633.jpg
 
Hi Ed,
kept every thing chewable out of reach after that,but not before he ate my camera USB lead,which is a pain as I have to trick my computer into thinking my printer is a disc drive & drag pics across to my photo albums!
No markings on the end of my box
Cheers Tony
 
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hold all

We have a surplus store about 20 miles away that has a s__t load of steel ammo boxes, but every one has the outside stenciling painted over. What a shame. I've thought of buying one and using my paint strip method, but have yet to get that far. I'm guilty as Tony, using amo boxes to hold everything from scoop to nuts. They are handy..Dano
 
What is wrong with using ammo boxes to hold things? Mega amounts were made and are being continued to being made, probably as cheap as chips too. I use them, got a load of tent pegs in one, beekeeping equipment in another. All are modern, 1967 onwards. I certainly aint going to look at them, they are being very usefull as they are, with or without markings. I wont be restoring any of them.

Andy
 
W/proof

I totally agree Andy, also use ones with good seals for camping to hold stuff that must remain DRY. Dano
 
Hi Dano,
same as that bud, used them for camping myself, very useful bits of kit. Now, Mills boxes, AAH, another matter.

Andy
 
Collecting Boxes

Just because there are large amounts of something around today does not necessarily mean that there will be that many around in the future. How many of the WWI and WWII ammunition crates were used as firewood or broken up for other purposes because the wood was useful? If you think of the amount of WWII metal ammunition boxes that must have been produced and how few there are today, then keeping an eye out for the boxes in use today and collecting them while they are still available and 'cheap as chips' is benefiting from hindsight. Sure the modern ones make great storage containers and I am sure that there are quite a few of the forum members who have some for storage, but to haphazardly dismiss them all as unworthly of collection simply because they are current is a bit narrow minded.
 
In the UK its a part of the return and salvage/recycle process that requires any external markings on ordnance and boxes to be "Obliterated". The orange warning diamonds should be removed or covered up too. I assume it to be the same in America. Units returning boxes use a variety of paint types to obsure markings from Gloss paint to Emulsion and spray paint from cans. If you ever have yellow paint which has been applied from a spray can, try using Brasso to remove it. Works a treat. It's road marking paint.

One good thing about collecting ammo boxes, you never have a shortage of storage space :)
 
edstorey said:
then keeping an eye out for the boxes in use today and collecting them while they are still available and 'cheap as chips' is benefiting from hindsight.
Click to expand...

Too true, I got 110 C.238 mk II for 4 each and the guy still has pallets of them left. Best thing about it was they all contained the the poly packing and plastic tubes and in some cases the cotton beckets for pulling out the tube. If only i could find WWII boxes in that condition. He also has pallet loads of P.85 cw cardboard tubes for 105mm rounds. You often see the boxes sell on ebay for 20 plus.
 
edstorey said:
Just because there are large amounts of something around today does not necessarily mean that there will be that many around in the future. How many of the WWI and WWII ammunition crates were used as firewood or broken up for other purposes because the wood was useful? If you think of the amount of WWII metal ammunition boxes that must have been produced and how few there are today, then keeping an eye out for the boxes in use today and collecting them while they are still available and 'cheap as chips' is benefiting from hindsight. Sure the modern ones make great storage containers and I am sure that there are quite a few of the forum members who have some for storage, but to haphazardly dismiss them all as unworthly of collection simply because they are current is a bit narrow minded.
Click to expand...

Hi bud,

i wasnt knocking the collecting of modern amunition boxes in any way but at the moment with all the worldwide agro thats going on, later ones will be pretty common and have multiple uses for which i am gratefull and i am certainly not that 'narrow minded' to realise that some will become collectable. I suspect that like old cars, if they cannot either find good homes or be reused they should be recycled. I can also understand that if they contained a particularly rare bit of ammo, or which is more understandible, the general public cannot get hold of them due to the circumstances in which they are being used then they will be scarce.
WW1 and WW2 boxes will always command a premium and most that were made of wood contributed to the comfort of the Tommies by being used to cook with.
Perhaps we shoud move onto plastic containers next.

Andy
 
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