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lads first finds

Z

zziplex

Member
need some help with these,my lad collected them at a target ship on a sandbank.he only just started collecting(7 year old).picked up .50 cal cases with usa ww2 head stamps aswell.think they must have been fired from a plane?.he would like to know wot sort they are ap ,tracer etc.have gained a bit of info from this site but some links about .50cal ww2 would help.he also collected .303 bullets and cases ww2 aswell,i know RAF sutton bridge was a gunnery training station with spitfires in ww2,only about 3 miles away.will post them later....thanks012.jpg013.jpg014.jpg016.jpg012.jpg013.jpg014.jpg016.jpg
 
Hi zziplex,
the flat bottomed projectiles in your first photo are almost certainly tracer or incendiary if from WW2,is there a hole in the base of the bullets? the other 'boat tailed' bullets could be ball or AP,the easiest way to tell is with magnet,AP will have a very strong magnetic attraction,the ball may well also have some magnetic attraction as well depending on the bullet jacket material,usually GM(guilded metal).
The headstamps on the .303" cases will give a much more detailed identification of what type of loads were used.

All the best
Tony
 
looked at the flat bottomed ones,some hollow all way through others have a greyish powder inside.also one boat tail is hollow and not magnetic,all the rest highly magnetic,do the cannalures and riffeling mean anything or was this just a variation by different factorys.thanks for the help learnt so much already
 
The hollow bases and grey powder are sure signs of tracer or incendiary,the hollow boat tail version could be a later tracer?,the extra cannalures on British manufactured projectiles usualy does indicate tracer,incendiary or spotting rounds but I'm going to stick my neck out and say not always so on USA rounds as I have ball,tracer,AP,incendiary and even drill rounds with and without extra cannulures.
 
BARE IN MIND....Technically those that are magnetic are ilegal to own due to being armour piercing rounds, even though they are inert and fired.
 
Yes - sorry to be a kill-joy but without examining the projectiles above in detail - air fired .50 calibre ammunition is very likely to include both incendiary and armour piercing projectiles. Both of which are prohibited and potentially dangerous.
[h=3]Section 5 (1A)[/h]any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed so that a substance contained in the missile will ignite on or immediately before impact.

any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed, on account of its having a jacket and hard core, to penetrate armour plating, armour screening or body armour.

I would also strongly advise against searching for munitions (fired of otherwise) around known targets or ex-targets - whatever your age. Not only on safety grounds but you might be breaking bye-laws notwithstanding other laws!

Sorry!
 
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