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Odd 303 rounds???

C

christhurston

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Hello All,
I have a couple of strange 303 rounds in my small SAA collection,I will get the usual,understandable requests for pictures.Sadly,for me this ability is still a work in progress,and once more I'll try my best with one finger.The rounds are headstamped GB (Greenwood & Batley??) and spaced around the head C and VI.They are not fitted with bullets,instead they have bullet shaped brass thingies 30mm long which fit over the necks of the cases.These are held in place with 3 stab crimps above an annular groove around the base,and are what I can best describe as quarter cut at the point,as if to open up when the round is fired.I can find no reference to such things in previous posts in this forum,or anywhere else that I've looked so far. Any ideas???
Chris.
 
Balnk Mark VI

These are indeed made by Greenwood and Batley and are Blank Mark VI with mock bullet. They were introduced in December 1901 to enable blanks to be fed from the magazine as the normal crimped Blank Mark V did not feed well. The mock bullet was supposed to split at the nose. To aid distinguishing these from ordinary ball rounds the cases were stained black.

They were unsuccessful in service, with the mock bullets becoming detached and lodging in the barrel, errors made by mixing live ball ammunition and other problems. It was decided to remove the mock bullets and use them up as ordinary blanks while production reverted to the previous Mark V (which stayed in service until the 1950s).

Regards
TonyE
 
Many thanks,Tony,they are of some age then,although you didn't mention when their use was discontinued.Well before 1914 I assume?
Chris.
 
Blank VI

Sorry, yes it was around 1905 if I remember correctly. If they still have the mock bullet you can safely assume they are 100 years old.

Regards
TonyE
 
Picture of MkII converted blank

Hi hope this photo of the type of blank is helpfull,this one is a Mk II C made by royal laboratory.
Regards Tony
 
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MkII blank

Nice picture smle2009, that is not a common piece. If memory serves I have only seen one other. It is an interesting cartridge to say the least, nice find. Items like this seem to be the odd one you may find at a boot sale (took a while before I realized that boot is the cars trunk!!).........Dano
 
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smle2009 said:
Hi hope this photo of the type of blank is helpfull,this one is a Mk II C made by royal laboratory.
Regards Tony
Click to expand...

Actually that is a Blank Cordite Mark VI made from a Ball Cordite Mark II reject case, as most of them were.

I can appreciate these are hard to find in North America, but they are relatively common here in the UK.

Regards
tonyE
 
na

Tony, everything is hard to find in North America and that's just not too far from true..Respectfully....Dano
 
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