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odd .303" WW1 BLANKS

smle2009

smle2009

Well-Known Member
Hi,has anyone any information on these blanks? centre is 1915 VII ball for scale ect. The blank on the left is marked B.15 VII(Birmingham metal & munitions Co Ltd 1915 MkVII) the end is sealed with wax?,the right hand blank is marked E/15 VII(Eley 1915 MkVII),I have not found any reference to these blank on the web or in books,my hunch is that they could ignition cartridges for the early trench mortor/howitzer which used a "cut off" enfield action to fire???
Thanks Tony
 
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Here are my 2 cents....

The one on the left is a MG blank Mark I.
The one on the right is a Detonator No. 110 fuze, Mark I. Used in rifle grenades and trench mortars. This one I believe was used in a 6" trench mortar fuze.

I am sure that the .303 experts will pipe in and confirm or deny....
 
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From what I have been reading, a lot of the blanks and such used unsuitable cases.... so any ball ammo cases that didn't meet spec or were surplus were made into blanks, etc...
 
Blanks

The right hand one could also be the detonator from the No.22 rifle grenade or the No.29 grenade. Once out of their packets these detonators are notoriously difficult to identify. Some were blackened for identification, but this is often polished off by people mistakingly thinking it is dirt or corrosion.

The left hand item is not, unfortunately, the rare MG blank Mark I, but the rather more common launcher cartridge for the Toffee Apple.

I have an example of the MG Mark I and as you can see on the right hand side in the picture, is quite distinctive.

As previously posted, virtually all these miscellaneous detonators etc. based on the .303 case were made from reject ball rounds or from unfinished ball cases.

Regards
TonyE
 

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many thanks

Many thanks to all for info, & thanks again TonyE, I have allways found .303" a bit of a minefield!!! Sorry for not reading previous posting, still finding my way around the site!
Tony
 
Thanks TonyE for the picks of the MK1 MG blank and the Toffee apple launcher cartridge.....easy to ID now that I can see the differences between them side by side, not having seen one before and only seeing it in line drawings.... easy for me to assume thats what it was...:tinysmile_eyebrow_t

Cheers. :tinysmile_fatgrin_t
 
smle2009 said:
Many thanks to all for info, & thanks again TonyE, I have allways found .303" a bit of a minefield!!! Sorry for not reading previous posting, still finding my way around the site!
Tony
Click to expand...

A bit of a minefield.....? (I will excuse the pun) There are only about 110 different Marks of British .303 with about fifty different manufacturers over about eighty years, soi its quite easy really!:tinysmile_cry_t4:

I have been collecting and studying British military small arms ammo for nearly fifty years and I still have about a dozen marks of .303 to find for the collection. I think I have examples from every manufacturer but that is all part of the fun.

Now, if anyone wants to donate to me a Cordite Ball Mark III or an Incendiary B Mark V etc. i shall gladly buy them a pint!

Cheers
tonyE
 
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