9mm contract labels

[TonyE]

The first British contract for 9mmP was with Winchester in early 1940 and was intended for use in the Smith & Wesson machine carbine that they were developing for the UK. In July 1940 210 million ball rounds were ordered (10 million of which were for the Admiralty) and 40,000 rounds of proof. Later in March 1941, after the S & W carbine had failed and the Lanchester was being issued, another 200 million rounds were ordered from America and the contract records it was "For Schmeisser Gun", a reference to the MP 28.

As well as ball and proof ammunition, Winchester also supplied drill rounds. The proof rounds had nickel plated cases and the drill roiunds had blackened cases. I have not posted pictures of the rounds but can do if required.

Regards
Tonye

[303Gunner]

In addition to the boxes you have shown, there was also a 50 round "For Sub-Machine Gun" also.

[TonyE]

Thanks for that.

The 50 round box is actually more commonly found in the UK than the 64 round box.

Regards
TonyE

[TonyE]

I thought I would add some pictures of the contract rounds.

The first shows two different WRA 9mm drill rounds and the .45 ACP drill. One 9mm has a blind cap chamber whilst the other has a drilled dummy cap and a wood spacer. The .45 ACP is a mixture of both, with no cap but a drilled cap chamber through which the wood spacer can be seen.

The second picture shows the Winchester proof round with the nickeled case. The other round on the left is a Canadian 1945 9mm Proof.

Finally a couple of WRA ball rounds. On the left is a normal example, but the one on the right appears to have been chemically blackened, as the colour is too even to be discolouration of the brass. Both have the same "WRA 9MM" headstamp. I suspect it might be another proof round, as case blackening was used in the U.S. to identify proof rounds.

Regards
TonyE

[TonyE]

Just to round out the contract rounds, here is a Western Cartridge Company 9mm with steel case. Headstamp is "WCC 43".

Regards
TonyE

[Lewis]

Tony, thanks for starting this thread. I'll tack on a bit.

The round on the far left is a Steel Case WRA 9M-M load. These are quite hard to find and probably only existed as a single test lot. The WCC 43 steel case is normally found with a gray lacquered case, but Walt Kramer who was assigned to FA during WWII had a whole series in his collection with labels like "copper washed", brass washed" and similar but all were rusted until they all looked identical. Apparently there were a series of case finishes tested. Even the gray lacquer case is very prone to rust.

The other three dummy rounds all showed up in the UK when I was there in the 1970s.
- The dummy on the far right has a brass rod that extends the length of the case and the top has a bullet like ogive.
- the next dummy has a rubber filled primer pocket and a red painted wooden filler. The bullet has been cut and drilled into a hollow point.
- The third has a wood filler that continues up to provide a bullet shape. The top is stained red. The primer has been filled with a solder type substance.

I have seen a number of specimens of the last two of these dummies. It has been suggested to me that these may be dummies made by the Home Guard.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Cheers,

Lew