.303 incendiary round ?

[trailbiker]

Can somebody confirm if I've ID'd this correctly as .303 incendiary round please. I've tried to find some id photos on Google, but haven't had much luck. Based my assumption on Tony E's great book about .303 ammunition.
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[Jimiles]

It might help to know where you found this bullet? It looks more like a 7.62mm NATO Tracer to me.
Jim

 

[pzgr40]

I've compared and measured both. The .303 Incendiary is 36,5mm long, the 7,62x51 tracer is 33,7mm long.

 

[trailbiker]

It was found on a WW2 gunnery range, and it measures 35 mm long, if that's any help.

 

[Jimiles]

Okay, if it's WW2 vintage its obviously not a 7.62mm NATO but I am convinced that its tracer and not incendiary. I'm more inclined to suggest its British .30-06 Tracer. This would be about 36mm long.
Jim

 

[smle2009]

The extra rilled cannular would suggest it's tracer,in UK service,I think you've nailed it on the head Jim....all the UK .300"(30-06 if we must) tracer that I have do have this extra cannular.

Tony

 

[trailbiker]

Thanks for all the replies. I should have put my vernier on it to start with, as you're right it is.30 calibre and not .303 like I originally thought. The gunnery range in question was primarily used by the Americans I believe, so unlikely to be .303. So was this UK service round the same as the American .30 calibre rounds ?

 

[Jimiles]

This is typical of the cartridge your bullet would have come from although you will note that this one is dated 1960. The UK didn't manufacture tracer ammunition in this particular calibre until the mid-1950's which seems a little late for your firing range if you're absolutely sure it was only in use during the war. Is there any possibility the range saw some use after the war and into the 1950's? Prior to this cartridge the UK was using American .30-06 ammunition but the US tracer bullet did not have the milled cannelure around the bullet.
Jim

 

[trailbiker]

Thanks for the reply, Jim. I don't know when the range stopped being used, but wouldn't have thought it was into the 1950's, but maybe I'm wrong. I thought it was just used during the second world war.

 

[khanmak]

Based on the information you have supplied (image + bullet length), this is a US .30-06 M2 Armor Piercing bullet. The length is correct (35mm) & the additional knurled identification cannelure indicates this. It is not a UK G Mark 1.z tracer as the length is wrong for this (37.2mm) and both cannelures are knurled on this bullet. The M2 AP would be consistent with your understanding of the use of the range.

 

[Jimiles]

Khanmak's got it....and I'm kicking myself for missing it! Here's a picture of a typical US .30-06 M2 Armour Piercing round from the WW2 era.Jim

 

[trailbiker]

Thanks for that Khanmak. Looks as though I'll have to put that in the safe then !