.303 crate for the R.U.C. (Royal Ulster Constabulary)

[reccetrooper]

Interesting and well marked wooden crate from December 1960 used for shipping 1.000 commercial Kynoch .303 Mk.VII ball cartridges in cartons to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. I guess for use in Enfield rifles?


LICENSED O.A.S-G

THE SUPERINTENDENT
R.U.C. CENTRAL STORES
SPRUCEFIELD, LISBURN
CO. ANTRIM
N.IRELAND

1000 .303 BALL MK VII (CTNS)

58 K30 12 60

58 NI 7/70

INSP ALF KTN 08/94


I have a few questions about the markings.
What does O.A.S-G mean?
Is 58 NI 7/70 a later inspection mark, or was it 10 year old ammunition that was shipped in 1970?
When it was re-inspected in August 1994, who or what was ALF KTN ?

 

[Muskey]

Nice box George! Historical records show that in 1960 the RUC had on issue two types of .303 firearms: the SMLE No.1 Mk3; and the Bren LMG. The last .303 to see service with the force was the LE No.4 Mk.1&2 which was withdrawn from service in 1972.

 

[reccetrooper]

Nice box George! Historical records show that in 1960 the RUC had on issue two types of .303 firearms: the SMLE No.1 Mk3; and the Bren LMG. The last .303 to see service with the force was the LE No.4 Mk.1&2 which was withdrawn from service in 1972.

Thank you Pete. I wonder why there is an inspection date 08/94 if the RUC had already withdrawn their .303 arms 12 years previously.

 

[AMMOTECHXT]

Not sure why there would be a 58 in the lot number and I note that it is not underlined, as lot numbers for ammo other than SAA would be. I notice that the number 58 appears on one of the end battens and wonder whether it was just the package number for that work date of .303. Perhaps it was added as a means of accounting for the ammo. I don't know the meaning of OAS-G.
SAA was (maybe still is) lotted by work date, although I have come across batches within lots. 30/12/60 is the work date and therefore the lot number would simply be K 30/12/60. Different batches (where a non-crucial sub-component is made from a different batch of the same material) within that work date would be denoted by a suffix letter - A, B, C etc, e.g. K 30/12/60A.
ALF is the Ammunition Technician who inspected the ammo in KTN (a GB) depot in August 1994. So the box was sent to Northern Ireland under order number E/2544 and the ammo seems to have been re-identified in July 1970. Between July 1970 and August 1994 the box was returned to GB, and was inspected by ALF at KTN in August 1994, perhaps when it was deemed obsolete for use by the RUC. ACFs and CCFs were still using .303 until at least the 1980s so it could have been returned to England for re-issue.
I see that the box (Case Wood Packing, or CWP for short) was marked for 1000 rounds. On the lid, 700 is crossed out and 500 written but the box has never been marked as a Fraction (or Frac) pack.

 

[reccetrooper]

Thank you AMMOTECHXT for your information and observations.

 

[TimG]

O.A.S. - Ordinary ammunition stowage (Department of Trade classification for carriage of dangerous goods in ships). The 'G' suffix may well be an obsolete sub-category

TimG

 

[reccetrooper]

​Thank you TimG.

 

[AMMOTECHXT]

I'm guessing that the whole box of 1000 rounds was returned to GB and re-issued. That would account for there being no FRAC marking. The 700 and 500 would no doubt have been added by whoever stored the ammo in the unit it was issued to, as the ammo was used. I know that for annual range classification with 7.62, when the SLR was my personal weapon, one person would fire something like 46 rounds. If .303 was similarly used then the last 500 rounds would have been split between about ten people. The CWP looks to be about the same dimensions as a CWP for .22, which held 10,000 rounds. The inner packaging for .22 was a sealed metal container that was soldered shut and fitted with a handle for ease of opening. This was to keep out moisture and anything else that might get through the wooden outer. Perhaps this box of .303 had similar. One of the workers at KTN was an expert solderer and it wasn't always an easy job when you think of how the lid of a can of opened sardines curls as you peel it off.

 

[reccetrooper]

How crazy is this.

I was Googling Kynoch 303 cartons and I found one from Lot 58 K30 12 60, the same as this wooden box. The really crazy thing is it was sold in 2012 on Specialist Auctions, and the seller was me.

If I recall correctly I had four or five of the cartons that were bought from a London gunshop in the late 1990’s when I held an FAC and regularly went rifle shooting. This co-incidence suggests that .303 ammunition from the RUC may have been returned to GB in the mid 1990’s and sold off as surplus into the UK gun trade.

http://www.specialistauctions.net/1559297,auction_id,auction_details