55 Boys and .5 Vickers Ctges having Spiral Painting

[relbut]

Peter White has these two cartridges which have a spiral paint job. The .55 Boys is a 1942 W Mark II with green primer annulus and the .5 Vickers 1942 SAP which has no or clear primer annulus. These were acquired over 40 years ago from different sources. The question is "the reason for the painting". Just a thought, was the painting applied so that whoever had them originally did so for a demonstration cartridge when a Drill or Inspection cartridge wasn't available, i.e not to be used as a Drill or Inspection but just to show the cartridge? It has been pointed out that painted live cartridges would foul the weapon's chamber when fired. Speculation as to the intent of the painting would be appreciated - don't worry about funny answers, it's already been done.


Les

 

[ydnum303]

Is it actually paint, or stannic staining? Have to say I have never seen this style of marking before. Presumably not applied at the point of manufacture, as two different factories, one Government, and the other commercial.

Roger.

 

[relbut]

Email to Peter on Roger's query. Peter's reply was that the 55 Boys appears stannic stained while the .5 Vickers is definitely chemical stained.
Les

 

[reccetrooper]

Maybe done on a unit level to avoid confusion with .5 BMG by Volunteer Defence Corps or similar non-regular troops.