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.55 Boys headstamps.

C

christhurston

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Hello All,I'm interested in a clip of fired Boys cases that I came across today,and I'd like to know what the headstamps can tell me about them.
They are, K.39 WI; K.39 PII and K.40 WII,the clip is stamped 1938
I
C.H.P
 
The first one is an Armour Piercing Mark 1 made at The Kynoch Factories, Witton, Birmingham in 1939.

The second one is an aluminium cored Practise Mark 2 made at The Kynoch Factories, Witton, Birmingham in 1939.

The third one is an Armour Piercing Mark 2 made at The Kynoch Factories, Witton, Birmingham in 1939.

The clip was made by charles H. Pugh Ltd., I'm unsure where this factory was located.
 
Many thanks,Falcon,did the aluminium cored practice rounds look the same
as the AP versions? If so,I'm guessing that the case/bullet would have been colour coded in some way? I'm also thinking that Boys AP projectiles
might well come under Section 5,about which there has been numerous
discussions in these forums? I'm sure I have seen a possible source mentioned for suitably drilled replacement projectiles that can be used in Boys cartridge cases without any problems.Are these still available?
 
.55 Boys

The projectiles of the Boys Practice rounds looked exactly the same as the AP type, except of course they were not magnetic. They were identified by a 1 inch wide blue band lacquered round the case just above the belt, and of course the headstamp.

The AP projectiles are indeed Section 5, and I do not know how you could drill out the steel core. It might be possible to melt out the lead sheath and get the core out but the turnover at the base of the envelope might prevent this.

There may wel be someone making repro Boys projs, but I would not know.

I can post a picture of a complete Practice II if you wish.

Regards
TonyE
 
.55 Boys

Just to add a little more information for you, the AP W Mark I had a bullet weight of 930 grns with a 570 grn core and a muzzle velocity of 2450 fps. Performance was 7 out of 10 to penetrate 16mm armour at 100 yards normal attack.

The AP W Mark II had a lighter 735 grn bullet with a 445 grn core at an MV of 2900 fps. performance was seven out of ten to penetrate 19mm of armour at normal attack.

The Practice P Mark II had an aluminium bullet weighing 425 grns at around 1730 fps. Even this was considered too much and moves were made to introduce a version necked to .303 for practice. This is often wrongly believed to be a high velocity round. This did not make it to service. It is shown on the left of the picture.

There was also a version of the Boys necked to 7.9mm and this was an attempt at high velocity.

Regards
TonyE
 

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Hello chaps,the clip of cases that I originally enquired about have only just recently arrived.The dealers images of this clip showed one bullet fitted,which he didn't mention at all,and about which I didn't enquire.I assumed that as one case was headstamped PII,this bullet would most likely be the aluminium cored practice version.It is,in fact,something else,
it's strongly magnetic all over,and about 30mm from the tip down seems
to have been chemically browned,it almost seems as if it's been copper
plated over the nickel jacket.I believe ball ammunition was made for the
Boys rifle,and I think Practice Mk 1 was lead cored ball type,would it have
been CNCS,to account for the magnetic attraction,and does the brown tip
indicate something????
 
Boys

First it is necessary to distinguish between Ball and Practice ammunition. They were two different series of rounds. Ball was used for full range training whilst Practice had a lower velocity and could be used on ranges with insufficient danger space to use full powered ammunition.

Ball Mark I had a lead cored bullet of 930 grns at 2460 fps.
Ball Mark II had a mild steel cored bullet of 930 grns at 2460 fps.
Ball Mark III had a mild steel cored bullet of 735 grns at 2900 fps.

Practice Mark I used the Ball Mark I bullet at 1729 fps.
Practice Mark II had an aluminium cored bullet of 425 grns., velocity not given.

AFAIK, all ball and practice bullets had either a cupro-nickel or gilding metal envelope. Only the AP rounds had a cupro-nickel clad steel envelope.

I believe you have an AP projectile and the brown staining is simply caused by discolouration/oxidation of the cupro-nickel. It is only the top 30 mm that has discoloured because the rest of the bullet was inside the case.

Measure the length of the bullet.
W Mark I is 58.5mm
W Mark II is 50mm

Regards
TonyE
 
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Boys .55 in.

Tony, Have come across 10 or 12 Kynoch (factory No46) ww2 original specs for '' Boys ammo ''. Would you like me to list them? However, thinking about it you probably have all. As ever, Ron.
 
Many thanks,Tony,if I am following what you have said correctly,there would be little,if any,magnetic attraction with any Boys ball or practice
bullets.This latest one I have has got to be AP,it seems,it's 50mm by the way which makes it W Mk II going by the measurements you gave.I hadn't
thought about oxidation causing the brown colouration,it should have crossed my mind though,because both the clip and the cases looked as if they had lain completely undisturbed for the last 70 years!!! I will at least
be able to use this bullet as a pattern to make some legal replicas,as I did
with my one and only .5 Vickers bullet.
 
Boys Specs.

Thanks Ron.

I have most of them I think, but I will dig them out and list them so we can compare.

Cheers
Tony
 
.55 'Boys' spec's.

Re 55inch. have following: Dummy U.1/Drill D.1/AP W.1/AP W.ll/Ball lll/Prac P.1/Prac P ll/Tracer G. l/ Proof Q. lll and Proof Q. ll. A total of ten. However, found some 14 others from 38in.rev. to 50 cal. Tony, check to see if you need any 55inch. Best wishes, Ron.
 
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