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Pre Nato Graphited Aluminium Rounds
- Thread starter SpudGun
- Start date
TonyE
HONOURED MEMBER RIP
Ray M is your man to tell you all about these. I'm sure he will chip in once the sun reaches that part of the world!
I would be interested to see some of the results of test firing these aluminium cases. We were doing a great deal of work here in the UK on light alloy cases at the same time and had reached the point where it was believed that a case could be produced that met military requirements. However due to cost and other considerations the British project was cancelled about 1955.
I have just written an article on British light alloy development for the IAA Journal that I think will be in the next issue.
Regards
TonyE
I would be interested to see some of the results of test firing these aluminium cases. We were doing a great deal of work here in the UK on light alloy cases at the same time and had reached the point where it was believed that a case could be produced that met military requirements. However due to cost and other considerations the British project was cancelled about 1955.
I have just written an article on British light alloy development for the IAA Journal that I think will be in the next issue.
Regards
TonyE
Those six are all Cal .30 Light Rifle cartridges, pre-NATO. As far as I know, they were made by Remington who had a research contract to develop an aluminum case for this caliber. The two on the left are officially designated T5. I have not seen a designation for the two intermediate length cases in the center. The two on the right should be headstamped R A 50. I have seen the designation FA X30-1471 applied to these. In the US, case lengths were not designated in MM so the cases should more correctly be called 1.871", 1.951", and 2.015".
Remington held a patent on the method used to prevent primer leaks which was the single most important drawback to the aluminum cases.
After adoption of the NATO cartrdige in 1954, experiments with aluminum cases were continued in the US by Frankford Arsenal, Olin (Winchester), Harvey Aluminum Corp, and Remington. And in other countries as Tony has pointed out.
Aluminum cased cartridges are always sought after by collectors. Some are rare and hard to find.
Remington held a patent on the method used to prevent primer leaks which was the single most important drawback to the aluminum cases.
After adoption of the NATO cartrdige in 1954, experiments with aluminum cases were continued in the US by Frankford Arsenal, Olin (Winchester), Harvey Aluminum Corp, and Remington. And in other countries as Tony has pointed out.
Aluminum cased cartridges are always sought after by collectors. Some are rare and hard to find.
