WWII .303 rounds.

D

-DeerStalker-

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I have a box of .303 rounds with the dates "1942" and "1943" stamped on the bases of them. They are in a brown paper box with " 7.7mm sKrp. patr M 45 E Efterset og ompk and FEB 1951" stamped on it.

Some of the rounds have "WRA" stamped on them while others has "DI Z" on them

They're full metal jacket.

Are they anything special, or is WWII era ammo pretty comman?
 
Hi
WRA is Winchester Repeating Arms
DI z is Defence Industries CIL Montreal Canada (Good Ammo)
standard 2nd WW Ammo
Cheers
 
Obviously they have been repackaged, possibly by South Africa (not sure aboot that)

Not exactly collectors items unless you are starting a collection of headstamps.
 
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Ahh...good info...

I just plan on holding on to them, pretty cool having vintage ammo.

You can shake them and still hear / feel the powder shaking loosely, so I imagine they are still deadly.

I also have a box of Dominion Maximum 12ga' shells from 1927 and a box of Dominion "Whiz Bang" .22 LR ammo
 
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Your WRA stamped rounds may well be loaded with ball powder.WRA used the ancestor of today's BLC2 ball powder to manufacture a large quantity of .303 ball for the British in WW2.Good ammo as were the Canadian DIZ.We were still getting wartime DIZ out of the supply system in the late 1970s for "recreational" shooting.
 
Danish repack for ammo that was given to them by the Brits just after the end of the war.

Denmark was completely stripped of firearms and ammunition by the occupying power (the Germans) and, after the war, they just could not field ANY force armed with their official weapons: Krag Model 1889 et seq in calibre 8x58R. Meanwhile, the British had been air-dropping them a mixture of British and American smallarms during the Occupation, including Brens, Stens, M-1 Carbines (very popular) and Lee-Enfield rifles.

At the conclusion of the War, the Danish Resistance took charge of the occupying German forces and "marched them to the bloody border on their own flat feet". Denmark kept all German motor transport and SOME smallarms, but many German formations were marched straight to the German border carring their full load of weapons. Once they were across the border into Germany, the British disarmed them.

Following this, Denmark re-equipped with whatever they could get, notably, at first, British equipment. Later, Denmark received American military aid, which accounts for the Danish Garands that we all know and love and can't afford.

My authority for this is a personal interview with the Chief of Parachute Operations for Silkeborg District.
 
-DeerStalker- said:
I have a box of .303 rounds with the dates "1942" and "1943" stamped on the bases of them. They are in a brown paper box with " 7.7mm sKrp. patr M 45 E Efterset og ompk and FEB 1951" stamped on it.

Some of the rounds have "WRA" stamped on them while others has "DI Z" on them

They're full metal jacket.

Are they anything special, or is WWII era ammo pretty comman?
Click to expand...

I'm sure they will still work. :)
 
I have been using WWII vintage 303 ball ammo for years now, never had a dud yet. Notice it is not as available at the shows as it was just a couple of years ago. Shoot and have fun!
 
I went thru 9 loose rounds of the 1943 DI Z on Sunday (it shoots just fine), along with some Winchester commercial stuff. The '43 even smells different from the commercial. I still have a box of '51, but I think I'll hang onto that for now.
 
Don't forget that ammunition of that vintage will be corrosive! Don't leave the rifle uncleaned ... Accepted cleaning method of the era was a couple of pints of hot water poured through the bore to dissolve and flush away the corrosive residue, followed by a good swabbing out and drying, then oil ...
 
It's always wise to assume that any WW2 vintage ammo is corrosive and clean accordingly.The only for sure exception is US cal .30 carbine ammo.It is also claimed that DA manufactured wartime .30-06 is n/c primed.
 
That is neat ammo to have. Despite whether it is "collector" ammo or not, I know the feeling when you look at or handle old ammo and ammo boxes. Although not "collector" stuff, I have quite a few boxes of this and that, and figure I am getting close to being "on top of the world"!! I especially like the old Dominion commercial boxes. You have only just begun!!!:p:p
 
As you all know,the salts from corrosive priming compound are what lead to barrel corrosion.The simple and cheap cleaning solution is plain old tap water to disolve the salt deposits.Wipe dry with clean patches,then follow up with oil.Good to check and oil again 2-3 days later.Again,assume all WW2 vintage ammo is corrosive primed.
 
Hate to bring this up again, but boiling hot water is what you need. ALL barrels have microscopic cracks in them. the HOT water expands the metal and flushes the salts out of those cracks. It also has the advantage of getting the barrel hot enough to evaporate the water .
 
Exactly.Without beating this to death there are 2 fun and effective ways of getting this done in a proper military manner apres a shooting session on the range.
1-Hunt down the correct issue funnel which was used with the Lee Enfield.It has a long,bent spout which is intended to be inserted in the chamber(spout) while hot water was flushed down the barrel.One could use an ordinary funnel with plastic/rubber tubing inserted in the chamber,or
2-Take a pail of hot soapy water,remove bolt and insert muzzle in the water.Then get a tightly fitting patch on a rod and, using the rod as a piston, pump water up and down the bore. In both cases dry the bore with patches after it cools and then apply oil.
Some will remember the small OD colored cans of US GI bore solvent.This foul smelling stuff was a water based cleaning agent. In spite of this, very few WW2 vintage Garands are found with original barrels today due to rust/pitting.US GI .30-06 was corrosive primed until 1952.The reason why this remained MILSPEC,even after non-corrosive priming compounds were developed in the 1930s,was because it offered greater stability and reliability at the time.
 
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