Ammo trivia for $100, please.

think it falls back to old military standard , 100 rounds per man- that's 5 boxes, and most of the old military ammo boxes are 20 rounds- ie ammuntion, ball, 7.62 or whatever, 20 rounds
 
Why is 20rounds the standard package size for most center-fire rifle ammo? Any ideas?:confused:

Well, I know in my heart that beer comes in cases of 24 because there are 24hours in a day - this is NOT a coincidence.:D

As for the ammo, personally, I just know it makes it easier for me to calculate the cost per 100 or per round, but I don't think the ammo makers had me in mind when they came up with that configuration.
 
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20 rnds 7.62, that was the standard for the FN, now 64 of 9mm was puzzling

it's standard for everybody elses battle rifle at the time, and still throws back to the 100 rounds /man/.gun thing- even the garand which had 8 round enbloc clips was still a 100 round load out, if i recall- 10 on the belt itself, i in the rifle, ( that's 88) and probably a spare clip or 2 to make up the hundred
the smg was supposed to hold 32 rounds in the original config( i never saw more than 30 loaded, and we were told to never load more than 28-29 or it would jam- ) but my uzi second gen holds an honest 32- so your 64 comes from 2 mags full
 
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It's simple. Think about your average Joe hunter (not you joe-nwt). 20 rounds is plenty when for only fire 2 round a year, rested over the hood of your car. Then declair your rifle "good to go", then you have 18 rounds to take to moose camp or deer camp.
The following year you blow the candy bar crap and twigs out of the mags you left loaded all year from your hunting jacket pocket, and use 2 more rounds to sight in rested over the hood of your car. You now have 16 round for deer camp.
You can repeat this for years until you have 8 rounds (2 mags left) for deer camp. Then go out and buy another box of 20 rounds and ##### about the price increase from the last time you bought ammo at Sear's for $3.99 a box.
I am sure every deer camp in Canada has a few of these guys.
 
.303" came in 10, 32, 33 and 48 rd packs and 50 rd bandolier. to get a 100 rd load for the M1 would require 12.5 clips.
8mm Lebel 8rd pack or 6 or 10 if on clips.
7.9 15 rd box.
6.5 Carcano 18 rd box.
 
you don't get a half clip with a garand- they're 8 rounds, so it's 104 or 96 with 4 loose= 10 on the belt, 1 in the rifle, and god knows where the other 1 or 2 go
 
with the garand , the whole works goes in, that's why it's called an en bloc clip- it's not the same as a stripper clip that holds rounds that are fed into a magazine- this clip also ejects out of the rifle when empty- you're far more likely to get a case of "m1 thumb" in the dark than to drop a clip
 
20 round boxes

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Some of the "Premium" ammo came in 10 round boxes. The 20 round box seems to be the standard more in North America.

Some of the British calibres came in 10 round, and even 5 round boxes, and many of the European manufacturers had smaller than 20 round boxes.

Military packaging is a bit different than hunting. For example, the .303 came in 20, 32, and 48 round boxes quite commonly. Now, I can see the 20 round box ( a Lee Enfield holds 10 rounds ), a 32 round box ( Bren LMG) but the 48 is a bit odd ( a Lewis Gun takes 47 rounds ) but maybe it is a bit of making use of the box size. Maybe it was intended to fill 1 and 1/2 Bren gun magazines.
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"...64 of 9mm was puzzling..." Yep. 2-32 round mags for a STEN and later the Sterling SMG.
Wartime M1 Rifle ammo usually came already loaded in clips. Sometimes in boxes of loaded clips in bandoleers. 1903Ax ammo came on 5 round stripper clips.
20 rounds of hunting ammo is mostly a packaging thing. Fits nicely in an easily managed box.
 
I do believe military, or at least Commonwealth packaging, had more to do with fitting equal sized packages into standard wooden packing crates.
 
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