Another Enfield ammo question for the week.

C

Calum

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I found this at a gun show a while back and forgot I had it.
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The Head stamps say...
At the 12 o'clock position: R(arrow)L 1939
And at the 6 O'clock position: VII
And they look like they have purple primer sealers.

I was thinking of trying to trade it for some .303 soft point hunting ammo, as I don't collect cartridges, and it looks like it is in good shape, and in the original box. So I'm reluctant in using it as plinker ammo.

Has anyone seen this stuff before?
 
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Damn, that stuff is pretty. Would seem a durn shame to just plink it off. Needs to be in someones collection, me thinks!
 
R L = Royal Laboratory, Woolwich. Mk. VII ball, cordite, Berdan. I would assume that the RAF connection is that the ammuntion is of high quality for use in synchronized guns.
Nice clean ammuntion, box and label, probably worth more to a collector than .303 softpoint.
Apart from it being 70 years old and corrosive, I would be inclined to sell it to a collector, rather than shoot it off.
 
looka like it is for the military . the R.A.F. is Royal Air Force and was probably used in the aircraft machine guns thus the full metal jacket for piercing plane fusilages and light metal vehicles.
 
Stevo said:
Not likely. An opened box has less collector value. If you got $50 for a box of 48 you'd be doing very well. I wouldn't pay that much for it.
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The box shows no sign of a sealant, other then the paper band which is still intact as it slides on and off, so I don't know how it would matter if the box was opened or not. :confused:

ilovepotatos said:
In Victoria you can get 65-75 cents a round for crap surplus .303 at a gunshow.
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Yup, our Van Island gun show prices are ass banditry on surplus ammo (and other things) these days. :(
 
Calum said:
The box shows no sign of a sealant, other then the paper band which is still intact as it slides on and off, so I don't know how it would matter if the box was opened or not. :confused:

Yup, our Van Island gun show prices are ass banditry on surplus ammo (and other things) these days. :(
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I didn't realize the band was intact. That's crazy prices for surplus ball.
 
Unopened, Sealed 1939 ammo. Earliest unopened box I saw was 1943. worth more if left alone, 1939 ammo is "not common".

$75 - $150 to the right collector....

Pete
 
funny.... i popped off 2 boxes of that stuff this summer.... paid $35 a box at a small shop but was the last 2 boxes.... feel kinda bad for doing that now!
 
I'd put it in the EE, but Canada post no longer ships ammo. :(
I'll look for a local collector.

Thanx for the input folks. :)
 
ilovepotatos said:
Very few .303 are non corrosive until AFTER the war.
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Canadian WW2 DI Boxer primed ammuntion is non-corrosive. Just about all ammunition with 1/4" Berdan primers is corrosive, regardless of date of manufacture. Some post war foreign .303 ball MAY be non-corrosive, but don't make any assumptions.
 
Pre 1939 .303" ammo for the RAF was made slightly shorter and to a higher standard and was distinguished by a four digit date. Other than that it was the same as regular ammo. After that date all .303" ammo was made to RAF standard.
 
RAF ammo was designed for synchronised aircraft guns (fire through the prop) and was expiry-dated as well. Once that expiry date had passed, the ammo went into regular circulation, used for airfield guards and things like that. A fresh batch of special ammo then would be loaded into the aircraft.

Much of this went by the boards when they stopped using synchronised guns. With the guns in the wings, they could just let fly and didn't need the super-precision in the ignition department.
 
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