British 19th Century Ammunition Box Plans

[Steppenwolf]

Found this online and so...For Folks that have the interest.

1860's Ammunition Box - Small-Arm

The British Army 560-cartridge small arms ammunition box of the period was a wooden box with a sliding lid section on the top. It was held together by brass self-tapping screws and glued.

My sources quote that "those for tropical countries are made of teak, with mahogany ends", which begs the question, what about non-tropical? I have made mine tropical.

They were unpainted and a paper label (included in plans) was glued, using shellac, to the box.

The lid is secured by a brass countersunk 2" screw, the head of which is covered by a wax seal..

The handles were rope loops at each end, with the ends spliced together to form handgrips.

SW

 

[Claven2]

Neat! Where did you get the teak and mahogany? Did you use continuous boards, or eared & glued together narrow boards?

Would make a great box to store black powder - compliant with the regs, except you'd have to write "explosives" on the side in red lettering.

 

[tootall]

It says Bullet .55 Diameter
Is that the designation for the .577 ?

 

[Steppenwolf]

I haven't built one yet. Sorry if the post was misleading. I just posted what I found at:

http://hicketypip.tripod.com/equiphoto/ammob.htm

SW

Neat! Where did you get the teak and mahogany? Did you use continuous boards, or eared & glued together narrow boards?

Would make a great box to store black powder - compliant with the regs, except you'd have to write "explosives" on the side in red lettering.

 

[John Sukey]

Interesting that the design changed only slightly for the .303.

 

[goldb]

dangerous stuff

as I recall one of the factors in the British Defeat at Ishawanda was their inability to get at the ammo because no one had a screwdriver

Best not to store ammo in these if there are Zulu Impi's in you area!

 

[bdft]

dangerous stuff

as I recall one of the factors in the British Defeat at Ishawanda was their inability to get at the ammo because no one had a screwdriver

Best not to store ammo in these if there are Zulu Impi's in you area!

Actually, the British defeat at Isandlawana was more a fault of the commanders tactical failure than anything. The troops were ordered to spread out as if to recieve artillery fire. As with most armies, the British were fighting the last war. In France. the Zulu impis got through the gaps in the line and behind them and they were screwed. Had they formed squares, Isandlawana would perhaps had a different ending.The ammo boxes were blamed in the popular press at the time to deflect public opinion away from the military. Remember, this was the worst military defeat in British history up until this time.