Odd .303 headstamp

Hi-Standard

Hi-Standard

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Boys I've got some WWII .303 British ammo from my dad that I knock apart and use the heads for reloading. The majority of the ammo is headstamped 1940 or 1941 DA VII which I presume is Dominion manufactering in Montreal. All are loaded with stranded cordite. One perticular round I knocked apart was loaded with a nitrocellulose powder and headstamped 1941 BIV Z, and the bullet itself was a different shape from the usual 174 grain spitzer. although I haven't weighed it yet it appears to be much heavier. The bullet has a straight side to it that drops down to a spitzer style head. And the base of the bullet has a round bump like a tear drop style. The powder was a square flake shape. Anybody got any clues as to what I've got here?
 
B is incendiary. Be careful with the bullet. Z is nitrocellulose, as opposed to cordite. Mk. VIII is the Vickers MG ammunition.
 
Hi-Standard said:
One perticular round I knocked apart was loaded with a nitrocellulose powder and headstamped 1941 BIV Z, and the bullet itself was a different shape from the usual 174 grain spitzer.
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You used an impact puller to knock apart an incendiary round?:eek:
You really got to get out of that habit.
I will look around for a full list of British headstamps. Rather than painted tip codes, they (and Canada too, at that time, used letter codes in the HS to tell bullet types.
 
tootall said:
You used an impact puller to knock apart an incendiary round?:eek:
You really got to get out of that habit.
I will look around for a full list of British headstamps. Rather than painted tip codes, they (and Canada too, at that time, used letter codes in the HS to tell bullet types.
Click to expand...

I know tootall:redface: I've knocked apart hundreds of those rounds and didn't even bother to look at the headstamp. This is the first one I've come across. but I'll look for the stepped bullet in the future. Did I forget to mention that there was also an R (broad arrow) L on the head as well.
 
I am not having any luck copy/pasting a page from a .pdf file, so instead, go to:
http://gmail.com

username: antitankgun
password: bigboomer

look for All Mail on the left side of screen,
look for Ammo Books in the list of mail
download as a .pdf file. On page 120, is the UK marking practices.
DON'T FORWARD OR DELETE ANYTHING, just download.

You're welcome. Please don't blow yourself up.
 
R/l\L is Royal laboratory, Woolwich. Major manufacturer of ammunition. Headstamp codes to watch out for are B - incendiary, W - AP, G - tracer. Blue tip for incendiary, white for tracer.
The B code was derived from the Buckingham bullet, the first successful incendiary used to attack Zeppelins.
 
Thank's tootall, I couldn't get your site to work last night but it was up and running this morning. Excellent information there! Thank's to you too Tiriaq for your help as well. What kind of damage or injury could have been caused by an incendiary round going off like that? Would it be like a fireball or more like an explosion? Just curious.
 
I would not want to speculate about what might happen if an incendiary projectile were to be ignited in a puller. I have fired them, and you can see a flash on impact in daylight. That's not the same thing as igniting the bullet without it being fired from a rifle, of course. I have seen one incendiary bullet rendered inert by heating until the fusible plugs (like solder) melted, and the filling ignited. Just burned off. I do not remember the make of the projectile. As far as I know, incendiary bullets contain phosphorus. "B" bullets have a base plate, and a hollow inner core, inside the jacket, from fragments I have recovered.
Obviously it would be a very good idea not to mess with these projectiles.
There are military rifle caliber rounds with actual explosive bullets, Japanese 7.7 and Argentine 7.65 IIRC. These are very uncommon, but would be very dangerous to attempt to disassemble.
There was an incident in the UK not too long ago, when an individual was attempting to render a larger round (20mm-25mm?) inert. He was drilling a hole in the side of the case to dump the powder when the propellant ignited. One hand was badly mangled.
 
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There is some dumb fck in the Vancouver area that is busy deactivating "classic" rounds such as .55 Boyes and .50 Vickers.
As a cartridge collector, I am always looking for good examples of similar rounds.
I have seen several of these with the mouth bent and swelled up, the powder poured out, and the primer sprung witha nail!
I dont wish injury on the culprit, but I would like to read in the paper the some wanker blew his vise right off the workbench, screwing around with ammo.
 
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