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.303 British Alloy or Aluminium cased round

S

switch

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I found this at a local show today, and think it could be a good one.

The case is dimensionally correct for .303 British, it has definitively been produced by drawing, rather than turning, and shows the remains of a green colour band just below the case shoulder. No Headstamp is visible, and bullet appears to be a Mk 6.

Anecdotal evidence states that it came from an ALCAN Factory in Birmingham, and it's previous owner has had it since the 1970's

Labbett & Mead have a good appendix on Experimental Case Materials, but I would be very grateful if someone with more knowledge than I could furnish me with any further information on these Experimental cases.

Thanks

SwitchDSC_0838.jpgDSC_0834.jpgCSC_0839.jpg
 
You did indeed.

These rounds are found with both Mark VI and Mark VII bullets and are believed to date from the WWI period. They are quite distinct from the 1930s period aluminium and two piece cases made by Greenwood and batley.

They turned up in Birmingham in the 1970s and I remember them being offered then. There were only a few, perhaps a dozen or so of each type.

This is the Mark VII type.

Regards
TonyE
 

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Thanks for the compliment Jonnyc, and thank you for the additional information and picture TonyE. I did not realise that they were quite so early, but I suppose the Mk 6 bullet should have made me think a bit! Do you have any idea of the significance of the green band, or has that bit been lost with time.

Regards

Switch
 
I have no idea about the green band as all the examples I have seen of both the Mark VI and Mark VII types have had plain cases. To be honest I do doubt if it is original and not something that has occurred with storage, but that is only an opinion.

I will post some pictures of other aluminium cased rounds later.

Regards
TonyE
 
Here are some other pictures of .303 aluminium alloy cased rounds.

(l. to r.)
WWI period Mark VII, companion round to the Mark VI in the OP
1935 Greenwood & Batley two piece case with cupro-nickel head (and I don't mean the bullet!)
Plain aluminium case from post WW2 light alloy trials. Probably Kynoch.
Orange lacquered case from same trials. Probably RG

All are unheadstamped.

There are several other colours of case lacquer from the 1945-50 trials including blue, green ,maroon and black.

For those of you that are not members of the International Ammunition Association (and should thus be ashamed of yourself), (http://www.cartridgecollectors.org) I wrote an article for the IAA Journal on British alloy case trials. Let me know if you want a pdf copy.

Regards
TonyE
 

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Yes please, Tony, I would like a copy of your article (unless it is going to be in the ECRA Journal?)

Roger.
 
Very nice find. This is one of those rounds that you tell other collectors about finding it for years afterwards.
 
Andy - send me your e-mail address to aoe303 (at) btinternet(dot) com.

Richard - it was in the November/December 2011 issue.

Regards
TonyE
 
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