.303 Head stamp

[MKV111Z]

Just picked up a .303 deactivated round cupro nickel bullet head stamps are V11 and a single V dated 1944. Anyone know which the factory who made it?

Thanks

H

Information

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[303tom]

It`s not a V11, it is a VII meaning Mark Seven ie; Rifle Round !...........Never seen one with just a V on it, the 1944 is the date is was made.......

Check this out here............. Headstamps of the .303 British Calibre Service Ammunition Round

[MKV111Z]

Thanks for the link I'm aware what mark the round is its the factory headstamp is throwing me its been suggested it might be an early Spennymore but that would have been a a broad arrow rather than a V so still stumped.

Cheers

H

[303tom]

Here is another one for you to check out !........................
.303 British Headstamp Visual Guide

[MKV111Z]

thanks for the help it turned out to be Latvian after a little sympathetic cleaning.

Cheers

H

[DocAV]

The Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia ( all users, to some extent, of .303 Ammo for Both Army and Airforces) were annexed by the USSR in 1940, and their "native" Ammunition production ceased in that year. BY late 1941, all three States had been Over-run by Operation Barbarossa, and whatever ammunition production plant which had not been removed by the Soviets, was removed by the Germans ( Riga, Vilnius, etc.).

In 1944, There was definitely NO ammunition production in Latvia, as it was being fought over by the Germans and the Soviet army, all the way to 1945.
Also, Except for British Surplus (WW I) ammo for the Baltic States delivered in the early 20s, None of Riga or other Ammo produced in the Baltics used the "VII" in the headstamp.

S&G (Riga) did use "marka VII" on their Packet Labels, but NOT on the Cartridges ( HS:
SB / 39 / R /19 ).

Going back to the British Production, Spennymoor ROF ( Head stamp "S^R" by 1944, had used a Single Arrow in the 1941 Period ( double arrow for Radway Green ROF) ( or the other way around)...so a 44 VII ?V? looks like a Badly struck Spennymoor case.

IN any case, a good Macro-Photo of the Headstamp is required to better determine what this case is.

Doc AV

[Bruce_in_Oz]

A method for those without a decent "macro-capable" camera, and / or, whose hands may be a bit shaky:

If you own a flat-bed scanner, try the following:

Cut a hole that is just a little larger than the head in a sheet of A4 or similar sized paper or thin card and lay it on the scanner platten. Try different coloured paper to see what works best for contrast etc.

Stand the case / cartridge in this hole and do a "test run".

Most scanner drivers / software enables you to "define" a "target" area and, of course, resolution.

Thus, you can minimise the fooling around in "cropping", etc.

If you are careful, you can line up the "top" of the headstamp with the "top" of the scan on screen. This saves a lot of fooling around in Photoshop or whatever software you are using, to make all your scans look "uniform".

Another "hint" is to have a "rule", calibrated in your choice of metric or Imperial, that can be stuck, "face-down" on the platten and under the masking sheet. This should appear in your scanned image and will make comparisons and scaling a lot easier.

If anyone has a method that is less "fiddly", I'm all ears.......

[jonnyc]

Latvian-contract .303 rounds up to 1941 are well known and documented. All the examples I have in my collection have a stylized V at 12:00 and a two-digit date (40, 41) at 6:00. I doubt you would find one with a post-1941 date. Hope to see a scan or pic for a positive ID.

[MKV111Z]

Latvian-contract .303 rounds up to 1941 are well known and documented. All the examples I have in my collection have a stylized V at 12:00 and a two-digit date (40, 41) at 6:00. I doubt you would find one with a post-1941 date. Hope to see a scan or pic for a positive ID.

Hi thanks for the help I've been in New Zealand since before Christmas and this is my first log on since, I should have mentioned after cleaning the date emerged as 1941 not as per my original post thanks again for the help.

H