Why Was .303 Packed 48 to the Box?

[WW2Buff]

Just picked up one of the CTD Greek .303 crates, plus have a 1944 box of DI Canadian. All are packed 48rds to the box. Why was .303 packed 48 to the box when the SMLE had a 10rd magazine, the Bren a 30rd mag (although usually loaded with 27-28) and the Lewis either a 47 or 97rd pan?

Information

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[UNPROFOR1994]

People used to count in dozens for thousands of years, that's all.

Historically, units of time in many civilizations are duodecimal. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve months in a year, and the Babylonians had twelve hours in a day (although at some point this was changed to 24). Traditional Chinese calendars, clocks, and compasses are based on the twelve Earthly Branches. There are 12 inches in an imperial foot, 12 ounces in a troy pound, 12 old British pence in a shilling, 24 (12×2) hours in a day, and many other items counted by the dozen, gross (144, square of 12) or great gross (1728, cube of 12). The Romans used a fraction system based on 12, including the uncia which became both the English words ounce and inch. Pre-decimalisation, Ireland and the United Kingdom used a mixed duodecimal-vigesimal currency system (12 pence = 1 shilling, 20 shillings or 240 pence to the pound sterling or Irish pound), and Charlemagne established a monetary system that also had a mixed base of twelve and twenty, the remnants of which persist in many places.

The importance of 12 has been attributed to the number of lunar cycles in a year, and also to the fact that humans have 12 finger bones (phalanges) on one hand (three on each of four fingers).[6] It is possible to count to 12 with your thumb acting as a pointer, touching each finger bone in turn. A traditional finger counting system still in use in many regions of Asia works in this way, and could help to explain the occurrence of numeral systems based on 12 and 60 besides those based on 10, 20 and 5. In this system, the one (usually right) hand counts repeatedly to 12, displaying the number of iterations on the other (usually left), until five dozens, i. e. the 60, are full.

Source: Wikipedia

[WW2Buff]

Well there you go - quaint versus practical! Thanks...

[ireload2]

It may have been for utilization of a standard box, crate or other packaging. It probably had nothing to do with a dozen.

loading a box 6 rows of 8 = 48
Egypt used 5 rows of 10

It is not like needing your gravy to just exactly match the number of biscuits.

[Peter Laidler]

Ireload has it in one! It was to utilise standard sizes of liners and boxes. The same system still operates today.

[UNPROFOR1994]

I think it's another typical British thing, like driving on the wrong side of the road. You guys just love being different and counting in dozens!

-.455 ammo in a 240 round box = 20 dozen
-.303 ammo in a 288 round box = 24 dozen
-.303 ammo in a 900 round box = 75 dozen
-.303 ammo in a 1008 round box = 84 dozen
-.303 ammo in a 1248 round box = 104 dozen
-.303 ammo in a 1440 round box = 120 dozen

[villiers]

Many of us still regard six and a dozen as far more practical than the use of a decimal system. It may well be easier for the partially brain dead to calculate in tens. But as even smartphones are equipped with the ability to divide and multiply, the advantages of being able to divide by two AND/OR three outweigh any perceivable advantage for the mentally disabled. But leaving things as they are has the added advantage of providing us with demonstrable proof of our historical superiority.

[Res]

Many of us still regard six and a dozen as far more practical than the use of a decimal system. It may well be easier for the partially brain dead to calculate in tens. But as even smartphones are equipped with the ability to divide and multiply, the advantages of being able to divide by two AND/OR three outweigh any perceivable advantage for the mentally disabled. But leaving things as they are has the added advantage of providing us with demonstrable proof of our historical superiority.

Keep dreaming mate

[Seaspriter]

Many of us still regard six and a dozen as far more practical than the use of a decimal system..... the advantages of being able to divide by two AND/OR three outweigh any perceivable advantage for the mentally disabled.

Thanks; that's why in the U.S. we still by eggs, cookies, beer (six-pack), and time (12 hrs) in this denomination. Okay, makes sense.

But when it comes to "inches" we divide them into halves, quarters, and eighths; except for gun gauges we divide inches into 10ths!

So how on earth did we get 16 oz in pound and 32 oz for a quart (or 16 oz for a pint of Porter? I'd like my ale in any size as long as it's cold). And why wasn't the Fahrenheit scale built on 12s?? And none of us can afford to become brain-dead when it comes to metrics. (when in Canada where I teach) 10 cm of snow (sounds like a lot) is only 4 inches (sounds like a little), and 30C (sounds like a little) is almost 90F (sounds like a lot).

Go figure......Guess that's why tradition is not bound to logic! Hence our irrational, crazy world, generating the need for wars to settle our differences, which beget us -- the collectors who served in the wars -- to save historic artifacts which symbolize the heroic insanity of man fighting man on the battlefield, in the air, and over/under the sea. Now we romanticize the experience, polish the weapons, and mount our artifacts for all to see.

Alas, but for the Heroic Display of Courage and the Preservation of Honor from the Chivalric Age to counter-balance the horror of battle and the smell of death, the memories of war would all be just a delusional march to the cadence of oblivion.

Blessings to all,
Robert, Lt. USNR; Westpac '68 -- Operation Rolling Thunder; Vietnam '72 -- Operation Linebacker

[Vincent]

The same logic applies to a dozen. It’s 2 more than 10…. so it’s better.