WW1 Ground Dug 303 MkVII bullet base stamps.

[Roger Payne]

I've been filling the empty days over the last few months by (amongst other things) working my way through a large quantity of ground dug WW1 vintage 303 ammo that I seem to have accumulated over the years & 'pulling' it in a kinetic hammer.

It has always proved disappointing, though hardly surprising, that so many of the case necks split during this procedure. One thing that I noticed is that a lot of cases that would probably have survived intact split because the bullet jackets of many rounds had expanded due to the ingress of moisture causing corrosion of the lead & its expansion, eventually causing the cupro-nickel jacket to split. As the bullet comes out its greater diameter proves too much for the ability of the already embrittled case neck handle, & so the case gives way.

Where the bullets do come out intact many of them are in surprisingly good condition, the lead in some of them still looking bright & shiny like the day it left the factory.

We hear a lot about cartridge head stamps, but British & Dominion practice at this time was to stamp identifying initials (or some other marking) into the lead at the base of the bullet. That way the origin of every projectile was ascertainable. There were obviously many manufacturers of 303 ammo in both World Wars, & in an idle moment I lined up a few bullets to show a selection (by no means exhaustive) of bullet base stamps.

First photo:
Bullet with split jacket.
K - Kynoch, Birmingham.
GB over 7 - Greenwood & Batley, Yorkshire. Presumably the '7' relates to a specific inspector or production line??
Circle - This mark was used by the Royal Laboratories, Woolwich.

Second photo:
KN - Kings Norton, Birmingham.
B - Birmingham Metal & Munitions factory.
3 - Government Cartridge Factory No3.
RW - Rudge Whitworth Cycle & Motorcycle company, Birmingham/Coventry & ?Nottingham?
1 - Government Cartridge Factory No1.
S - No idea on this one........I must have discarded the cartridge case without 'clocking' the manufacturer!

All of this ammunition was recovered from the Somme, the Salient, or the Hindenburg Line areas of the Western Front.
The lined up dismantled rounds have all been inerted & cleaned electrolytically. They are still tarnished, but will polish with 'Brasso' or 'Duraglit' if desired! It's surprising how well some do clean up.

Anyway, another nerdy little niche of the 303 for you!

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