Interesting crimp on MW '44 cartridge

[CINDERS]

Not only am I going deaf but blind as well the crimp is still the same but it should be MF (Footscray) and 56

[mike1967]

Not only am I going deaf but blind as well the crimp is still the same but it should be MF (Footscray) and 56

I thought so, MW 57 would indeed be a rare bird considering the joint closed in 45! I'll check some bandoliers and open packets and see what turns up crimp wise.

[CINDERS]

I had a look at the motley 32 rounder packet today and just found a few dates most are singles though the 28's there were 4 of but besides those some others were; a 6/27, '33, '37, '39, '58, '59 and a few others plus a '62 as mentioned earlier so what are considered the rare dates for MF and what date did they change from VII to 7 on the base Thanks as always with the information

[mike1967]

Hardest year would have to be 1931, followed by 1933 and 1934. There are some gaps in the headstamps with 1915,1918, 1919, 1921 and 22 having two or three month periods with no known examples, not to say they were not made and shipped some where. Make a nice display to have every month/year of Australian production, i.e.; CAC, MF, ^F, A^F etc, probably never happen !

7 does not appear until after 1945 in Aust production, i can't find my list of post 1945 at the moment, but ill confirm the date when i find it.

When Tony Edwards was still with us i traded him quiet a few scarce dates he had never seen in the UK, great days now sadly passed.

[CINDERS]

The answer to the crimping question is in the answer below. Therefore the case at the start of this thread that I questioned is not dodgy nor been tampered with but part of a process evolution. Excuse the pic I had to use the computer and take the pic with my I-phone but it clearly shows the change as highlighted by the arrows.
Cheers

"Changes to .303 projectile material and crimping: from top cupronickel with neck staking into low cannelure phased out in 1942 to be replaced by gilding metal neck staking which was in turn replaced by mouth coning into a high cannelure in 1944 which continued until cessation of production. The mouth coning of the cupronickel projectile (second from bottom) in 1944 was to use residual ‘surplus’ cupronickel stock."

[CINDERS]

Thanks mike1967 here is what I found for the low years of production for Mk VII .303 Ball;

1925 - 26/ 2,799,360
1930 - 31/ 3,947,587
1930 - 32/ 3,163,856
1932 - 33/ 2,511,056
1933 - 34/ 3,187,152

[mike1967]

Excellent, Where did you source those figures? Wouldn't mind the complete list.