Mystery Drill rounds-alloy cases

[Flying10uk]

I have these 3 drill rounds which are perhaps a little unusual in that they are made of die cast alloy. They came to me via my father but I believe that he got them from a friend of the family who served in the British army throughout WW2 as infantry, thankfully without a scratch. He was with the BEF in France in 1939/40 and came out via Dunkirk with most of his personal kit, I believe. I also have his pre-war dated mess tins (personal eating/cooking utensils) which came with him out of Dunkirk. The same tins made the return trip 4 years later on D-Day.

I have never been able to identify the country of origin or weapon that these drill rounds relate to but they could come from any European power involved, at any point, during WW2. They are obviously not British because they are rimless and appear too long to be of German origin.

The micrometer dimensions are : 4th picture .303" dia, 5th picture .456" dia, 6th picture .427" dia. I have rounded up to the nearest whole thousandth of an inch.

Thanks for looking and any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

This site has them for you. They're an expedient round, zinc, made in UK...Lines Bros of Wimbledon. Count down five and there it is.

.30 inch Drill Dummy - British Military Small Arms Ammo

[Peter Laidler]

After reading that BAR I would imagine that the rims from these rounds made from die cast zinc would have lasted about 20 minutes during a good day in the classroom

[browningautorifle]

The bullets being .303 would perhaps cause a problem too...then the hard extraction...then a whole handful of garbage. Then you get about a dozen barrels for extraction of this thing stuck in the chamber. As the site notes, they likely never even passed trials and evaluations.

[Flying10uk]

Thanks for identifying them Jim. If they were made by Lines Brothers in the U.K. for the Home Guard it seems unlikely that they came from the Continent as I had thought. My Grandfather did serve in the Home Guard throughout WW2 although it is believed that he was issued with a SMLE he may still have acquired the 3 die cast rounds.

[browningautorifle]

Peter and I both sort of agree they wouldn't have been very successful. We sure used enough to have a good idea... The bullets are a bit big to be used in a .30 cal, some would jam into the commencement. The rims would get smashed up quick and yours are new. I'd keep them as an experimental or trials, not an issue item... Not likely worth a fortune but I haven't seen them before.

[Flying10uk]

It's nice to know what they are because they have been in the family since WW2, like a number of items inherited from my father. Some items I know that I have but I'm not exactly sure of the precise location; it's a case of rediscovery.