I picked up these mg links in small boxes a while ago. The Browning ones are 10 links per box while the Soviet ones appear to be 20 links per box. It seems a curios way to supply mg links because you would need a significant number of these boxes to produce a reasonable amount of linked mg ammo. Are these boxes some sort of sample, perhaps for a salesman or for some other purpose? Any ideas, please? Thanks
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If you mean Israeli links, perhaps... It is a way to store for later use in the field. Most ammo now comes prelinked anyway, and disintegrating links were always underfoot. One guy had a magnet to collect them up but there was no desire to keep any on hand, just to get them away from pinch points in equipment if your MG didn't have a hopper for them. Maybe from the days when you pulled rifle rounds out of the 15-packs, there is a Russian loader tool, in effect a hopper and crank, for pushing 7,62x54R into links.
Long time ago when I was a company armorer, we still had the Browning Model 1919A6. All the cartridges came linked, which was AP with a fifth round tracer.
Now the Model 1909 blanks came in 20 round boxes and if needed for training in the field, these blanks need to be loaded in links, so extra links where saved
from the ranges or field so the blank cartridges could be used. Not an easy job even with the small hand operated linking tool and the white fabric belts were
often used for loading the blanks, easier to load and the Browning's ran better.
Maybe the small boxes with links were for blank cartridges which were not issued linked ??
There are linking/delinking machines for every type of link. Those boxes aren't new to me, I've seen lots. If you ordered special ammo to an airfield you got ammo in boxes and the links to assemble your be;ts as you wanted them. There had to be a way to transport and account for links in an orderly fashion or as stated they would be everywhere.
Interesting, I think those links are British made extra strength probably for aircraft use. If they follow the same principle as the .303 version, the BII link was stronger to resist the belts stretching at the single loop end of the link. TonyE would have known the answer straight off, bless him.
Not to thread jump, but does anyone have a decent vid of how these links are stripped off when firing? I could never get my head around how the bolt could jam a round into the chamber with when the round is encased in links...
The M60 is different though, it just rams the cartridge forward and into the chamber. That's why the open link was needed. These extract and run down a feedway in the boltface.
I have the same cutaway M2 but not seen that vid before. It would have had sight blanking plates fitted but someone has fitted the HB sights to it (like I have).