Article about: by Steve T Cobra Thanks I have got about 500 of those .50cal bullets from that range now.......and I've hardly searched any of it ! Ever seen a round get 'split' like the .30cal before ? It'
Well, I have returned to the air gunnery range this weekend and was glad I did BUT my arm is TOTALLY knackered ! Reason being, I got bitten about 40 times by moquitos and my left arm has swollen up like a sodding barrage balloon ! I am on anti biotics and the wife just keeps saying 'You'll get no sympathy from me. I told you I wanted you to spend the WHOLE day with me'
I was only detecting for 3 hours for heaven's sake !
Anyway, I had a new plan of attack this time and successfully searched in the 3 inches of soil above a reinforced concrete floor by discriminating out the iron. IT yielded one HELL of a lot of finds.
Here we go.
Before any cleaning.......
And now after cleaning.....
Firstly the spent bullets. I got all these from the end of the range, where the targets were. These are the smashed in ones.....
And now the 'perfect' ones. All are .50cal of course.
A few spent 30cals and two .50cal cartridge bases found behind the firing positions. These are not deliberate cut throughs and look like cartridges that have ruptured in the breach of the MG.
Also please note that one of the 30cal's still has the top of the cartridge attached to it. Also it has a nasty split at the base. Could this be a misfire as well ?
A nice 50cal cartridge, find right up against a nasty bramble. Got some horrid scratches but it was worth it
Found these in the ground above the concrete using my MD with the discrimination set almost at maximum. John Brandon maybe interested in one of the 303's......a Mk IV by the looks of things !
The 30's all look like they have been damaged during the firing process.
Last time I was in this area, all I got was constant background bleeping so I didn't search it really. This time, with the discrimination set high, I got all these ammo crate wing nuts ! To think that all it takes is a litle bit of fiddling with the MD
Also found these 2 coins and a strange 'ring'. The Ha'penny is dated 1945. Anyone got an idea what the ring is ?
The 1 cent coin is totally aweome.......basically because of the date on it. Look at this little beauty ! Almost certainly the last person to touch this was one of the USAAF aircrew!!!
Lastly I decided to have a blast closer to the targets. I had found a couple of M1 carbine rounds on my last visit and searched an area in front of where the MGs were mounted, at a distance I imagined someone with a rifle might get some practice in. I was so smug when I got multiple detections over a small area. In the end, I came up with 28 M1 carbine rounds, basically from the same hole
And that's the lot.
I am off now to put my arm in a bucket of ice water. The things we do for relics..........
Nice work Steve! he he jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz you are accumulating ALOT of casing these days im sure ! building another case to hold them? youre whole house is going to be a USAAF WW11 range discard library he he......but i know how it feels every time i come across a pre 45 round i get goose bumps so i can understand the addiction !!!!
Hi Steve good work finding the gear. That ring thing, I recon it could be a coin ring?
Ive done it again. i found one of those ammo crate wing nuts yesturday i threw it in the bin because i thought it was off a window. Just going to dive into the bin and try and find it lol
it almost seems like it was stuck in the chamber like that and they bashed it out with a rod through the barrel and that's why the end of the round is all smashed and bent like that......Ive had to do the same thing once.... or it could be a double feed mishap and the round caught the side of the chamber and bent ........so many possibilities for sure!
Hi Steve,
Well done, thats a lot of finds for 3 hours work, it must have taken longer to clean them!.
I like the M1 carbine rounds I can imagine a GI blasting two mags worth from that spot.
Beware there's plenty of mossies around this year!!! but I've found the answer Avon's spray finds calling as midge repellent for Royal Marines - Scotsman.com Heritage & Culture. If the Royal Marines swear by it, then it'll do fine for us collectors (and soft skin to boot).
LUCKYSTRIKE
its not easy lol especially when your resume says "50 cal gunner" lol
LOL ! Yeah......not much call for 50cal gunners in civvy street
LS - It is a lot of stuff but don't forget this place is jammed with relics. Most of the finds I got from within 3 relatively small areas. In fact, the 'perfect' rounds were all found within a 2 foot square area with me shuffling around on my bum. Wasn't worth standing up and detecting.....just move a smidge and dig again
USAAF air gunnery range - June 2010
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I have got about 500 of those .50cal bullets from that range now.......and I've hardly searched any of it !
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by Cobra den Bien Phieu
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