.303 Bandolier Markings

[karkee]

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to decipher all of the markings on my Enfield bandoliers and I was wondering if I got it all correct. Thanks for your help!

[Watchdog]

It looks pretty much correct to me. The only thing I would say is that all military small arms ammo should be full metal jacket. This simply means that the projectile is completely covered with the copper "jacket" except for the very back end. The designation "Ball" refers to the fact that this is a simple "bullet" and not tracer or AP etc. For example the expression "four bit" (4B1T) used to describe belted rounds for MGs refers to the ratio of four ball rounds to one tracer round! That horrifying concept that for every tracer round you can see there are four more that you can't between it and the next one

Mark

[karkee]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the response!

So 'BALL' refers to general use ball rounds, rather than tracer, armour-piercing, incendiary, dummy, etc.?

[Watchdog]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the response!

So 'BALL' refers to general use ball rounds, rather than tracer, armour-piercing, incendiary, dummy, etc.?

Exactly right, it's a fairly archaic word originating from "musket ball" but I doubt there is a more accurate term.

Mark