.303 rifle ammo bandoleers

[LGB303]

To straighten out a misconception, the "MG" in the printed section of the bandolier is for the Footscray Ammunition Factory No.2 which came into being in 1940 and this identifier was used through until 1949 and reverted to MF. It does not indicate Machine Gun ammunition which seems to crop up repeatedly on forums etc.
The rectangle with the line through the centre indicates Cartridge Small Arm Ball and is present on packaging of 303 Marks II,IV, V, VI, VII and VIIZ ammunition and was used on bundles, bandoliers and 48 round boxes and other packaging e.g. 1248 round cases. Not having seen any Mark I cordite bundles or early Mark VIIIz packets although I presume it was used. Australia used the symbol particularly on .303 Inch bandoliers until 1960.

Les

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Les, welcome to the forum!

Thank you for the valueable info.

Cheers, Ade.

[GasMasksUK]

God, you guys it makes me feel really old when I see some of the bits of kit on here, I used loads of these as a cadet.

I'm still using one well was before I found out they are collectable
If anyone wants I'll have a look and take some pics of them?

Thanks

Danny

[Recon 3690]

1967 303 has got to be a rare bird as the 7.62 mm L1A1 SLR had been in use for about 10 years by then and the Brens & No 4 Mk 1(T)s had been converted to 7.62 L4s & L42s

[Recon 3690]

Were the TA still using No 4 SMLEs etc at that time?

[TonyE]

To straighten out a misconception, the "MG" in the printed section of the bandolier is for the Footscray Ammunition Factory No.2 which came into being in 1940 and this identifier was used through until 1949 and reverted to MF. It does not indicate Machine Gun ammunition which seems to crop up repeatedly on forums etc.
The rectangle with the line through the centre indicates Cartridge Small Arm Ball and is present on packaging of 303 Marks II,IV, V, VI, VII and VIIZ ammunition and was used on bundles, bandoliers and 48 round boxes and other packaging e.g. 1248 round cases. Not having seen any Mark I cordite bundles or early Mark VIIIz packets although I presume it was used. Australia used the symbol particularly on .303 Inch bandoliers until 1960.

Les

Looking through this old thread I was about to post a correction to the errors about MG meaning "machine gun" etc. when I found this had already been done by Les.

Just to add to his comments, the WW2 Australian small arms ammunition factories were:

MF - SAAF No.1 Footscray
MF1 - SAAF No.1 Footscray, used briefly in early 1940
MF2 - SAAF No.2 Footscray, used briefly in early 1940
MG - SAAF No.2 Footscray
MH - SAAF no.3 Hendon
MJ - SAAF No.4 Hendon
MQ - SAAF Nos.5 and 6 Rocklea
MS - Salisbury Explosives Factory (small quantitiy of G mark II tracer only)
MW - SAAF No.7 Welchpool

The symbol of a rectangle with a line through it, indicating Ball ammunition, had been used since about 1880 and would also have been used for other Marks of .303 Ball ammo. Every ammo type had its own symbol. For example, that for .303 tracer was a pyramid whilst that for a .303 cordite grenade discharger blank was the Ace of Clubs.
The purpose of this was to allow non -English speaking local labour in depots and docks around the world identify ammo boxes by type without reading the wording on the labels. This system applied to all types of all calibres.

Regards
TonyE

[Unionjack]

Not seen buttons on these before. I think some early ones had press studs though.
Zwerge, yours looks to be Indian made.

[Mark K]

Here are two early examples from my collection the first is a post war example dating 1954 in the darker shade OD green.
The second one is a little more interesting and looks to be the twin to zwergs.
The example that I have is dated 1940 and was manufactured in Chatham Ont. Canada

Regards Mark K

[zwerge]

I remember now that when I was given my bandolier it had some clipped ammo in it marked FN 50,but I don`t know if it was original to the bandolier?......Zwerge.

[Gary J]

I have one with 1908 refill dates !!!!!!!

This bandoleer does not have any type of fixings to each of the pockets .. the tops are open.

Gary J.