Unknown large cartridge?

[moaning minnie]

hi guys please ID these 5 spent cartridges.all stamped 30-06.and norma.have shown pics with nato 5.56 and with french 8mm lebel for comparison,dave.

[Adrian Stevenson]

US .30 cal model of 1906 and these are commercially made by "Norma".

For use in the M1 Garand, 1903 Springfield rifle, etc.

Cheers, Ade.

[moaning minnie]

so ade are these pre ww1 or did the 06 get used right through ww2?and beyond,they look to big for garand,or cartridges postwar have shrunk a lot,dave

[Adrian Stevenson]

These are actually post WW2 production examples in my opinion.

The .30-06 was the standard US round in WW1, WW2 and Korea.

The cartridges have shrunk: the old design large rifle rounds like the British .303, the German 7.92, and the US .30-06 and the Soviet 7.62x54 were all really too big. German research came up with the answer with the 7.92mm Kurz round used in the MP44. It was half way between a rifle round and a pistol (SMG) round in size. The Soviets and NATO refined the idea and came up with smaller 7.62 rounds and eventually smaller rounds still, like the 5.56 (.223) But now the issue of stopping power has come back into play and slightly bigger rounds are now being developed.

Cheers, Ade.

[moaning minnie]

thanks ade thought they were postwar maybe just the lack of info stamped?are they still produced today?or was korea or vietnam the end of the line for these big boys?thanks again ade for your quick response,dave.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Still made today for sports shooters.

Cheers, Ade.

[TonyE]

As Ade said, these are commercial rounds made for sporting/target use. The .30-06 is still one of the most widely used sporting rounds, particularly in the USA.

The manufacturer and the calibre are all that one would expect to find in the headstamp of a commercial round. Generally only ammunition made for military purposes will have additional information like Lot number, date etc.

Regards
TonyE

[moaning minnie]

thanks tony did some research regarding NORMA etc,so ok there not military but still look cool on a nam M1 lid,now i know what to look out for in the future,thanks ade and tony for the advice,dave.

[lithgow]

.30 " 1906 Round is still in widespread use, mostly for the US Browning M1919 model medium machine guns that were given/sold to many armies post WW2-now mostly in reserve stocks but minor armies/police forces would still be using them in odd spots around the world-same with the Garand rifle.

[TonyE]

I would seriously question your statement of "widespread use" as any army that still has Brownings in its inventory would have converted them to 7.62x51mm by now (like the South Africans) of got rid of them. After all, the 7.62mm NATO round was introduced nearly sixty years ago. Britain used the .30 inch Browning for armoured vehicles until the mid sixties but replaced it with the AFV version of the GPMG (L7).

In any case, although widely used as a generic term, "30-06" is a misnomer as strictly speaking it only applies to the US Model of 1906 with a 150 grain full jacketed bullet. Any other version is a "Caliber .30 inch M1" or M2 or whatever.

Regards
TonyE