ww2 shooting range

[ww2nut]

after years of poking around the place finally took the metal detector over for a planned visit, My father had recommended an area behind the 500 yard range, there's always plenty of bullets to find simply by digging an inch down on the range but this time we found the DUMP?? big hole with literally tonnes of spent shells clips, amo boxes and bren gun parts to name but a few, have already collected about a bin bag full in various states of decay, much is very well preserved, cant understand why this stuff would be discarded and not recycled??
all shells dated 39-56
im going to get the lot out but god knows how much there is in total, and what to do with it after, i will keep the best for my collection but there will be hundreds of rounds and clips left???

lots of bren gun shells and lee enfield clips like the pic above, will add more photos once the initial clean has been done
shiny clip for example only, this item was in my collection already, not ground dug

[Steve T]

Hi ww2nut and welcome to the forum.

I have edited your post to remove precise locations. As this is an open forum, you don't want to be including the location of your sites as, within a few weeks, there will be little left!

I would also recommend you visit the MOD website to check there are no bye laws still active for your site. If there is an active bye law, you can be prosecuted for the removal of even one spent bullet from the site, let alone a bin bag full. Better to be safe than sorry!

You site sounds very interesting and I would love to see more of your finds.

[Panzer 3]

Hi,
Whata great find looking forward to more pics.
Dave.

[dropshort2000]

If there is so much live and brass in the hole, there could be something in there that really does go bang!

[hangarman]

after years of poking around the place finally took the metal detector over for a planned visit, My father had recommended an area behind the 500 yard range, there's always plenty of bullets to find simply by digging an inch down on the range but this time we found the DUMP?? big hole with literally tonnes of spent shells clips, amo boxes and bren gun parts to name but a few, have already collected about a bin bag full in various states of decay, much is very well preserved, cant understand why this stuff would be discarded and not recycled??
all shells dated 39-56
im going to get the lot out but god knows how much there is in total, and what to do with it after, i will keep the best for my collection but there will be hundreds of rounds and clips left???

lots of bren gun shells and lee enfield clips like the pic above, will add more photos once the initial clean has been done
shiny clip for example only, this item was in my collection already, not ground dug

Are you looking to identify the clip shown in the yellow box?
Its a securing clamp from the strap that goes around an H51 Ammunition box. Will see if I can find a picture later.
Cheers
Gary

[TonyE]

It looks like you have found a bonanza for you relic hunters!

Can I live up to my signature though and ask for a little more exactness in your terminology. They are cartridge cases, not "shells". A shell is what is fired from a cannon or artillery piece.

Also, the British military is quite clear on the difference between a clip and a charger. A clip is loaded into the magazine with the rounds and is ejected when the last round is fires as in the M1 Garand or Mannlicher. A charger is used to replenish the magazine and is discarded as in the Lee Enfield or Mauser.

Regards
TonyE

[m3bobby]

What Bren parts have you found?

[ww2nut]

let me be exact, the hole now covered with undergrowth by me! has many many lee enfield chargers, a few bren gun magazines, several green amo cases that look to be late war -1950's type long thin and green. inside many of these amo cases are spent brass rounds from bren and enfield guns, most of the artifact are in great condition now i have removed the top layer, the detector is going nuts for 10 yards in every direction and this seems top be correct as my dad reported a huge dump area which was covered by sand after the site closed, also the dune that was the backdrop to the shooting has literally millions of rounds holding it up, i no longer collect these as i have too many already. i have had much fun over the last week cleaning and polishing the rounds and will be going back shortly. i want to look up legality of this dig first, its on common land, will full public access, not a conservation area, indeed i work for the local authority and we have no listing of the site and no history on it at all, its purely stories and myths passed down over the years. its 2 large concrete 500 yard ranges
each with 5 long ''slit trenches'' or bunkers raised 6 foot off the ground, sand mounds with a trench through it, which was i believe
used in case of air raids. it has 2 canteens, toilet blocks and yards of communication wires linking it all together, quite impressive.

[ww2nut]

last trench before the main range target area infront, the trench in this ''mound'' is now collapsed but the corrigated sides remain, as does the entrance where many chargers are found, the firing positions were in front of the ''mounds'' liying prone on the grass, the ''mounds'' are protection against bullets being fired from the other firing positions behind, and also acted as air raid shelters

[ww2nut]

no bren gun parts, my mistake, i thought the amo box clips i found, being heavy, may be from the bren, alas not so,