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303 British FMJ 174 Grain "Full Patch" Winchester "Black Label" Ammo (Box of 20 rounds)
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"Black Label" .303 British FMJ. Box of 20 rounds.
This 303 British FMJ (or as the Brits are so fond of calling it, "full patch") ammo is a must for any serious WWII cartridge or aviation collector. Winchester Repeating Arms produced these cartridges in the USA on behalf of the British Royal Force. These cartridges are mostly stamped 1941, indicating their year of manufacture. Prior to the United States' entry to the war, the US lent its industrial might to its cultural and hegemonic predecessor, the British Empire, as it fought off the ever encroaching spectre of Nazism. These rounds were a product of the country's earliest involvement in the war.
So what do all the labels mean?
The "Black Label" means it was not intended for use in aircraft. Whereas aircraft ammo had to be uber-reliable, there proved no need for regular infantry ammo to be so reliable. Ultimately, this black label Winchester label found its home in the honest bolt guns like the SMLE's and Enfields, rather than ultra finnicky machine guns like lewis and vickers guns. Accordingly, this ammo proves more available, and affordable today than the green and red variants.
The Green Label mean means that the ammo is intended for all types of service use. Specifically, it could be used in all of the various .303 machine guns of the time. Though not made to the exacting standards of the Red Label, this green label ammo was apparently more suitable for the Vickers machine gun, the Browning 1919, and the Lewis gun. And apparently it could work in synchonized machine guns, it just wasn't labelled as such.
During the First World War, the "Great War" as it was called, it was necessary to use high quality ammunition in the newly-invented synchronised machine guns used to fire through the propeller arc of an aircraft. Any hangfire or failure to fire could prove disastrous not only to the pilot involved in a dogfight shootout, but also the propeller of the aircraft itself. Specifically, even the slightest 'hangfire'--a delay in ignition of the powder by the primer compound-- could result in damage to the propellor blade of the aircraft . At first selected lots from the regular Mark VII production line were allocated to air service and given a distinguishing green label. By 1918, however, a specification for synchronised gun ammunition had been drawn up, and this was given a distinguishing, and much sought after, 'Red Label'. While the use of the synchronised guns was much reduced by the time of the Second World War, reliable primer ignition remained a priority for air use, largely because misfires in the air are much more difficult to clear in air than on land. So the specification of the red label persisted. Only after the Battle of Britain, did German aircraft exhibit much armoring at all. So the British 'eight gun' fighters with their .303 machineguns were very effective in combat. These simply kicked the butts of German aircraft, whose gargantuan 20mm guns were not notably more effective.
All of this said, these rounds come to you today bearing extreme historical significance and at a great value. We have never gotten this stuff in, and we would honestly be surprised if we ever got anymore. This 303 British FMJ is some of the most desirable out there.
This particular listing is for a box of 20 rounds. If you buy 50 boxes for a total of 1,000 rounds, you can get them packaged in the original, semi-sealed aluminum ammo tin these were originally packaged in. If you have any questions as to this ammo, just shoot us an email at customersupport@thecastlearms.com. Admittedly, we do not know as much about .303 ammo as we do about German ammo. And we know way less about German ammo than any of the collectors who regularly buy from us though. If you have any fun facts to share with us, let us know. We love learning from our customers.
Note also this is the best price on the entire internet on this ammo. We always provide good service and great prices.
Generally we also write long disclaimers about the dangers of shooting surplus ammo. And here we would be remiss not to do so. We can make no assurance as to the quality, condition, or the reliability of this ammunition, and we explicitly disclaim any sort of warranty of safety or merchantability. Even more explicitly, we can't promise you that some of this ammo won't blow your damn face off if you go to shoot it. Instead, we can tell you this ammo looks great, and we would be surprised if it did not also shoot great. Besides, if you shoot this, you're really laying a lot of historical and collector value--not to mention money--to waste. If you can afford to do that, congratulations: please add some stuff to your cart, you filthy rich bastard, and send us a tip.
In all seriousness, thank you for your interest not only in our company but also in the history of how free people can--and must always--prevail over centralized governments.
Model | 8017BLKC |
UPC | 801711118017 |
Width | 1.3000 |
Weight | 2.0000 |