Bullets!

[A.W.U.K.]

Does anyone more knowledgeable than myself recognise any of these bullets I found on a beach the other day?

those in the top left are approx. 6.6mm diameter, top right approx 7.6mm.

The others are too distorted or corroded to get any sort of measurement off.

I found more but they were very heavily corroded.

Andy

 

[bladefixation2]

They all look to be rifle rounds

Top right could be .303 or 7.62mm NATO?

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Thanks for the reply!

Any idea what 6.6mm might be fired out of?

 

[Absintheur]

6.5 Carcano would be one possibility

 

[mwerner]

Or 6.5 Arisaka... I believe there used to be some surplus items available. Wasn't there a 6-ish mm straight-pull or two available as surplus years ago? I remember the Schmidt-Rueben, but I don't recall the chambering.

I agree, the upper right group look like typical military 30 caliber or 8mm rounds.

 

[Coldwood]

Also 6.5mm Swedish mauser.

 

[A.W.U.K.]

Thanks for the responses chaps.

The find spot was on a beach in Northern France, a few miles west of Calais. I found fragments of military barbed wire too and there was a (presumably German) pillbox about 50 yards away. I am not aware of any fighting taking place at that particular spot however and the mixture of bullet types is puzzling, as is the fact that i found no less than 33 in about half an hour, without a metal detector!

 

[slippse2]

the m1 garang was a 30-06 cartridge which is a .30 cal same as the .308 and the swedish mauser was very common during WWII

 

[A.W.U.K.]

..... and the swedish mauser was very common during WWII

That IS interesting, any idea which armies used it?

 

[Nacinator]

I am not a scholar by any stretch of the imagination. But I do own several of the rifles used in World War II. Here is a short list of the rifles used by American, British and German forces. There are many more rifles but these were the most commonly used in the area were you found the expended bullets

Country Make/Model Caliber Type
American M1 Garand 30-06 / .30 cal semi auto 8 round en bloc clip
American M1 Carbine .30 carbine semi auto 15 round magazine
American M1903a3 30-06 / .30 cal bolt action 5 rounds
American M1917 B.A.R 30-06 / .30 cal Auto 20 round magazine
American M1919 30-06 / .30 cal Auto 200 round belt

England SMLE .303 Caliber bolt action 10 rounds
England BREN .303 Caliber Auto 32 round magazine

Germany 98k 8mm bolt action 5 rounds
Germany Mg42 8mm Auto 200 round belt

Hope this helps :foot::thumbup:

 

[slippse2]

That IS interesting, any idea which armies used it?

perhaps I should rephrase that to say the 6.5 caliber bullet was used extensively in WWII in various rifles.

sheesh, give a guy typo break.

 

[Guntotin_fool]

The 6.5 are cores, where the copper or gilding metal jacket has come loose. I believe, there was a small number of .276 caliber weapons which the british attempted to replace the .303 with, but which folded to the USA's desire to keep the30 cal and ended up with the 7.62x51 nato round

 

[superduty truck]

Did the japanese have 6mm rifle or was that 8mm?

 

[A.W.U.K.]

The 6.5 are cores, where the copper or gilding metal jacket has come loose.

Actually, the right hand one of the three has a jacket but is the same diameter, as far as I can tell, as the non-jacketed ones (I used a Vernier gauge to measure them).

I believe, there was a small number of .276 caliber weapons which the british attempted to replace the .303 with, but which folded to the USA's desire to keep the30 cal and ended up with the 7.62x51 nato round

I've heard of this but I was under the impression that the calibre change was to happen in the 50's or early 60's (with the FN rifle?) and no weapons actually entered service. If so it would be unlikely that the bullets would end up in France. Is it possible these are non-military rifle bullets?