was reading about 45 colt in wikipedia

[Norrick]

and there was an image of an original box of ammunition from the 1870's.

Link:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rtridges.JPG/436px-Colt_.45_LC_Cartridges.JPG

A box of 12! How cool is that? Twelve shots because the guns at the time had 6 cylinders I am guessing? Kind of gives a little insight into the general mentality of people those days.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Well, the revolver had 6 chambers, not 6 cylinders.


And, unlike commerical companies, the miltiary has in the past tended to package ammo in quantities based on the gun's capacity.

 

[Crazy88Fingers]

I hate those two left over rounds in my boxes of 50.

 

[44 AMP]

And, unlike commerical companies, the miltiary has in the past tended to package ammo in quantities based on the gun's capacity.

Sometimes they did. And sometimes, some militaries didn't. I have always wondered why surplus .303 British was sometimes packed in boxes of 48 when the rifle holds 10 rnds. Hmm, how many rounds did a Lewis gun hold? 96?

Sometimes you get ordnance officers with good sense, and sometimes, you don't, I guess.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Don't really care what the British did/didn't do.

They're not Americans.

Anyway...

The Lewis gun pan magazines held either 47 rounds or 97 rounds.

The 97 rounder was used mainly on aircraft in WW I, and in relatively stationary positions later because of the weight.

 

[RickB]

And, you can get only about 12 rounds through those old blackpowder guns before they need to be field stripped and cleaned. I loaded some blackpowder rounds for my first-generation Colt, and needed to take it down and clean it after the first 18 rounds, and every 12 rounds thereafter. Fouling would build up around the base pin, to the extent that the cylinder would no longer freely rotate.

 

[aarondhgraham]

I hate those two left over rounds in my boxes of 50.

Me too,,,
I shoot those two off first.

I eases my OCD.

Aarond

 

[Mike Irwin]

"I eases my OCD."

You may laugh, but there was a time when I literally could not leave the range if I had a couple of spare rounds left over.

I HAD to shoot in multiples of 50.

It took me years to break that.

 

[Dave R]

I have a different superstition. I never shoot all my ammo at the range. Never know if I'll need some ammo on the way home.

Probably goes back to the time I was driving back from the range after sighting in my NEW rifle, and a Coyote crossed the road in front of me.

Or maybe it goes back to Burt Gummer in T2. "I am completely out of ammo. This has never happened to me before..."

 

[hermannr]

I was part of a service and support troop when I was in Vietnam. We would take the old ammo and RPG's out to the hills and "qualify" when the guys out in the field were not using what we ordered for them it fast enough.

Couple of 2 1/2 ton trucks loaded with ammo and weapons, and a couple with guys. Well these groups used to shoot up "all" the ammo on these exercises, until one of the groups got ambushed on their way back to camp....with no ammo, lots of weapons, just no ammo...24 guys died. (this was in 1968 in Northern I Corp)

Now: I always come back with a loaded mag in the weapon, and a loaded spare mag...to me that is out of ammo.

 

[T. O'Heir]

"...why surplus .303 British was..." BREN guns. Lewis guns used 47 or 97 round drums. Not all of which would be ball ammo anyway. Some of the load, usually every 5th round, was a tracer.
Mind you, it had more to do with the size of the crate the cardboard boxes came in. Logistics isn't about practicality for the end user. It's about how the crate fits in the transport. Be that a truck or a ship.

 

[jmr40]

Yea, but the normal procedure for carrying SA revolvers was to only load 5 and not keep a round under the hammer. They should have come with either 10 or 15 rounds in a box.

 

[Mike Irwin]

No, they were given a full load out. Prior to going into a combat situation, the gun would be fully loaded.