Wanted: .50 cal dummy rounds

[Martin Dauphinais]

Hi guys,

If any of you have some Canadian marked .50 cal dummy rounds, I would need one or two. It is to add to a M40 106mm Recoilless rifle for the spotting rifle.

Thanks.

Martin

martin@aboire.ca

[maple_leaf_eh]

The only similarity between a .50 machine gun round and a .50 spotting round is the bullet diameter. The latter is noticeably shorter than the former.

[Martin Dauphinais]

Thank you Sir, I'm far to be knowledgeable about the M40. I didn't know the rounds were different. Are there any pictures available?

It is possible to find some rounds or they are mostly inexistent?

Thanks again for your answer!

Martin

[Lynn Eades]

I'd have described them as similar aside from the length. The 50 cal shell is a tad over 99mm long while the spotting rifle shell is 76mm long. (so about an inch shorter)
Because the short shell has to reduce faster to the neck, the taper is slightly steeper.
Other than that, the head and extractor groove are visually the same. With the two shells I am eyeballing, the taper to the neck might also be longer on the short shell. This might also come down to fireforming?

[Ed Storey]

This....

http://www.network54.com/Forum/28173...+ammo+question

[Martin Dauphinais]

Wow… thank you very much! This is really appreciated.

I wonder if any still available in Canada?!

At least, I know what I'm looking for!

Thanks again for your help and time.

Cheers,

[rob love]

I have picked up the odd one over the years. Cartridge collectors are likely the ones you will want to talk to.

[Ed Storey]

This is the Drill Round.

[Martin Dauphinais]

What a shiny drill round!! Thanks for the picture!

Martin

[Tony Smith]

And here is a M48A1 API-T round next to a .50BMG round for size comparison:

[Tony Smith]

The magazine for the spotting rifle holds 10rds. From what I understand of Canadian gun laws, this would be considered very much more dangerous than the 106RCL it sits on?

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Martin Dauphinais

Hi guys,

If any of you have some Canadian marked .50 cal dummy rounds, I would need one or two. It is to add to a M40 106mm Recoilless rifle for the spotting rifle.

Thanks.

Martin

The M40 RCL was used by virtually every NATO/Western nation at some time or another, and many of those manufactured their own ammunition for either the 106MM or the .50 spotter. That said, I have not (yet) seen any reference that says that Canada ever made .50 spotter. I would think it would have sourced either US or UK supplies.

Pictured below are headstamps for a UK-made (Kynoch) L10A1 Drill round, a US-made (Frankford Arsenal) M48A1 Armour Piercing Incendiary Tracer, and a Spanish-made (Santa Barbara) M48A1.

[Chris Suslowicz]

Hmmm... Back in the day when our rifle (and pistol!) club was also a Registered Firearms Dealer, there was an entire belt of .50 Observer/Tracer ammunition in the armoury. I didn't get a close look at it, so can't say if it was standard .50BMG or (rather more likely) a spotting round for something, but it definitely had the red+yellow tip.

(It was in the UK, so is long gone by now, and would definitely count as "prohibited ammunition" under the current regulations.)

I assume they picked it up at one of the auctions and later found that it wouldn't fit anything (quite apart from being unusable on just about any .uk range due to the fire hazard).

Chris.

[Martin Dauphinais]

Wow! Lots of you have nice pictures... I understand you have the mag and the drill rounds. That's nice.

Since I posted my message, I found a 10 rounds magazine (I was sure it was 20 but according to the picture, it seems to be 10), like the one in the picture. By the way, the magazine is prohibited if not pinned at 5 rounds. Then, I got 4 empty cases of 106mm rounds. My goal is to get at least one inert projectile to make copies of it and fit the 4 cases with it to fill up the rack at the back of the Jeep I just got!

Later this week I will know if I can get a full box of 10 live rounds. Crossed fingers...

The belt you saw in the armoury was indeed a normal belt of .50 rounds. I don't think that any machine gun existed to fire linked M48 rounds or, someone just played with link and M48 rounds and may have assembled them together.

Having said that, thanks for posting on this message.