Wanted: 3.7" AA ammo box

[jack neville]

Looking for a 3.7" Anti Aircraft steel ammo box. (The long ones, about 1.2m x 50cm x 15cm) Doesn't need a lid and any condition as long as it is straight.

[rnixartillery]

Jack,

The Bren mag storage cases are the same box so probably more chance of finding one of those,there was one on Ausy e-bay a month ago !

Rob.................rnixartillery.

[Tony Smith]

Rob, sorry, but the Bren Mag chest is about a third of the length of a 3.7" ammo box!

Jack, Try Bill Toole in Wodonga. He has a stack of 3.7" boxes, many still with WW2 markings.

[rnixartillery]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Rob, sorry, but the Bren Mag chest is about a third of the length of a 3.7" ammo box!

Jack, Try Bill Toole in Wodonga. He has a stack of 3.7" boxes, many still with WW2 markings.

Excuse the poor bren box photo but the 50 mag box is the same box as the 3.7" Box and great deal more common.

Rob................rnixartillery

[motto]

I've come across quite a few 3.7 ammo cases over the years and I own three but had not heard of the 50 mag chest until reading your posts Rob.
Tony's experience must be similar to my own.

Any Aussies out there who have sighted the 50 mag chests here?

If you're stuck Jack you can have one of mine, I just have to transfer the contents into something else.

David

[rnixartillery]

That's interesting David,quite a few of these boxes have Australian packing notes inside and I think most of them came across with the Lithgow Brens when they were sold off in great numbers 20 odd years ago which is why I assumed there would be plenty over there,you cant give them away over here !

Rob..............rnixartillery.

[motto]

Hi Rob, it could be that there are 50 mag chests around here and I've been looking at them unknowingly, simply assuming they were 3.7 boxes. That's why I asked if anyone here had sighted any.
Perhaps the majority of them went to the UK and only some odd ones escaped.
The 20 mag chests are not that rare and are a more handy size.

David

[jack neville]

Rob is there any difference to these boxes? I'm thinking if there is not that they were 3.7 boxes recycled to fit 50 mags in them. Especially the way the row of mags is stacked across the front of the box. That is not like I would expect for a purpose built box.

[rnixartillery]

you could be right there Jack,I have an empty bren box buried under Pile of crap so I need to dig it out and check the numbers stamped into the box lid.
There are quite a few dealers over here still selling them full of mags,I think the full boxes are selling for around £120 which isn't badly priced really.
Sorry to move away from the original subject but ammo boxes are becoming extremely collectable over here at the moment especially if they have nice original markings.

Rob................rnixartillery.

[Ed Storey]

I bought this C235 Box one a few years ago, but unfortunately it did not come filled with Bren magazines.

[jack neville]

I used two of these boxes to make a tool box. I cut the bottom from a complete one and welded it on top of one without a lid. They overlad perfectly. It looks just like two boxes stacked on top of each other. I wanted to add a third to make the box bigger. That is why I didn't need a box with a lid. And didn't want to wreck a good box or spend too much on one. Funny where this thread has gone and what has been learned.

Still looking by the way.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by rnixartillery

There are quite a few dealers over here still selling them full of mags,I think the full boxes are selling for around £120 which isn't badly priced really.
Sorry to move away from the original subject but ammo boxes are becoming extremely collectable over here at the moment especially if they have nice original markings.

Rob................rnixartillery.

Makes you weep! All our Aussie Mags gone over there and you don't value them like we do! In the years since I've been associated with the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum, I've never seen a 50 mag chest. They're not listed in the approved lists of accessories. I think it was probably an expedient means to ship large numbers of mags.

Perhaps Toole's have sold the nicer 3.7 boxes by now, but they did have a couple of pallets of them, as well as plenty of the usual Bren 12 mag chests (empty).