JTHunter
Member
Nice paint jobs Rio. An interesting collection of colors, calibers, and shapes.
Show Me Your Ammo Can
- Thread starter H&R Glock
- Start date
- Status
No, the hole is not original. Does it go all the way through so as to serve as a vent to defeat the seal?
Some AMU teams used 30 cal. ammo cans to carry our ammo and other gear, such as carbide lamp for blacking sights, score books etc. to the firing line @ matches. We were sitting around behind the 600 yd. line waiting to be called to the line one day when one such can burst/exploded. Could have been disastrous, because many times the competitors would sit on their ammo cans while waiting.
Fortunately, no one was nearby and the can held together (no shrapnel). It was finally determined that the carbide lamp in the can had been extinguished, but the shutoff valve did not hold and it continued to generate acetylene gas (which becomes unstable above 15# and can self detonate). After that incident we all drilled a small hole in the cans under the lip which is drilled on your can, so as to allow any gas to escape. While the cans were no longer water proof, rain was prevented from entering the can by the overlapping lip.Regards,
hps
Riomouse911
Member
I got bored one day and started painting one...the rest followed.
Riomouse911
Member
Can someone educate me on this can I have? It has a side hinge along the long edge, and on the other side a side-latching device with a pin that keeps it closed (a few extra pins are located in the bottom of the can.) it’s a .50 cal can, and if I remember correctly my Dad gave it to me with some .300 Weatherby ammo in boxes inside when he gave me the rifle. All my other .30 and .50 cal cans are of the plain old modern style, both GI and reproductions.
Thanks!
243winxb
Member
Yes, all the way thru.
Carl N. Brown
Member
I have read that military steel ammo cans are designed so that, in case of fire, the rubber seal will melt before the cartridges cook off and the steel sides will contain the casings and bullets as the rounds pop off if the lid is latched. The gap where the rubber seal was will vent the gases before they can build up.
For that reason, I have several military ammo cans for storing ammunition, and only one plastic ammo can (a gift).
ADDED:
The incident in post #52 involved a leaking carbide lamp in a can with an intact seal bursting from internal pressure build up. (Remind me not to store carbide lamps, aerosol products, butane refill cans, or lighters in my ammo cans.)
Post #31 points out that when an ammo can was used to make hot water using the lid as a handle, the lid seal melted then burned. That's a design feature: in a fire, the seal melts so the can will vent pressure under the closed lid.
For that reason, I have several military ammo cans for storing ammunition, and only one plastic ammo can (a gift).
ADDED:
The incident in post #52 involved a leaking carbide lamp in a can with an intact seal bursting from internal pressure build up. (Remind me not to store carbide lamps, aerosol products, butane refill cans, or lighters in my ammo cans.)
Post #31 points out that when an ammo can was used to make hot water using the lid as a handle, the lid seal melted then burned. That's a design feature: in a fire, the seal melts so the can will vent pressure under the closed lid.
Last edited:
entropy
Member
Looks like a standard M2 ammo box; I have a paper clip bent like yours stuck in one of mine, also. The stencil has it as all Armor piercing, probably loaded up for a tank's co-ax gun.
I don't have any "real" ammo cans. It's a lot harder to find a deal on them these days, which I always then miss. And then there's shipping.
I bought a pile of .50 cal cans of indeterminate international origin from Academy last Black Friday. There's some argument as to whether they are Chinese or Korean. I suspect Chinese, but they aren't marked. They seem pretty decent despite the completely unknown pedigree. They appear to be slightly larger than a real .50, and also came in tan and black at the time.
I've also been meaning to pick up some "fat .50's" to keep AK drums in.
Before that, I picked up a Chinese Walmart .50 cal can for evaluation purposes. It seems ok, and otherwise identical to Academy's except for the brand markings.
I bought a plastic commercial (Plano? MTM?) .30 cal can out of desperation a while back, but I am not at all impressed with it. It seems like all of the commercial plastic cans are pretty frightening.
I've been thinking it would be incredibly cool to build a SurfyBear spring reverb kit (for an electric guitar) into some kind of ammo can/box, but it's tough. The spring tank is about 17" long, but otherwise skinny and flat. It seems like everything is much too big or much too small. I saw some Pelican-style optics cases that were about right, but they were impressively expensive.
I bought a pile of .50 cal cans of indeterminate international origin from Academy last Black Friday. There's some argument as to whether they are Chinese or Korean. I suspect Chinese, but they aren't marked. They seem pretty decent despite the completely unknown pedigree. They appear to be slightly larger than a real .50, and also came in tan and black at the time.
I've also been meaning to pick up some "fat .50's" to keep AK drums in.
Before that, I picked up a Chinese Walmart .50 cal can for evaluation purposes. It seems ok, and otherwise identical to Academy's except for the brand markings.
I bought a plastic commercial (Plano? MTM?) .30 cal can out of desperation a while back, but I am not at all impressed with it. It seems like all of the commercial plastic cans are pretty frightening.
I've been thinking it would be incredibly cool to build a SurfyBear spring reverb kit (for an electric guitar) into some kind of ammo can/box, but it's tough. The spring tank is about 17" long, but otherwise skinny and flat. It seems like everything is much too big or much too small. I saw some Pelican-style optics cases that were about right, but they were impressively expensive.
British H82 can for .50 BMG, loaded by Kynoch in 1969.
The original safety classification label has been overlaid with a more recent type, so it must have stayed in store until the contents were used recently.
.55 Boys a/t rifle ammo crate, returned from Portugal, which received British arms in WW2 or after. We seldom see these now. The raised metal letters were part of the no-lighting ID system earlier in the war, later dropped for economy.
The original safety classification label has been overlaid with a more recent type, so it must have stayed in store until the contents were used recently.
.55 Boys a/t rifle ammo crate, returned from Portugal, which received British arms in WW2 or after. We seldom see these now. The raised metal letters were part of the no-lighting ID system earlier in the war, later dropped for economy.
Sounds like it might have been an AMU alteration. When you get right down to it, it would still be very difficult for rainwater to enter so drilled unless can became fully submerged and in that cast the way we drilled ours would not prevent entry anyway.
Strange markings on that can. No experience w/7.62 ammo; we were still issued Garands. Anyone know what type ammo "Overhead Fire" is? I notice can has two different Lake City lot numbers, which leads me to think it might have been belted ammo (tracer & AP or ball)?? Interesting.
In the incident described previously, there was no evidence of a fire, nothing charred in can, so I suspect it burst from pressure alone, rather than detonation of the acetylene???? Not scientific, just WAG. It was loud enough to draw a crowd, though, even on a hot firing line. Sounded much like dropping a round in an 81mm mortar tube right down to the hollow thump.
Often wondered how many shooters got on the trigger & threw a flier about that moment? 
Regards,
hps
kBob
Member
entropy.
US tanks co ax guns have been .30 cal or 7.62 Nato since like forever. The .50 is at the commanders hatch.
The first use of the FN MAG that later replaced the M60 was as a co ax to replace the awful M73 "lets see if we can really screw up one of John M Brownings best ideas and make it a "better"" MG . Being a gas gun the MAG had plumbing to take care of the exhaust in a tank.
The US/NATO MTB70 that only got as far as light troop trials had a 25mm Bushmaster Chain gun ( I believe the same one that ended up on the Bradley IFV) in the Co-ax position. I thought this was a bit of one up manship against the Soviets that had replaced a 7.62 PKM on some T62 tanks with their 14.5 KPV gun that could have really done some damage to say and M113 out to half a mile. This and passive night vision were what was called a T62A in NATO. Yes in the 1970s a squadjillion soviet diesel engine tanks that could see in the dark, kill your APCs and light field fortifications without the main gun firing and then make a center hold no range adjustment hit on an M60A3 tank from zero to 1500 meters caused some loss of sleep for some folks....
A co ax is mounted along side "co-axialy" to the main gun to give a tank gunner something to do while waiting on the loader to put down his beer.
-kBob
US tanks co ax guns have been .30 cal or 7.62 Nato since like forever. The .50 is at the commanders hatch.
The first use of the FN MAG that later replaced the M60 was as a co ax to replace the awful M73 "lets see if we can really screw up one of John M Brownings best ideas and make it a "better"" MG . Being a gas gun the MAG had plumbing to take care of the exhaust in a tank.
The US/NATO MTB70 that only got as far as light troop trials had a 25mm Bushmaster Chain gun ( I believe the same one that ended up on the Bradley IFV) in the Co-ax position. I thought this was a bit of one up manship against the Soviets that had replaced a 7.62 PKM on some T62 tanks with their 14.5 KPV gun that could have really done some damage to say and M113 out to half a mile. This and passive night vision were what was called a T62A in NATO. Yes in the 1970s a squadjillion soviet diesel engine tanks that could see in the dark, kill your APCs and light field fortifications without the main gun firing and then make a center hold no range adjustment hit on an M60A3 tank from zero to 1500 meters caused some loss of sleep for some folks....
A co ax is mounted along side "co-axialy" to the main gun to give a tank gunner something to do while waiting on the loader to put down his beer.
-kBob
Makes sense. Thank you, sir.
ETA: Just showin' my age I guess; never saw such markings on the ammo issued prior 61 but the last linked, I was issued was mid 50's for the M1919.
Guess they didn't worry too much about short rounds back then???? Regards,
hps
Last edited:
Riomouse911
Member
Gotcha, sounds good. This can is cool because it has ammo can cal 50 M2 actually molded into the metal under the latch as well as the stenciled words on the back side.
By chance do you know the years of use for this style of ammo can?
CapnMac
Member
Generally WWII to KW. Then replaced with end-openers.
More info here: https://olive-drab.com/od_firearms_ammo_cans_50cal_m2.php
GunnyUSMC
Member
I had a few of those British 50 cal ammo cans back in 1991, I picked up around 800 rounds of ammo along with a Browning M2 manufactured by High Standard. Traded it all for a box of pogey bate.
Riomouse911
Member
Thanks Cap’n!
My Dad was a second lieutenant in an Army Quartermaster unit stationed in Philly between Korea and Vietnam. I’ll call tonight and ask him if this was a surplus can he got back then.
Stay Safe!
My Dad was a second lieutenant in an Army Quartermaster unit stationed in Philly between Korea and Vietnam. I’ll call tonight and ask him if this was a surplus can he got back then.
Stay Safe!
CapnMac
Member
Ah, so now the addiction to Chips A'Hoy becomes more clear . . . [
](ok, to be fair, I need to go dig up at least one photo of me in "chocolate chips" [
])
GunnyUSMC
Member
There’s a much better deal. SG Ammo has a crate with three 30 cal ammo candy and 900 rounds do 7.62x51 for $357. That’s 40 cents a round and a free crate with three ammo cans.
If I wasn’t building a 458 Socom, I would have ordered a crate this week.
https://www.sgammo.com/product/308-...a2-ball-surplus-ammo-malaysia-146-grain-bi-me
kBob
Member
Was in Tractor supply yesterday for horse feed and lo they had "50 cal" cans (same size 880 rounds of 5.56 came in) for $10 a can or three for 25
The seem to be steel and like the GI can except for a stylized W on the hinge side and OD green with no printing.
Thought folks might be interested.
-kBob
The seem to be steel and like the GI can except for a stylized W on the hinge side and OD green with no printing.
Thought folks might be interested.
-kBob
- Status
