Wooden Bullets???

[Ferrariranchero]

I am interested in a Swede Mauser on samcoglobal.com and they have 6.5X55 ammo for sale that have wood projectiles. Take a look at what they have. They are not asking very much money for them. Does anyone have any info and/or advice about this kind of ammo??? What kind of accuracy would you expect? How will it effect the bore? Is it a waste of money?

 

[rcmodel]

They were training blanks.
There was a muzzle attachment to shred them so they were non-lethal at close range.

No accuracy or range, just noise & splinters.

rc

 

[Jim Watson]

Wooden bullets are largely to fill out the shape of the round so it will feed reliably.
Just an elaborate blank cartridge, not anything meant to shoot at a target or an enemy, old tales of splintering wood bullets, notwithstanding.
The muzzle of a Swedish Mauser is threaded for a blank firing attachment which breaks up the wooden dummy bullet to reduce the danger space.

 

[Edarnold]

Keep in mind that cases that do not meet the specs for service ammunition are often used for blanks. In other words, try loading these with real powder charges and bullets at your own risk.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The Japanese Type 2 grenades and grenade launcher were used with the Type 38 and Type 99 rifles with blanks with wooden bullets, to allow grenade launcher blanks to be fed from the magazine. (There was a crimped blank that had to be hand fed into the firing chamber.)

My father told me that when the Japanese ran low on ammo and staged a suicidal attack instead of surrender or retreat, the wooden bullet blanks would be used at bayonet fighting range as a last resort. he served in New Guinea and the Philippines in WWII and was in hospital on Luzon with one of his rifle wounds when VE was announced.

 

[ultramag44]

Interestling enough, there is a vampire story (fictional of course) where a fellow loads hardwood furniture pegs into .45 Colt brass to do in a vampire!

So, if you are bothered by vampires; take the muzzle device off and have at 'em!

 

[MCMXI]

They were training blanks.
There was a muzzle attachment to shred them so they were non-lethal at close range.

Many years ago I had to lug a Bren LMG around for three days all over Salisbury Plain. I had a bunch of ammo with blue balsa wood bullets and a "shredder" on the muzzle. The barrel got so hot during one "engagement" that the shredder went down range along with a number of balsa bullets. I remember the surprise of the opposing "force" and our excitement at the realization that we had real firepower.

 

[Jim K]

Both the Japanese and the Germans used wooden bullet blanks in WWII. U.S. propagandists promptly denounced the vicious and inhuman enemy for using bullets that could not be located by x-rays and removed. The bullets were, of course, hollow, and without enough energy to penetrate much of anything.

Jim

 

[bannockburn]

I remember years ago Portuguese Kropatschek M1886 rifles were available as military surplus that you could also get blank ammunition for them that was loaded with wooden bullets.