Is this a WWI German Mauser round?

[mikehm]

Dear All,

 

I couldn't resist this when it popped up on eBay the other day - an 1897 penny with a bullet stuck halfway through it.   The bullet is a jacketed round, 33mm long, with a diameter ranging from 7.80mm to 8.04mm according to digital callipers.   The jacket looks to be steel, but is completely non-magnetic.   No obvious rifling marks are visible, but there is evidence that the base of the bullet has been deformed by pliers or some other gripping tool - perhaps the result of an attempt to remove it from the penny, which has had a suspension loop added to it.

 

So, is this 7.92mm ammunition from a K98 Mauser rifle, and, if so, can it be dated to the Boer War, the First World War, or the Second World War?   If not, can anyone identify it for me?

 

 

ATB

Mike

Edited May 13, 2015 by mikehm

[Hoss]

Mike

That is really cool, it looks to be a British .303 round to me the German '05 Spitzgeschoss has a tapered base.

Eric

[mikehm]

Many thanks, Eric.   Having had a look at illustrations on the WWW, I see what you mean.   It's a dead ringer for a Mark VII, cupronickel jacketed, .303 bullet - the WWI Lee Enfield round.   At its narrowest, where it has been squeezed, it mic's at 0.307"; at its fattest, it is 0.317".   I think it probably started life around 0.310" or 0.312" - and .312" is exactly the diameter of a British .303 bullet, and much too small to be a 7.92 Mauser round.

 

Presumably, then, this is something faked up for the tourist market?   This is Baldrick's "bullet with his name on it"!

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi, proportionally Mauser rounds are shorter

[mikehm]

Thanks, Chris.