A fine bit of bullets...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Just this week I received this 1917 stamped bandoleer...

what I did not know when I bought it was that it was still full... so when it arrived my eves popped out....

Dilemma...

1)not legal to have ammunition like this laying around.

2)Some of the clips were rusting, which in the long run would damage the cotton

In the end I took out the rounds, emptied them with an Armour hammer, put the heads back in, made special light weight "ersatz" clips with bullets out of cardboard, sewed them back in (100% like it originally was) removed the rust from the clips (bullets were still mint)...

So now

1) All legal

2) Deterioration (rust) stopped

3) Better for display

4) Can put the bandoleer on a dummy without the weight taking its toll

[Chris Boonzaier]

Bullets all from November 1917

[peter monahan]

Clever and lucky both!

Nice score, but I'm not sure I'd have been keen to play with cartridges whose primers have been sitting God-knows-where for 95 years! It looks lovely, though, all done up again.

Peter

BTW, are you domiciled this side of the pond theses days? I think I recall seeing "Toronto" on your sign=in info. not long ago. Or is my middle aged brain slipping gears again?

Edited March 25, 2010 by peter monahan

[Georg of Ohio]

Nice buy, but, the “not legal to have ammunition like this laying around.”? In the USA there are no limits on the amount of live rifle ammo which someone can have. Can you own any live ammo?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nice buy, but, the “not legal to have ammunition like this laying around.”? In the USA there are no limits on the amount of live rifle ammo which someone can have. Can you own any live ammo?

You can have ammo (locked up but not laying around) for weapons you legally own. As i dont have a G98 its a nono.

I am fine with that, our son is 5 years old and curious... I remember putting rounds in a vice and hitting the back when I was 7-8... So I have no problem with the thought of not have ammo laying around...

I sold my pistol because the new laws want an approved safe, with weapons and ammo locked in it and it was not worth the trouble for me to do all that... once again, I remember sneaking out the family Walther in my early teens and doing some pretty irresponsible stuff with it... So I have no reason to think my kid would be different... its a problem I dont need.

Best

Chris

[Tom Y]

I remember putting rounds in a vice and hitting the back when I was 7-8..

Yup. I my case it was a 50 cal, a piece of pipe, a hammer and a screwdriver. Luckily I was told, quite strenuously to "don't" before I succeeded in my task.

Well, you can always reload them, although I imagine fresh Berdan primers would be hard to find.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Tom Y

[Tony]

You can have ammo (locked up but not laying around) for weapons you legally own. As i dont have a G98 its a nono.

I am fine with that, our son is 5 years old and curious... I remember putting rounds in a vice and hitting the back when I was 7-8... So I have no problem with the thought of not have ammo laying around...

I sold my pistol because the new laws want an approved safe, with weapons and ammo locked in it and it was not worth the trouble for me to do all that... once again, I remember sneaking out the family Walther in my early teens and doing some pretty irresponsible stuff with it... So I have no reason to think my kid would be different... its a problem I dont need.

Best

Chris

After buying an expensive approved safe a year or so ago they changed the laws again saying you have to have a Jadgschein too. Needless to say, my wife couldn't be bothered to pay out for that, not that she had the time and insisted on getting rid of everything, even the 1917 dated P08 at very cheap prices.

Tony

[Chip]

Chris,

I have a 1918 dated one with most of the original ammo still in it. So far, no rusting or discoloration to the bandoleer. But it is darn heavy.

Chip

[Tony]

Chris,

I have a 1918 dated one with most of the original ammo still in it. So far, no rusting or discoloration to the bandoleer. But it is darn heavy.

Chip

German rounds seem to deteriorate very quickly. You're both lucky to have them in good condition as well as the bandoleers.

Tony