Wooden bullets?

[lpreddick]

I pulled one and case is full of cotton except for a small powder charge. Primer is real. Case length is 2.237" and bullet is .307". What were they?

 

[Immike]

That’s some desperate ammunition! This should be interesting!!

 

[hogpatrol]

Used back in the day when woodpeckers were legal game.

 

[geraldgee]

Beware of slivers when reloading!

 

[hpshooter]

WWII vet Dad and an avid cartridge collector told me years ago this were refereed ti as "infiltrator rounds" . The intended purpose was to have a close range lethal round to be used on infiltrators who intruded into encampments and supply depots and present minimum hazards to friendly forces and material.

Maybe fact or fiction.

 

[ppc]

I pulled one and case is full of cotton except for a small powder charge. Primer is real. Case length is 2.237" and bullet is .307". What were they?View attachment 1032494

They were used for vampires. That way you didn't have to worry about using a hammer and a wooden stake. ☺

 

[Immike]

WWII vet Dad and an avid cartridge collector told me years ago this were refereed ti as "infiltrator rounds" . The intended purpose was to have a close range lethal round to be used on infiltrators who intruded into encampments and supply depots and present minimum hazards to friendly forces and material.

Maybe fact or fiction.

They are definitely well made for some purpose or several, such as training the troops without using up all the supplies...

 

[butchlambert]

Had a couple in a collection sometime back.

 

[people]

Blank ammo. Used with a muzzle device to destroy the bullet.

 

[varmintshooter]

Early lead free for use in California

 

[Laurie]

Blank ammo. Used with a muzzle device to destroy the bullet.

Yes.

You also find inert 'DP' (drill practice) training rounds especially in 303 British with red painted wooden bullets. The Lee-Enfield extractor was overstressed by repeat extraction and ejection of inert rounds loaded with full-weight FMJ bullets. The much lighter wooden practice rounds reduced the forces involved to acceptable levels

 

[hpshooter]

"Maybe fact or fiction"

People and Laurie are correct, blank rounds and training rounds. These rounds are covered in the "variations" of cartridges in "Military Rifle & Machine Gun Cartridges" by Jean Huon, ISBN 0-935554-05 X.

Consulted some of my reference books after my earlier post to "verify" my late Dad's infiltrator round description. People and Laurie got the correct info out first.

Some US blanks were loaded with wax impregnated paper projectiles.

 

[wholman]

My vote is on vampires too.

 

[6fatrat]

+1 Vampires

 

[rardoin]

Purchased with a wooden nickel perhaps?

 

[carlsbad]

Maybe they are meant to be blanks, but wooden bullets were also used for riot control, a predecessor to the rubber bullet.

--Jerry

 

[akajun]

Who remembers the “vampire killer “ wooden bullet blanks from Israel in 7.62. We used to buy the by the case, pull the bullet with a pair of pliers, and dump the blank powder. You were left with a primed case with very good brass for us to shoot out of our M1a and garands in highpower.

 

[akajun]

Maybe they are meant to be blanks, but wooden bullets were also used for riot control, a predecessor to the rubber bullet.

--Jerry

Your thinking of the baton round fired out of a37mm gas gun. The baton was solid hardwood about a foot long. You were supposed to shoot them in front of the crowd so they would bounce off the ground and hit them in the shins lower torso

 

[fivering1]

I pulled one and case is full of cotton except for a small powder charge. Primer is real. Case length is 2.237" and bullet is .307". What were they?View attachment 1032494

When I was a teenager I got to know a WWII veteran that had seen a lot of action in Europe as a foot soldier in some heavy action clearing cities. He told me that a buddy of his was shot in the stomach with a wooden bullet by a German sniper, relatively short range, and the bullet fragmented, doing great damage and instantly killing his friend.

 

[Macropod]

Used by the Japanese towards the end of WW11. They were running low on raw materials. My late uncle recalled there use in New Guinea.