With the release of Bronco''s 25pdr artillery gun and the questions that have resulted Darren Baker shares with us some pictures of a 25pdr ammunition case.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Odd that the dimensions and weight are in metric ????

I'd suggest that maybe it is an ex Indian Army case. Same as all the old .303 ammunition we used to get here in Aus. The boxes are still the same as the originals but with the metric info added cause the Indian were still using 25 pdrs and SMLEs up until the 70's.

The 25 pdr was in service well into the 80's maybe 90's, as cerimonial guns.

The Edinburgh 1 O'Clock gun , springs to mind (duties now performed by a 105mm light gun).

So the ammo was in production well into the decimal age, & rounds were purchased from India when UK stocks ran out.

And we forgot about the Irish as well. Wasn't there a walk-around of a refurbed ex Irish gun on here as well?

It is my belief that these are (in terms of the 25pdr) recent ammo boxes as we have several of them and that they are British, I cannot however prove that one way or the other.

Most likly came from ex Irish army stock via India. They were using them up to last year or so for training and still have some for cerimonial duties

These boxes have been in the possession of The Garrison for over a decade.

Have you been talking to Kieth (say hi for me)

I will get my daughter to pass on your hello on Wednesday.

Just a passing thought, is there some way to trace the box using the numbers shown on the side?

Might be an interesting exercise?

Batch numbers can be traced back to when and where the muntion was manufactured but I don't think this is available to the general public. Been involved in a few muntions accidents that have had to be traced. It's all part of the investigation to rule out any faults and to put a freeze on using any other munitions from that batch until the investigation is complete. Would be very interesting to research though if possible. Ammunition has a tale to tell just as much as the guns that fired it.

After reading CMOTs replies I'm going with : a British manufactured case from the late 70's, 80's or 90's that was used for the ceremonial guns and not an Indian or Irish box.

Thaks CMOT for putting up this walk-around. Made for an interesting topic and debate plus we got to see a case that is not easily found nowdays. Just one question, is that brown typical of artillery ammunition cases?

Cheers, John

Most metal ammo cases even today are that colour in the UK which I can best describe as a chocolate brown. The text and font is also typical of ammo containers.

Darren,

Can you confirm whether the dimensions (62 x 32 x 38 cm) on the side of the box are to the outside surfaces of the strapping around the box or just to the exterior surface of the main part of the box itself. I'm looking at making a pattesn & casting up a LOT for when my 25 pdr arrives.

I assume the former, but "assume" has done me in before...

Oh, and if it's possible, could you possible measure up the strapping that goes around the box? That would help me get the pattern right.

Paul

No problem Paul I will sort that for you on Wednesday.

After asking a lot of questions I can say that these are Indian Ammunition boxes and that they are post WW2. 25 pdr Ammunition cases used by the Allies during WW2 were all metal construction and a new walk around will be uploaded soon.

Hi Darren thanks for the pics.

I'd amend the title then: Post War Indian Army 25 pdr Boxes or something so there is no confusion, or just add it in as a piece of text.

Nice one.

Al

I think you will find that the wooden case contained four 25pdr shells. Eight cartridges were transported in a metal case.