.50 BMG rounds from WWII: Two different bullets?

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OVERKILL

OVERKILL

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I have a small "belt" of .50BMG rounds from WWII. They were my grandfather's from when he was a tail gunner in the RCAF.

The shells have all had the bullets pulled and the powder emptied, however, in looking at them (the bullets are rather easily removed from the shells) there appear to be two different styles of bullets.

One is your standard FMJ, the other is deep-skirted and hollow inside, and has a heavy "rattle" when you shake it. Almost like some kind of "loaded" round? This round also has a seam near the tip. The "standard" FMJ's don't.

Any ideas?

If pics will help, I can take some.

-Chris
 
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
Is it possible one's for in aircraft (shooting at planes) and one's for the battlefield (shooting at people)?


I have no idea Jim. They are all in a common "belt" but are obviously different bullets. I would ASSUME they were all for use in an aircraft. But I could be wrong.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Tracer?


Did they use tracer rounds in the 1940's? (I have no idea).
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Tracer?


Did they use tracer rounds in the 1940's? (I have no idea).


I think so the Brits had them in 1915, USA in 1917 for the 30.06. Typically every 5th round was a Tracer in the 50 BMG.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Tracer?


Did they use tracer rounds in the 1940's? (I have no idea).


I think so the Brits had them in 1915, USA in 1917 for the 30.06. Typically every 5th round was a Tracer in the 50 BMG.


That would make perfect sense then! Thanks!!!!

EDIT:

And after watching that video, I see what you mean too. Didn't do the old 2 and 2 there. Thanks again!
 
Originally Posted By: expat
I was told 1 in 6 was a tracer. As used by the RAF


Can't help you there, but this is a 13-round partial belt and there are what appear to be two tracers.
 
My father said in Korea they had them every 5th round in the machine gun belts, they called them 4 to 1 tracers. Many guys would take them out, because the bullet could be traced back to where it was fired from.
 
Sounds like tracer bullets. Do they look like these?

The black tipped bullet is AP and is close to the size of the typical FMJ bullet. The long red tipped bullets are tracer.

IMG_2918.jpg

IMG_2916.jpg

IMG_2917.jpg
 
Yepper! That's what they look like for sure, thanks!!!!

I've got a few rounds here, anybody interested in some pics? I've got some smaller cartridges to compare them to. These things are massive!
 
Here are a couple of pics I just snapped. I pulled one of the shells out of the belt, polished it quickly with some Mothers aluminum polish, did the same for a couple of the bullets.

Here we have (top to bottom) .50 BMG, 338, 7.62x39, 223:
bmg02.jpg


And here we have the same, but with one of the .50 BMG tracer round bullets sitting next to the shells to give a size perspective:
bmg01.jpg
 
Don't polish your rounds! You just destroyed 60+ years of patina! The cartridges are much more attractive with the original patina, IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: jjjxlr8
Don't polish your rounds! You just destroyed 60+ years of patina! The cartridges are much more attractive with the original patina, IMO.


LOL, I'm sorry, I like 'em shiny!

The other 12 shells are all still original.
 
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