.30 Army With Wood Bullets

[Fishnerd]

I have a friend coming in to town (we're going to the Baltimore Antique Gun Show) and he is bringing me some .30 Army cartridges with wood projectiles. He says they appear to be live rounds.
I have never heard of them being loaded with wood bullets in cartridges stamped ".30 Army". Have any of you?

[Dick Hosmer]

Yes, Krag blanks were originally made with wooden bullets, since the system requires a projectile to feed. They were supposed to break up harmlessly but did not and so were changed to a waxed paper bullet, which itself could still cause injury if discharged carelessly, but it was an improvement.

In larger bores, a wooden bullet was sometimes used as a shot container, but I do not believe that was done with the Krag. They also might be some sort of functioning dummy, though such rounds usually had holes drilled in the case.

It would be interesting to see some photos.

[Ned Butts]

I have a friend coming in to town (we're going to the Baltimore Antique Gun Show) and he is bringing me some .30 Army cartridges with wood projectiles. He says they appear to be live rounds.
I have never heard of them being loaded with wood bullets in cartridges stamped ".30 Army". Have any of you?
So how did you do at the show? I took a 98Krag to sell or trade and I am certain that there have never been so many Krags on tables at that show!! The market was flooded, undoubtedly a buyers market!!! Some good prices and still some stupid ones. I just brought mine out with me,wasn't going to cut the price just to sell one that I didn't really need to sell.

[Fishnerd]

So how did you do at the show? I took a 98Krag to sell or trade and I am certain that there have never been so many Krags on tables at that show!! The market was flooded, undoubtedly a buyers market!!! Some good prices and still some stupid ones. I just brought mine out with me,wasn't going to cut the price just to sell one that I didn't really need to sell.

There were two guys together carrying '98 rifles for sale- wasn't able to stop them for price/condition info. Tons of them on tables.
I sold an 1886 in .33 WCF I didn't have a use for. Didn't buy anything.
My buddy got a Luftwaffe Side Cap (not a repro)

[Allen]

I've seen blanks with wooden bullets but didn't some countries (Germany?) use wooden bullets during combat in WW1? I had heard many years ago that getting shot with a wooden bullet was disastrous. The wood splintered and could not be seen in the flesh. Removing all of the fragments were near impossible and infection would set in often resulting in amputation or death. If what I heard was correct this practice was also banned by the Geneva conference as being inhuman. Maybe they were shooting with the wooden blanks? They do have powder and a projectile.

[Fishnerd]

Here is a picture. They are stamped "REM UMC .30 USA" (not .30 Army as told on the phone)

[m1903rifle]

Paper bullets......not wood. M1903 30'03 and I think, 30'06 blanks were made with the same type "bullet".

[Fishnerd]

Paper bullets......not wood. M1903 30'03 and I think, 30'06 blanks were made with the same type "bullet".

I'm holding one in my hand right now. There are some small cracks and I can see wood grain. There appears to be a thin layer of paraffin on them as well.
I just squeezed one; Yup- they're paper!!!

[raymeketa]

The 30-40 blanks with wood bullets were experimental only and not likely to be found except in advanced collections. The same for the Cal .30 (30-06) wood bullet blanks (grenade cartridge). Wood bullet blanks in the European calibers are very common.

Ray

[Southron]

My late Father-in-Law showed me a clip of 8 M/M cartridges with wooden bullets he had found in a knocked out German machine gun nest in the Hurtgen Forest. The cartridges with wooden bullets were so unusual, he kept them as a souvenir of the war (along with a few other items.)

Neither he nor I have/had any idea why a front line German soldier would be issued cartridges with wooden bullets!