Five round magazine clip - which rifle?

[Canuc]

Is it possible to identify the rifle that this clip would have belonged to (well not the actual rifle, just the model). I'm thinking it was a Lee Enfield but now I see that there was more than one variant that might have used it. Just confirming the manufacturer would be helpful.

Background:
The clip was carried by my get grandfather sapper in the RE. It was the clip that caught the larger chunk of shrapnel headed for important bits of his chest a smaller bit resulted in a Blighty and time in the Birmingham Eye Hospital (from whence he half inched a library book, but that is another story).

Any thoughts gratefully received, I'm sharing the family history through my FaceBook wall uploading photographs at the appropriate 100th year anniversary of events. This is just one part of the story.

Happy hunting
Canuck

[Canuc]

The baby in my profile picture is the grandfather referenced in the original post. His father, a career soldier, retired from the RE after 21 years in 1912. He re-enlisted Sept 4, 1914 as a Sapper, Sept 5th he was promoted CSM. When he retired for the second time in 1920, in Egypt, he was W.O.1.
Canuck

[Canuc]

More information:
One of the cartridge cases with the clip has markings on the end.
At 12:00 - "43"
at 04:00 - "IM"
At 08:00 - "RG"

All markings on the outer flange and orientated to be upright as they roll through twelve o'clock.

Canuck

[Guy Etchells]

More information:
One of the cartridge cases with the clip has markings on the end.
At 12:00 - "43"
at 04:00 - "IM"
At 08:00 - "RG"

All markings on the outer flange and orientated to be upright as they roll through twelve o'clock.

Canuck

I think you will find all Lee Enfield 303 (5 round) chargers fit any Lee Enfield 10 magazine rifle.
I know we interchanged them at school and didn't keep a specific charger for a specific rifle.

If you are unsure how they were used there is a clear loading guide at
http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=85733

Cheers
Guy
PS This thread has brought back memories of me gaining my 303 marksmans badge (only two of us did) whilst on a school cadets visit to RAF Leuchars aged 15 or 16.

[John915]

Good evening,

The markings on that case tell us it is WW2 ammo.

43 is the year of manufacture.

RG is the place of manufacture, in this case the royal ordnance factory "Radnor Green". RG also tells us that it is post 42, prior to that they used a single arrow.

IM I can't help with, it is possibly the type of ammo. ie incendary ? It is not on the listings I have.

John915

[John915]

Back again,

Try reading it the other way up, does it read "WI" ?

Around the primer should be a coloured ring, is it green?

If the answer to both is yes then it is an armour piercing round.

John915

[Canuc]

John915

Thank you for the information.
Certainly it could be "WI", I only wrote "MI" because that was in the same orientation as the other stamped marks.

As for the green ring I'll need somebody with perfect colour vision to look at that.

1942, that is possible, my father was ten, old enough to be "collecting" odds and ends (and he did). The Vickers plant in Crayford was easy enough for him to get to (actually he told a story of getting into a warehouse and then being chased by the Military Police, he was small enough to fit through gaps the MP couldn't and he knew the terrain). Both his eldest brother and future brother were in combat roles, as well as the middle brother of the three being a Sergeant Armourer Cadet so there is a credible explanation for the clip and the expended rounds from that age.

Now I need to find which of my brothers has the round with the shrapnel embed in it and see what it's markings are.

Again, thank you
Canuc