303 blank WW1.
 

Found this detecting the other day in Edmonton Alberta.

As far as I can tell by the headstamp it’s a Mk IV Cordite blank without bullet from WW1.

Most of those assumptions were drawn from the obviousness of the Roman numerals and that’s it’s a blank round from that time.

What do the rest of the stamps mean? I want to jump to DC means dominion of Canada....

Any ideas would be appreciated.

You could try www.greatwarforum.org if no luck on this forum. Regards, Paul.

DC = Dominion Cartridge Company, CANADA

/|\ between D & C is the War Office mark

VI = Cordite Blank Cartridge .303" without Mock Bullet Mark VI (Mk6)

C = Cordite ( you should never mix Black Powder & Cordite in the same rifle!)

3 = Production line sub code (not month of manufacture)

06 = Year of production (1906)

Hello Mike, do you happen to know how common the use of blank rounds were pre war? I know they had rifle grenade use during the war. Regards, Paul.

There are several designs of .303" blank cartridges for training purposes which were also belted for use with the Vickers Machine Gun which also used a bulleted blank with soft wood bullets. All of course for training purposes - As to usage, well many survive to this day.

For Rifle Grenades they used a stronger Ballistite Round called "Cartridge S.A. .303 inch Rifle Grenade 30 Grains Ballistite Mark I" which was half stained black for identification.

The use of Roman Numerals with .303" ammunition persisted into the 1960's!