Anyone know when the change was made to this design
from this design?
from this design?
hotlead
I think it was primarily a matter of suppliers. The older can on the bottom was used by a different ammo supplier (twin cities) than the Lake City can. As LC has been the primary supplier for many years now, the cans they use are the most common found. The lot on that can was from 1981 where the older Twin Cities can is probably 1960's Vietnam era. I'll bet you had half a dozen ammo can suppliers at one time. With cut backs over the years, probably dried up to one or two. It's an interesting question. GITEN
I understand that the government issue specifications for the cans and they are made by third parties. My point is if you google ammo cans and look at pictures of various surplus cans you will notice that all the cans used by TW look the same and all the cans used by LC look the same. Ammo manufacturers do contract work just like car makers and have subcontractors. The cars made by GM or Ford are assembled by parts made elsewhere. I'm sure that LC has picked a government approved supplier for their ammo cans they load up. TW probably used a different manufacturer. The cans are similar but don't necessarily have to be identical to meet specifications. It might be something as simple as a slight variation in the lid to identify "their" product compared to other competitors. GITEN
RedLeg:
Back in the early 70s and into the 80s when I was in, all M2A1 cans (so-called 50 cal) I recall seeing had the long skirt with the tapered lead-in on the lid. Same for the M19A1 "30 cal" can. I was told by a salty E-8 that the lid was made that way to assist in aligning the lid to the can body when closing the lid. True fact? Dunno.
It was maybe 12-15 years ago when I bought some surplus M2A1 cans when I noticed the shorter straight skirt on the lids. You may be right about it being ammo mfr dependent, but I'm thinking a global change to the can lids was initiated. Perhaps some kind of new or updated UN-mandated uniform packaging requirements. Dunno.
Noah
Back in the early 70s and into the 80s when I was in, all M2A1 cans (so-called 50 cal) I recall seeing had the long skirt with the tapered lead-in on the lid. Same for the M19A1 "30 cal" can. I was told by a salty E-8 that the lid was made that way to assist in aligning the lid to the can body when closing the lid. True fact? Dunno.
It was maybe 12-15 years ago when I bought some surplus M2A1 cans when I noticed the shorter straight skirt on the lids. You may be right about it being ammo mfr dependent, but I'm thinking a global change to the can lids was initiated. Perhaps some kind of new or updated UN-mandated uniform packaging requirements. Dunno.
Noah
FWIW, I just checked all my ammo cans. I have 2 50-cal cans, both dated '92, that have the former design (short skirt). One was for M855 ball (5,56mm) and the other was for 9mm Luger ammo. Also a SAW can (800 rds linked M855/M856) with the short skirt, ammo lot dated '92, but the can is undated.
Maybe there's something to that NATO-spec thing...
P_R
Maybe there's something to that NATO-spec thing...
P_R
An interesting topic.
I checked my cans and found the following manufacturer's initials...
I have 6 cans made by S.C.F. and 1 can made by Y.S.E.
Y.S.E. is an M19 series (.30 Cal) can for the M60/ M73 with the long tapered skirt. I think it's LC-85.
S.C.F. - is in three groups.
1). Four M19 series cans with tapered long skirts. Two cans of Ball M80 Cartridges LC-82 and two cans M2 Linked Ball, CMP re-packed ammo LC-74.
2). A single M2A1 (.50 Cal) can with the Long tapered skirt lid, N335, 8 PD557 Fuze assemblies. 3-75.
3). And a 2nd M2A1 can for Ball M193 WCC-87 Cartridges. This lid has the short one length skirt.
So there doesn't seem to be any corolation between Lid skirts and Ammo Manufacturers since the same can manufacturer S.C.F. has made both long and short skirt lids for LC and WCC, as well as for these PD557 Fuzes in the N335 marked can. Also the manufacturer Y.S.E. made the long skirt lids.
I checked my cans and found the following manufacturer's initials...
I have 6 cans made by S.C.F. and 1 can made by Y.S.E.
Y.S.E. is an M19 series (.30 Cal) can for the M60/ M73 with the long tapered skirt. I think it's LC-85.
S.C.F. - is in three groups.
1). Four M19 series cans with tapered long skirts. Two cans of Ball M80 Cartridges LC-82 and two cans M2 Linked Ball, CMP re-packed ammo LC-74.
2). A single M2A1 (.50 Cal) can with the Long tapered skirt lid, N335, 8 PD557 Fuze assemblies. 3-75.
3). And a 2nd M2A1 can for Ball M193 WCC-87 Cartridges. This lid has the short one length skirt.
So there doesn't seem to be any corolation between Lid skirts and Ammo Manufacturers since the same can manufacturer S.C.F. has made both long and short skirt lids for LC and WCC, as well as for these PD557 Fuzes in the N335 marked can. Also the manufacturer Y.S.E. made the long skirt lids.
Looking at the pictures, the top can has the lid skirts on the outside of the can while the bottom can has the skirts going inside the can. Don't think that I've ever seen one with the skirts going inside.
Checked 6-8 .30 cal. cans in the basement and all have tapered skirts that go inside the can. The rest are in the garage and IIRC, all of my .30 and .50 cans have tapered skirts that go inside the can.
Dan
Checked 6-8 .30 cal. cans in the basement and all have tapered skirts that go inside the can. The rest are in the garage and IIRC, all of my .30 and .50 cans have tapered skirts that go inside the can.
Dan
All US ammo cans have lid flanges that go outside the can body. I also think there was a spec. change at some time, and was wondering when that was. Maybe in the late '60s-early '70s when a lot of changes were being made.
I don't know if the dates on the cans would help that much. I doubt that the surplus cans we get have the original lids on them. I'll bet they are separated into two different piles on the firing line and haphazardly reassembled later. Mix and match.
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
