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Interested Forum Members
Some time ago, the abovementioned subject arose and was pretty well exposed as a fairy story. At the time of my previous post, I did mention that I had seen examples of the 7.63mm Mauser pistol cartridge (dating from the time of the ABW) that featured a coating of green waxy substance on the projectile (bullet, if you will). Yesterday, a 10 round charger of such rounds came to notice and is illustrated here:



The rounds loaded into the illustrated charger are headstamped to indicate manufacture by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken at Karlsruhe. The projectiles of the rounds are soft pointed (lead tip) and the jackets of the projectiles are steel. The pic will show that substantial remnants still remain of the factory grease used to (presumably) prevent corrosion. The use of protective grease on steel projectile jackets was quite commonplace with European ammunition makers at that time.

An illustration taken from Vol.1 of "With the Flag to Pretoria" shows the contemporary view:


Back in the 60's, quite a number of original cartons (each containing two x ten round chargers as first illustrated in this post) came to light here in Sydney. The headstamps of all of this type of round can reliably be dated to the late 1890's - and occasionally Mauser M96 self loading pistols may still be encountered here. Many years ago, I had the privilege of handling one such Mauser pistol; still housed in it's wooden holster/shoulder stock. The association of the item with the ABW was plain: the wooden holster was rustically carved with the words "GILGANDRA 1900".

Regards to all
IL.

Hello Ian,
The enemies blatant use of expanding munitions sickens me, but, it does not surprise me, they were quite open and had absolutely no problems with it from the very first weeks of the war, until the very end of it.
The back water Boer I can understand, but, not the once proud Republicans, some members of the British Army at Magersfontein were left with really appalling injuries which would be hard to deal with on the battlefields of this century, let alone the nineteenth.
Kind regards Frank

How are those bullets associated with the war? Gilgandra is a town in NSW, not South Africa?

Ryan
The town Gilgandra is indeed in NSW; the carved date "1900" on the holster is more than sufficient proof to my mind that the Mauser pistol and holster I saw were bringbacks. Moreover, the carving of the town's name simply suggests that the "bringer" came from Gilgandra. Regarding the pic of the charger of rounds I posted earlier (not "bullets", please), the contents have characteristics clearly associated with German turn-of-the-Century ammunition production. I suppose it is possible that someone in Colonial Australasia imported these rounds. However, the circumstantial evidence suggests otherwise.
Ryan, you might also refer to another topic re "poisoned bullets" to which I made a contribution. DJB provided a pic of a contemporary newspaper article which generally supported my contention that the whole thing was a beat-up. Frank makes pertinent comments about the use of expanding ammunition by the Boers in the ABW. I am sure that appropriate action was frequently taken.
Thanks for your interest
IL.

Hello Ian,
I would certainly think by the new year of 1902, "appropriate action" was being taken on a regular basis by the likes of Charles Murray and Colonel Colenbrander in the Klein Spelonken, I know that the duties of the former, amongst other matters, included a very close contact being maintained with Melrose House, moreover, he had first hand experience of these wretched things after a close encounter with Christian Beyers.
Kind regards Frank

LinneyI wrote: Ryan
The town Gilgandra is indeed in NSW; the carved date "1900" on the holster is more than sufficient proof to my mind that the Mauser pistol and holster I saw were bringbacks. Moreover, the carving of the town's name simply suggests that the "bringer" came from Gilgandra. Regarding the pic of the charger of rounds I posted earlier (not "bullets", please), the contents have characteristics clearly associated with German turn-of-the-Century ammunition production. I suppose it is possible that someone in Colonial Australasia imported these rounds. However, the circumstantial evidence suggests otherwise.
Ryan, you might also refer to another topic re "poisoned bullets" to which I made a contribution. DJB provided a pic of a contemporary newspaper article which generally supported my contention that the whole thing was a beat-up. Frank makes pertinent comments about the use of expanding ammunition by the Boers in the ABW. I am sure that appropriate action was frequently taken.
Thanks for your interest
IL.

Hello Iain,
In the interest of, not only variety, but, also of fairness, I should say that as far as I am aware, some members of the Natal Police and Militia had no problems using Mark V rounds in 1906 and 1907, clearly they were not too keen on the prospect of a prisoner or three, who would, of course, have to be fed and watered, so certainly a far cheaper option, moreover, the seat of the Natal Government was an awful long way from Whitehall, nor were they very wealthy either!
Kind regards Frank