Original Item. Only One Available. This is a fantastic WWII wooden ammunition crate originally packed with 1200 cartridges of Caliber .30 M1 ammunition. This ammunition was used in the popular M1 Carbine during World War II. The crate comes with three of its original empty bandoliers with ammunition lot cards matching the numbers on the box itself, F.A. No. 2051.

The crate is labeled on the large side:

1200 CARTRIDGES
BALL
CALIBER .30 M1
IN CLIPS AND BANDOLIERS
AMMUNITION LOT NUMBER
FRANKFORD ARSENAL 2051

The box is lead-lined as is standard, with a large hole cut into the lead. There is no ammunition in this crate and instead there are three of the crate’s original cloth bandoliers, with most of their original cardboard inserts. The bandoliers have cards reading

AMMUNITION
LOT
F.A. NO. 2051

This matches the bandoliers to the crate itself, making this a fantastic piece for display with the bandoliers pouring out of the top of the crate. The box measures 18¼ x 9¼ x 14½” and is constructed using rabbet joint corners. It is painted brown with a large red stripe on all sides, indicating mid war production, with the markings stenciled in yellow, and bears the ordnance "flaming bomb" on the front and right sides. The interior steel liner is in good condition, and cannot currently be removed. The top was removed when it was opened long ago.

Overall condition is very good, showing wear commensurate with age and service. It still retains all of the threaded posts on the top to attach the lid. Comes ready for further research and display.

Pre-war and early-war ammo packing boxes were made of stained wood with black-painted lettering. Mid- to late-war packing boxes were painted Olive Drab brown with white or yellow lettering that used the item's AIC code and a system of symbols to indicate the contents at a glance. The caliber, ammunition type and model (e.g., Caliber .30 Ball M1) were in the upper center field in bold lettering. The number of units (i.e., how many bullets or shells there were per box) and packing information (i.e., whether it was in cartons, bandoleers or belts) were on the two lines below it. The caliber (CAL .45, CAL .30, or CAL .50) was painted in bold lettering in the upper left corner. The gross weight of the box in pounds and its volume in cubic feet was painted in the lower left corner and the Ammunition Lot information (manufacturer code and lot number) was painted in the lower right corner.