M1 Bandoleer

The M1 bandoleer was issued to all American riflemen to hold spare ammunition for their weapons. It was the same model for both the M1903 Springfield and M1 Garand rifles, differing only in how the ammo was clipped. Ammunition for the M1 Carbine was not carried in clips and bandoleers until after World War 2.

Design
The M1 Bandoleer was designed to carry .30-06 rifle ammunition. The bolt-action M1903 Springfield and M1917 Enfield Rifles used "stripper" clips and the semi-automatic M1 Garand Rifle used the internally-loaded "en-bloc" clip; they were not interchangeable.

It had six pockets and a shoulder strap that was adjustable by the use of a brass safety pin. It could carry either twelve 5-round Mauser-style stripper clips (2 clips per pocket, for a total of 60 rounds each and a gross weight of 4 lbs.) or six 8-round Mannlicher-style "en-bloc" clips (1 clip per pocket, for a total of 48 rounds each and a gross weight of 3.5 lbs.).

Packing
An M1917 ammo chest (volume: 1.5 Cubic Feet) held either 25 "stripper" clip Bandoleers (1500 rounds total; 112 lbs.), 28 "en-bloc" clip Bandoleers (1344 rounds total; 108 lbs.), or 30 "en-bloc" clip Bandoleers (1440 rounds total; 112 lbs.).

An M8 ammunition can could hold either twelve 20-round cartons (240 rounds), four 60-round "stripper" clip bandoleers (240 rounds), four 48-round "en-bloc" clip bandoleers (192 rounds), or two sealed cartons of 120 linked rounds (240 rounds). They were packed two M8 ammo cans to an M9 ammunition crate (384 or 480 rounds total; volume: 0.7 Cubic Feet). The stripper clip ammo crate weighed 42 lbs., the "en-bloc" clip ammo crate weighed 46 lbs. and the linked ammo crate weighed 45 lbs.

The M1 Standard Ammunition Box was intended to carry 250-rounds of belted or linked machinegun ammo. It was not used to carry bandoleers during the war but was used later to ship bulk-packed loose or clipped ammunition.

Combat Use
Standard procedure was for the soldier to use the ammunition in their web gear first, then use the ammunition in the bandoleers to reload them. They would often carry a pair of them slung crossways across their chests if they were expecting a lot of combat.