M1917 Ammunition Packing Box

The M1917 Ammunition Packing Box was the standard pre-war shipping and packing box the US Military used to transport ammunition.

The interior was lined with an airtight soldered tinplate box to keep out dampness and corrosion. It was peeled open by using a built-in wire handle to tear through the top.

M1917 Ammunition Box
The standard rectangular box was used to carry .30- and .50-caliber ammunition. It was 18-7/16" Long x 9-7/16" Wide x 14-13/16" High, weighed about 12 pounds empty, and had a volume of 1.5 cubic feet. The lid was secured by brass wingnuts that fit over two pairs of threaded brass posts in the sides and one in each end. They were reinforced by two flat iron struts across the top that fit over the side posts.

Pre-war .30-caliber ammo boxes were packed with 1200 rounds in cartons, bandoleers or belts. This was expanded to 1500 during wartime. The .30-'06 "en-bloc" bandoleer ammo boxes went from 1200 to 1344 to 1440 rounds.

Pre-war .50-caliber ammo boxes were packed with 300 .50-caliber Ball M1 rounds in 10-round cartons, expanded to 350 rounds in wartime. High-Pressure test rounds were packed 300 to the crate and .50-caliber Blank M1 cartridges were packed 450 rounds per crate.

The machinegun belts were actually rarely pre-made then, as they usually used linking machines on base to load the loose ammo into web belts or links. A small reserve of pre-made belts were stored in case of hostilities. To conserve steel during the war, linked ammunition was reserved for Anti-Aircraft units, the US Army Air Forces, and Naval Aviation. In the mid-war period, .30-caliber anti-aircraft and aircraft machineguns were deemed obsolete, so its ammunition was manufactured in belt form only. In the late war period following D-Day, the Allies' air superiority (combined with large stores of ammunition nearing their expiration date) released linked ammunition for US ground forces use.

Ammunition for the .45 ACP M1917 Revolver was pre-loaded in 3-round semi-circular "moon clips". There were 8 clips per carton, packed either in early two-row (2x12 cell - sideways interlocking "zig-zag" style) or later three-row (3x9 cell - inline overlapping "spoons" style) rectangular cartons of 24 rounds.

M1917 Pistol Ammunition Box
A square box that was used to carry pistol ammunition. It was 16-7/16" Long x 12-11/16" Wide x 7-5/8" High and had a volume of 0.92 cubic feet. The lid was secured by brass wingnuts that fit over threaded brass posts in each side and reinforced by two flat iron struts across the top that fit over the side posts.

Pre-war and early-war .45 ACP ammunition packaging came in 20-round cartons, the number of rounds in a standard Thompson SMG magazine.

Pre-war and early-war .30 Carbine ammunition packaging originally came in 45-round cartons. Each 45-round carton was divided into 15-round sections - the number of rounds in a standard M1 Carbine magazine - to eliminate wastage. These were later switched to 50-round cartons in 1942 for ease of distribution.