Ordnance

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Order through the contact form the type and amount of kits you're interested in. This way I can calculate the best shipping option.

M1 Rifle Bandoleer filler kit €5

Reproductions of the cotton bandoleer for the M1 rifle are available everywhere. But usually come without the accessories.
For filling a bandoleer you'll need not only .30-06 ammunition but also six cardboard inserts plus one lot number card. And a safety pin.

The cardboard inserts are to facilitate the insertion of the 8-round en-bloc clip into the bandoleer at the factory and provides extra mechanical protection of the .30-06 rounds. Slipped into the left pocket was a card identifying the factory or arsenal, the type of ammunition and lot number.

This card came in a variety of colors. I'm not sure if these colors aided in identification or were just random. Although, the repack lots I have are all pink/purple-ish.

My reproduction inserts are actually an older production I made years ago and were based on an insert a friend had that was constructed with perforations instead of the more commonly found scored inserts. They are, however, of the correct full length, not the post-war short version that is offered elsewhere.

Below are shown two examples of what a complete bandoleer should look like. Left: a repacked lot of Armour Piercing ammunition (note the black bullet tips). Right: the standard ball M2 ammunition.

Below are the four type of kits I offer. The only difference are the lot cards. The inserts are the same. The inserts are needed to be folded and glued. A black safety pin is part of the kit. Specify which kit you want.

The pink cards are typical for repacked lots. This repacking was done during the war. Early production cartons with twenty loose rounds were over packed into en-bloc clips and placed in bandoleers. The bandoleers were a much faster and easier way of resupplying the soldiers on the front lines.

Either 28 bandoleers were packed in a metal lined wooden M1917 case (early), or five bandoleers were placed inside a large metal container like an oversized spam can. two of these cans were placed in a wooden crate (1943 onward).

A safety pin was pinned to the carrying strap in order to shorten the strap.

In the picture above you can see the front and backs of the lot number cards.

The inserts are for the .30-06 en-bloc clips only. Slightly larger sleeves were used to fit two 5-round stripper clips for the '03 Springfield rifles.

Four original bandoleers with their inserts and cards. The inserts came in a wide variety of cardboard used and construction. Some with, other without the thumb cut-out. A theory is that the cut-out was only used with the 8-round en-bloc clip while the inserts holding two 5-round stripper clips had no need for this cut-out.

Note that the bandoleers are blank. Only at the end of the war the use of cards was discontinued and the information was printed directly onto the bandoleers. It is generally considered that these printed bandoleers didn't see use during the war.

Shorter inserts (printed or embossed "8 RD") that only cover the exposed part of the rounds are also post-war. Wartime inserts cover the whole clip.
Bandoleers with 10-round stripper clips for the carbine are also considered post-war. These stripper clips were developed for the 30-round magazines that came with the full-auto M2 carbine, introduced at the very end of the war.