Description
Physical description
bullet : attachment : coned in and thin ring crimp
History note
Description: this is a military case for a Mk III manstopper which has been reloaded with a round nosed ball from a Webley Mk I cartridge to create a Mark II round. Eley was a Government contractor, and was presumably using up a batch of cartridge cases originally headstamped for Mark III ammunition. The Mark II was adopted for British service in July 1897. It retained the 265 grain bullet of the Mark I, but the case was shortened to improve burning efficiency with the chopped cordite propellant. The performance of this bullet was subject to criticism (Winston Churchill was among its dissatisfied users) and a search began for a bullet with better terminal performance. The Mark III, adopted in February 1898, had a flat profile at the front, with a 6mm deep nose cavity, and was a copy of the commercial Webley 'Manstopper' bullet. This cavity was matched by a 7mm rear cavity, and this configuration proved to be outstandingly accurate for target shooting as well as a good defensive load. Its military use was stopped in 1900, however, as it was believed the design contravened the terms of the St Petersburg Declaration and Hague Convention, and remaining stocks were relegated to target practice. The Mark II returned to service while a variety of other bullet designs were tested, resulting in the adoption of the Mark IV, with a blunt-nosed 220 grain lead/tin alloy bullet, in May 1912 and the Mark V, with a bullet with the same configuration but using a lead/antimony alloy, in April 1914. Both were withdrawn later in 1914, again because of concern about their legality for warfare, and relegated to target practice. The Mark II was the issue cartridge during the First World War, although it provoked German criticism, hardly justified as the Germans themselves continued to issue lead bullet cartridges for their Ordnance revolvers, and through the inter-war period. During the Second World War, the Mark II was issued for training and target practice only, a Mark 6 jacketed bullet of the same profile being issued for combat. This, sadly, was notably less accurate than its lead alloy predecessors. The Mark II was finally declared obsolete in October 1946.
Headstamp, stamped, case base
E // III // C