Seller at the gun show this weekend had some of this and I picked up several boxes (including one that was already open so I could see the ammo).  Have never seen apparent French military ball ammo in .303 British.  Anyone else have any of this?  What were they using it for in the 1950s?  Lewis guns, maybe?  I think I read somewhere that the French used them in .303.



Boxes are a bit stained, but the ammo looks pretty good!  Probably quite corrosive as most French ammo of the period seems to be.  Heavy sealant around the case mouth.

Any comments are welcome.  I'll probably post this over at Parallax, too.

Rob

I didn't know the French made .303. Some units were equipped with British equipment, moreso in the early days of the Indochina War than WW2, but I would have thought more than enough ammo would have been supplied by the Brits along with Brens and Lee-Enfields.

Yes, Lewis and Bren guns....the Finns also used Lewis guns in .303, in fact a buddy on a job up in NH found some pre WWII Finnish boxes of .303, I told him to grab a few boxes, it's pretty rare stuff...

if it is like most French Mil ammo, it is likely corrosive,
very corrosive,

be sure to clean as required

French .30-'06 ammo is notoriously unsafe being well-known for case separations.  I would be hesitant to shoot any French ammo.

Like mentioned above, their stuff is so corrosive it will rust metal even if you are just driving past it.

I went through a few hundred of '59-production 7.5x54mm. Great accuracy and functioning, but it definitely takes "corrosive" to a new level. On a humid day, there was rust in the bore within four hours.