WWII era 30rds .30M1 Magazine Pouches

[Constabulary]

I recently acquired a nice lot of 30rds .30M1 magazine pouches.

All but two are dated. I wonder if these two could be WWII era.

 

I never have seen WWII dated pouches so I wonder how to tell them from post WWII pouches when they are not dated.

 

Could these two be form WWII?

[Constabulary]

more pics

[Constabulary]

more pics

[Johan Willaert]

I have never seen any of these dated WW2.

[Constabulary]

I have never seen any of these dated WW2.

 

Thats what I said...

I don´t think they seen the ETO before the end of war but I think they were used in the PTO

[Sabrejet]

I'd say they probably date from the KW era. I've never seen any with pre-50s dates.

 

Sabrejet :think:

[Johan Willaert]

Sorry, should have made myself clearer...

 

I have never seen them dated WW2 or used in WW2 on original pictures..

[Constabulary]

I'd say they probably date from the KW era. I've never seen any with pre-50s dates.

 

Sabrejet :think:

 

I got a lot of 8, earliest date is 1949 latest 1958.

 

As far as I know they were already used in the PTO. :think:

[Johan Willaert]

Just wondering.... would they have been introduced with the M2 Carabine?

[Constabulary]

Just wondering.... would they have been introduced with the M2 Carabine?

 

The M2 was issued early in 1945, right?

As far as I know they first extended the short pouches to fit the 30rds Mags and later they issued the above pouches.

[Captainofthe7th]

The earliest I've seen these dated is 1948 or 49. I have not seen very many of these in use in Korea, nor have I seen the extended 15 rnd pouches used. These 30 rnd box pockets and the extended 15 rnd pockets show up more in the mid 50s and in Vietnam.

 

Rob

[Constabulary]

I just figured Hayes Otoupalik offer these pouches as WWII as well. It also has the large US stamp. :think:

[sgtmonroe]

Bill Ricca wrote a wonderful article about the history of the 30-round POCKET, AMMUNITION MAGAZINE. His website has recently crashed and the information he had posted is still not back up (it was under the HISTORIES section). Here is an excerpt from the article:

"

In April of 1945 the Ordnance Department received its first delivery of 8,500 30 round magazines. Batches of the original 8,500 magazines were sent to the Infantry, Cavalry, Armored, and Airborne Boards, and Aberdeen Proving Grounds for testing. The results were so successful that immediate standardization was approved in the same month of April.

 

As magazines were being produced, there were no ammunition pouches for carrying them. Airborne units improvised by having the riggers sew up a variety of designs which are classified as “improvised” items. An improvised item is an item produced at a depot, local economy, or unit to relieve the shortage of that needed item. A small batch was produced in 1945, contractor at this time not confirmed.

"

He had an image of the 1945 pocket but it was not dated.

 

The article went into detail showing examples of pockets dated 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1958.

 

At the end of the article he gave some tips to collectors. The first (and most important) was:

"

The magazines were standardized in April of 1945, therefore the 1945 pouch contract probably did not start production until May or June of 1945, at the earliest. At that point in time war production was almost at a halt, therefore all production of this item was in the current Olive Drab (OD). If you see a pouch in Khaki, it is a fake.

"

[Constabulary]

I checked Bills website but as you said some of the content seemed to be down.

 

Okay but does he mean 2-cell magazine pouches for the 30rd mags, like the 15rd pouches but longer, an not "rigger" modified, or the above shown pouches?

 

From my understanding I´d say he is talking about the above shown pouches.

So it can be said that the undated pouches could be from 1945 production but they were neither used in the ETO nor in the PTO, right? :think:

This would be my point of view but I´m open for other opinions.