WWII .50 Cal Ammo Cans- Which OD on what can?

[dakotanorth]

Hello everyone, Happy Holidays, and I hope this is the correct forum for this question.

 

I have some WWII .50cal ammo cans and I'd like to restore them- our evil friend Rust is slowly consuming them, so I'm going to wire brush it out and repaint these.

 

I've been doing a lot of research about the "Correct" OD color. A few stores sell some paint but it's a generic description: Munitions, OD, Semi-Gloss; good for all WWII and Korean War cans."

(Or something like that.)

The problem is, I keep seeing .50cal cans that are a darker OD than the WWII .30cal cans. Looking inside the .50 I can see that the paint matches; the outside IS the original color.

But again, the online stores imply there's one color for both, and apparently this color was used from early 40's until late 50's.

That doesn't seem right; if anything, the color on these cans is closer to OD 2430, which was used from 1950 to 1956.

 

So, what's the correct color??

For reference, I attached a picture- it's from another forum where someone is saying this is the correct and original OD. Is it??

 

[Taber10]

I'm by no means an expert here, because I have ammo boxes--wood and metal--that appear to be in good, unrestored, condition but with a variety of shades of OD. I think that the manufacturers had some leeway in what shade was used, and of course, some wartime constraints in what was available at the time.

HOWEVER, I'm posting to say that I've had great luck with the Rapco Parts series of OD paints. They offer Early WWII, Late WWII and Lusterless "Khaki" OD that I have used with very good results. The phone number is 940 872-2403, but their website is informative.

[Steve B.]

WWII ammo cans were painted a "darker" OD green than vehicles were. I used to have the number of the paint, but have lost it.

 

You might try www.g503.com - the jeep restoration website. I seem to recall a pretty extensive thread on this topic. I took a quick look at the site, and most seem to recommend #23070 or #319 paint in semi-gloss. Paint is available from RAPCO, Gillespie, or TM 9 Ordnance. Several vendors sell these paints.

 

There were variations in the paint color due to different dye lots, manufacturers, etc. I wouldn't worry too much about subtle variations. The 1950s-1970s OD is, in general, too dark and too glossy.

[gap]

Testors makes a small aerosol can of olive drab flat that is a great WW2 color. You will probably need two cans per box. It is available at Michaels craft store. They usually advertise a 40% off coupon which brings the cost to less than 4 bucks a can. The problem with ordering paint off a website is they charge an excessively high fee to ship because the paint has to be shipped as a hazmat .

[dakotanorth]

Thank you everyone for the insight!

I requested a few samples from Kaiser Willy and Midwest Militaria. I'm thinking that should cover my options and give me at least one solid solution.

On a side note, Duracoat offers a "WWII Olive Drab" color, and it's basically the color of the .30cal cans. Plus it's way more durable than Krylon!