M1 Ammo box marking

[redleg105]

I have an ammo box with this marking. Is it WW-II or post war. There are no lot numbers Help please.

[Brian Keith]

The box is of WW II era. I would think it would be hard to say for sure when it was stenciled since it does not have any lot numbers. FYI, it means there are 250 .30 caliber belted rounds in the box, with 4 armor piercing rounds then 1 tracer round.

Nice box.

BKW

[917601]

Most likely ( with lack of lot numbers) WW2. Reasoning, “belted” ammo ( cloth ) was used by the Army, metal linked “ linked”, wasreserved for the Air Corp. Metal linked for Army use has been documented to reaching the ETO the last few weeks of the war. The stencils are strange as they are white in color, TM states it should be yellow. No idea why it would be white, other than a special use ammo box. Regardless, nice ammo can. WW2 “belted” marked cans are harder to find, most were reused, remarked with repacked linked ammo as belted surplus was used up. See my example.