Interesting history.

[Nauti]

I came across some info today about the local area and beaches where i live.Our beaches were used extensively by American and British forces to train for the D DAY landings but what i wasn't aware of was the amount of buildings and pubs used by American forces that we go to today,a hotel in the town i live was used by American officers and a number of pubs in the local area were also used by you guys for accommodation and leisure purposes.You can see for yourselves if you type in Devon D Day which will give you info on your WW2 history in the area i live in.........i'm going to look into it further as there were thousands of US troops here during the war and they left a lot of interesting history here such as pillboxes,defences etc.A lot of US troops billeted in my home town of Bideford also.

 

[Odanscoils]

Now if you can find the red light houses to detect.

 

[Nauti]

We find a lot of bullets and shrapnel on our beaches from that era Odans........they practiced with live rounds.........also a lot of US coins come up too.

 

[Nauti]

Loads of these to find on our beaches with its WW2 history.The one on the left has obviously been tumbled around in the sand a lot giving it a clean look with the rifling marks easy to see....0.30.

 

[Odanscoils]

We find a lot of bullets and shrapnel on our beaches from that era Odans........they practiced with live rounds.........also a lot of US coins come up too.

I was thinking of all the coins sailors and soldiers dropped.
Dropping their pants for a quickie somewhere.

 

[hawgdawg]

View attachment 84629

Loads of these to find on our beaches with its WW2 history.The one on the left has obviously been tumbled around in the sand a lot giving it a clean look with the rifling marks easy to see....0.30.

From the pic ,, it looks to be 50 cal. ,, but there's nothing to Guage it's size .
But your saying it's 30 cal ,,, ??

 

[Sand Sifter]

From the pic ,, it looks to be 50 cal. ,, but there's nothing to Guage it's size .
But your saying it's 30 cal ,,, ??

Nauti mentioned that 0.30 was marked on the clean projectile, so probably 30 cal. They were primarily used in rifles, and go by various names like .30-06, .308 Winchester (aka 7.62mm), .30-30, and a few others. I was AMMO in the Air Force, we handled 7.62, 5.56, 38 cal, 20mm rounds for F-4’s, and 30mm for A-10’s.

50 cal projectiles are primarily used by heavy machine guns like you see sticking out the sides of military helicopters and on Naval ships, but they can also be used with specific civilian rifles and even some handguns. It’s much larger than conventional rifle rounds, as they’re high velocity; long-range rounds and typically featured armor piercing and incendiary capability, so more suitable to be fired from a machine gun. I don't think I'd like firing that large honking shell from a handgun, lol.

Pic below shows size difference between 50 cal on left, 30 cal on right.

Here's a pic of a 50 cal projectile that I found after our last nor'easter. It was found on a beach I never really liked hunting, due to all the can slaw, space poop, and 50 cal projectiles littered in the sand. And, just like previous hunts over the last dozen years, if you look at the pics of my finds, you’ll see can slaw, space poop, 50 cal projectile, and a couple of coins, lol. This 50 cal projectile is 2.27” long, ½” in diameter and it’s heavy, like a lead fishing sinker. By contrast, .30 cal projectiles typically have a diameter of .308” and length can range from 1” -1.7”, so much smaller and lighter than a 50 cal.

 

[Nauti]

blimey,you wouldn't want to get hit by one of those 50's would you.......i'd love to find one of those bad boys.
The bullets we find are all 30's......so far.....as American troops used our beaches to practice for D DAY with live firing excersizes,one of the beaches i've recently started to search is littered with them,also grenade fragments.Very occasionally on our beaches,a detectorist will turn up an unexploded grenade,its rare but it happens and they are usually made safe on the beach by the bomb squad in controlled exposions.
I don't actually mind finding bullets and cartridge cases as everyone one of them has history behind it,i always wonder who fired it and if they made it ok when they participated in the landings,thats why i consider them important finds.

 

[tvr]

blimey,you wouldn't want to get hit by one of those 50's would you.......i'd love to find one of those bad boys.
The bullets we find are all 30's......so far.....as American troops used our beaches to practice for D DAY with live firing excersizes,one of the beaches i've recently started to search is littered with them,also grenade fragments.Very occasionally on our beaches,a detectorist will turn up an unexploded grenade,its rare but it happens and they are usually made safe on the beach by the bomb squad in controlled exposions.
I don't actually mind finding bullets and cartridge cases as everyone one of them has history behind it,i always wonder who fired it and if they made it ok when they participated in the landings,thats why i consider them important finds.

They are doing beach replenishment in the Myrtle Beach area now. Normally after they do that the 50 calibers from WWII training they did just off shore before sending new pilots overseas get pumped up on the beach and there are more to find. I've got a couple handfuls of them.