hey Guys, Glenn here. does anyone know the deal with these blue "/" or "X"s on these boxes? is it post war done by another country or was it a reissue of the ammo in the existing box? cant find any real info out there but I definitely see there are examples floating around. any info greatly appreciated. thanks, Glenn
blue "/" or "X" on K98 box lables
- Thread starter Heergman
- Start date
They are wartime repacked boxes.
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
the pale blue means “steel casing” of the original contents, along with all the component maker lot & date info. The ‘X’ indicates a repack. Of the repacked stuff I’ve sorted thru (600+ rounds 1940 steel cased German, various makers) contents are often of the same type & year as the label, but not lot #. German armed forces didn’t buy bulk ammo, they bought it in 15 rounds boxes/20 to a battle pack, etc. MG crews spent a lot of time dumping shells out of boxes, producing a lot of empty spare boxes. Care was taken not to mix in tracer ammo or B patronen, sMk, etc. something that could cause a problem to a concealed rifleman.
I have some 200 rounds of this repacked ammo. With regards to type, yes they are the same. But you can get brass, brass washed or copper washed steel cases inside the boxes. One box I have is steel cased, iron core on chargers marked box dated 1940 but it's got 1936 dated brass case heavy ball ammo when it was repacked.
Muncher 1953
Senior Member
Daniel Kent’s book on 7.9mm has a lot of good info, if you can find a copy! I was fortunate to have another collector offer me his copy & at a very good price, at the time I was a little dubious about needing it. Really helps understanding the “code” on box labels.