This is original Swedish military issue M14 6.5×55 Mauser ammo, with a wooden bullet.
(Yes, they painted the bullet red)
Here at J&G we have some of this interesting ammo in stock and we get asked, “What would I do with wooden bullet ammo?”
Good question.
Well, the Swedes came up with it to use as a blank round in practice and drills. They had a little metal cage that fit over the muzzle which would basically shatter the wooden bullet into sawdust when the blanks were fired.
So, first answer to the question is, “fire it as blanks.”
But not that many of us are out there performing parade drills or doing rifle salutes at funerals with our 6.5×55 Mausers and need blank ammo…
So, “What else can I do with it?”
Mainly just use it like any other ammo and aim and shoot it at a target. Granted, the accuracy may be less than optimal… and range is limited. But for shooting at short range, where accuracy is not important, it will put a wooden bullet through paper no problem. Granted, you are not always sure where on the paper the bullet may hit, and it may or may not hit near your point of aim, but hey, it’s still fun, right?
It comes in 20rd boxes – also red.
Well, here are some other creative ideas our customers have come up with:
- Use it to overcome flinching. A lot of us shooters get a bit recoil shy, even without realizing it. Firing the wooden bullet ammo lets you check your flinch when the bang goes off, but without any true recoil.
- Use it to make a lot of noise. July 4th, New Years eve, etc come to mind. (Just don’t shoot in the air, that wooden bullet still has to come down somewhere.)
- Scare away critters. It makes unwanted pests run if you are in a place where a real bullet cannot be used. Think of it sort of like rural crowd control.
- Instruct a new shooter on form and control without worrying about recoil. Using wooden bullets is a good way to introduce a budding shooter to proper methods and form.
- Paint the bullets a more normal color and use it for historical display, or for museum and reenactment use.
The best part of it is the price. As low as $1.00 per box of 20 rounds. At that price you can think up all kinds of new ways to use it. It even comes on cloth belts if you want.
It also comes preloaded on 250rd cloth belts (to use as Christmas tree decor…)
P.S. Some have asked about pulling the bullet, dumping the powder, and reloading it with a standard metal bullet. This does work, however a close inspection of each brass case is strongly recommended. The Swedes used a lot of once fired brass to build the wooden bullet blanks. Normally this would not be an issue, except a lot of this ammo had mercuric primers, and the mercuric residue inside the cases weakens the brass from the inside, making them unsuitable for high pressure standard loads.
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