M1 .30-06 Bandoliers & History

M1 Garand Cloth Bandoliers

These cloth bandoliers are ubiquitous in period pictures from both World War 2 and Korea. Many cans of .30-06 were packaged with 6 of these bandoleers, with 192 total rounds. When on the front lines, soldiers could quickly resupply themselves with ammunition by grabbing a few bandoleers and donning them, in addition to the the ammunition stored on their belt. Reportedly, soldiers were happy with the ability to quickly reload from these bandoliers, when compared to the rounds available on their M-1923 belts. Considering this, my research has shown that soldiers would use up their ammunition from bandoliers first, before depleting the rounds available on their cartridge belts. Equipped in such a way, the average infantryman had access to approximately 180 rounds of .30-06 ammo, figuring an M-1923 belt and two bandoliers. As seen in the pictures, these cloth bandoliers contained cardboard inserts which allowed for long-term storage, and prevented the rounds from clinking together (or tearing right through the material!)

Cardboard inserts protect the bandoliers from wearing out.

These bandoliers were often affixed to the outer layer of a GI's uniform with a safety pin, which stopped the clips from shifting around during maneuvers. 

What pictures cannot describe is the heft of a fully loaded bandolier. 48 rounds of .30-06, with en-bloc clips, weighs over a pound. Carrying almost 200 rounds is nearly 4 pounds of extra weight, which feels quite clumsy considering the way it is spread out over one's body, rather than contained in a single 30-round magazine. 

Keep in mind that these cloth bandoliers were designed to be disposable, so it is difficult to determine exactly how they would stand up to field use over an extended period of time. It's doubtful that any modern user would be able to subject the material to the same stress inherent in a World War, however!


PS: I used both forms of spelling of 'bandoleer' in this close-up. If you know which one's actually correct, please drop me a line because it's driving me nuts. 

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