UKH

As I was descending the untracked eastern shoulder of Ben Donich (Above Rest and be Thankful) I came across this unexpected sight. Dozens of spent bullets with what look to me like the clips that hold a belt of them together. Could they be from a machine gun? I think the army might have been about these parts in World War 2.

My guess would be American 30-06 from a belt fed machine gun. Possibly blanks based on the crimping on the end of the cartridge. 

Far more modern. Without any scale I'd guess at the NATO standard 5.56 round...  blanks 

Not an expert but I would say they look like 7.62mm blanks, from a GPMG (Gimpy) which arrived early 60's, so later than WW2. If you had any more pics of the end of the spent rounds that would give more info.

They look like blanks, with crimped in noses, possibly still live as they usually flair out more. Could be 30 06 Springfield, nato 7.62, or Winchester 308.. all look similar on pics. Belt fed gpmg ammo can also vary, as these small calibre and round size variations are solved by changing only the barrel.

You've got 43 Commando not far down the road at Faslane that regularly train round the area. It's mostly likely NATO 5.56 fired from a GPMG judging by the rusted link next to the cartridges. They are blanks as said before. The crimped ends are the giveaway. Troops haven't been doing their end ex brass sweep... Pretty poor really. 

I remember the days when the Mrs used to go like a belt fed GPMG

Hard to tell if they are 7.62mm or 5.56mm without some kind of scale.  7.62 fired from GPMG - general purpose machine gun, 5.56mm fired from Minimi light MG. Steel links are disintegrating link. Definitely blanks from the crimped end. The cartridges are usually dated on the base (headstamp) so easy to determine age and usually stamped RG indicating they were manufactured at Radway Green near Crewe.

Has someone been machine gunning Deer, as landmines were deemed to be in bad taste?

Thanks for all the replies, folks. I didn't think to provide scale or look at the ends. It did surprise me that the military were out on a reasonably popular hill, albeit on the quiet side. Possibly back when these were left it was even quieter. I noticed some absolutely huge rock crevasses on that flank so lots of places to hide and ambush.

That particular area has also been used extensively for NATO (particularly UK/Netherlands) joint exercises in recent years. We had the surreal experience of walking right through one a few years ago (the area was not closed, and we had no idea in advance). Based on what was playing out, we had a strong suspicion we walked right through the middle of an ambush-in-waiting as we approached Lochgoilhead - but didn’t spot any of that team in the forest.

Haggis cull, but keep it quiet  🤐 

It’s what a friend of mine was doing in Texas with an AR-15 whilst on a trip to photograph the eclipse…

At least in the 1970s it was still possible to find WW2 stuff including parts of mortar ammo on the far side of Llyn Ogwen from what is now the information centre.

Proportion wise I'd guess at 7.62 due to the thickness of the rim, but hard to tell. Definitely blank, but odd to see so many seem to have failed.

Doesn’t seem very sporting. Couldn’t they have given the Deer AK47s to level things up a bit?

Ah sorry it was wild pigs, not deer.  Don’t think you’d want to run out of ammunition around the pigs.  I’d have thought an American legal slug gun would have been less overkill. Apparently they’re diseases riddled and no good for eating.

I've seen videos of these 'hog hunts'. Overkill is the objective, it's all about firing the maximum amount of ammunition into the maximum number of animals without bothering about boring stuff like effective shot placement to ensure a relatively painless 'kill'.

Truly the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable, IMHO.

How big are the slugs there if you need a gun to kill them?

Were there 30-50 of them?

I'd go with NATO 7.62 link-fed blanks, judging by shape and condition. Based on childhood spent running around a blank-fire training ground... Probably fired by GPMG. As others have noted, the date & manuf code will be stamped on the rim. As might identifier, e.g. L10A1 for the blank round.

At least unlike Niall_H’s post I get your joke!

the oddest thing I found was on the ground above Sron na Ciche when approaching Sgurr Sgumain, possibly in 2019.  It appeared to be the burnt remains of two A41/A42 radio batteries and some accompanying U2 sized batteries with cardboard sleeves (remember how long ago "leakproof" U2 batteries came in - I don't think I've seen a cardboard sleeve since the 1960s) as well as some original type ring-pulls from beer cans.

I wondered if the presence of 2 batteries left up there might have been left by a VHF "rebro" crew long ago.

Given ww2 ended approx 80 years ago, anywhere with plant life will have probably grown over so you'd have to dig/rummage a bit. These pics show the cases on top of grass stems.

But it's amazing what people used to leave lying about without too much concern. Maybe back then daft people were less likely to fiddle with stuff and leave it alone

I often walk on Army land. It is very common to find fired blank ammunition, though not in the quantity you saw.

The Army do clear up after their exercises but sometimes they miss stuff.

Doesn't count as crag swag though

sometimes the firefights appear to have taken place outside the ranges!

Years ago (early/mid 80's - possibly at the same time as the Falklands?) I found a similar mound of recently fired 7.62mm and belt links in the middle of the Carmarthen Fan. 
The nearest Training Area is SENTA (Sennybridge) which is 10 miles away and the other side of a major road.