Description
105mm M130 Empty Fiber Ammunition Tube
This empty M130 fiber tube belongs to the U.S. 105mm artillery ammunition packaging family. The model is documented in official Army records describing World War II packing systems. Its historical interest lies in the storage and shipping side of artillery service, where protective containers helped preserve ammunition during transport and handling.
Identification and Features
M130 identifies the container model, while 105mm identifies its ammunition association. Period Army manuals required packing containers to carry ammunition codes and lot information. These markings helped supply personnel identify contents and track shipments. For collectors, the container designation is important because a packing tube and the ammunition it held had separate model names.
- Model: M130
- Ammunition association: 105mm
- Container type: Fiber tube
- Contents: Empty
- Historical application: U.S. artillery ammunition packaging
Function
Fiber ammunition tubes served as protective packing during storage and transport. The Army's 1944 ammunition manual describes this class of container as a tube with a slip-on cover, used for ammunition components and rounds. Moisture-resistant packing helped protect the contents under ordinary field conditions. Outer wooden boxes supplied further protection during shipment. The tube was one part of a packing system that combined an individual container with a stronger shipping package.
Documented Applications
The Army's Redstone Arsenal history lists M130 alongside M129 and M133 containers in short-box packing for 105mm shells. That record confirms its wartime packaging role. The related ammunition family served the M2 and M2A1 field howitzers. The M130 supported ammunition storage and shipment within this supply system.
Product History
M130 belongs to an earlier stage of wartime 105mm packaging. Redstone Arsenal's 1944 account records a change from the short-box arrangement to long ammunition boxes and M105 fiber containers. The revised system used stocks of long boxes already on hand. Together with simpler box fastening, this change reduced packing labor and costs.
Equipment History
The M2A1 105mm howitzer entered production in 1940 and became the U.S. Army's main field artillery weapon during World War II. Rock Island Arsenal manufactured its carriage and recoil equipment. Mounted on a towed carriage, the gun could travel with field units and provide artillery support from prepared firing positions. After the war, the weapon family received the M101 designation and remained in American combat service through Vietnam. Its long career helps explain the many generations of ammunition and packing equipment found in 105mm artillery collections.
Weapon-System Background
The 105mm howitzer used semifixed ammunition, meaning the projectile was removable from the cartridge case. This arrangement influenced how ammunition components were handled and packaged. The weapon family supported several missions through different shell types, including high explosive fire, smoke screening, and antitank fire. Packaging carried information about the ammunition and its intended weapon. That identification mattered because the wartime 105mm family included both standard field howitzers and the shorter M3 howitzer used by infantry and airborne units.
History of Use
Ammunition packing was part of the Army's depot and transport work during World War II. Records from 1944 show Redstone Arsenal working with Camp Sibert to train chemical ammunition depot units in loading, unloading, and bracing cargo. Such work formed the wider military supply system in which fiber containers served. Packing materials protected ammunition through storage and repeated handling before it reached field units. The M130's documented history concerns this wartime packaging system, while the associated howitzer family continued in service for decades.
Condition
This M130 fiber tube is empty. No cartridge case, projectile, fuze, or propelling charge is included. The listing is for the ammunition container as a collectible packaging item.
Ideal For
Suitable for collectors building a reference collection of U.S. ammunition containers or studying changes in wartime artillery packaging. It can accompany period manuals and empty shipping boxes in a display focused on military supply. Collectors of 105mm artillery equipment can also use it to show the packaging side of the weapon system's history.
- U.S. ammunition container collections
- World War II packaging studies
- 105mm artillery displays
- Military supply history exhibits
- Period equipment reference collections
Approx length 15.5", Approx width 5", Approx height 5", Approx weight 2.2lbs.
Pictures are stock images of our inventory. Unless otherwise noted, you will not be receiving the exact item shown in the pictures. The pictures are representative of the item’s general condition. The item you receive might be slightly better, or worse, condition than was shown in the pictures.
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