KYNOCH AMMUNITION MANUFACTURING HISTORY

George Kynoch (1834-1891) started Kynoch & Co. in 1862 in Birmingham, England. In 1884 it was named George Kynoch & Co. and operated until 1897. Pressure by the board of directors caused George Kynoch to resigned in 1889. The company continued as Kynoch Ltd. until 1918 when the British government put all of the ammunition industry manufacturers under one "tent" named Explosives Trades, Ltd. Many smaller ammunition companies went out of business. Kynoch remained the main ammunitions manufacturer and even made cartridges for Eley, headstamped "Eley-Kynoch". The KYNOCH trademark continued into modern times. Kynoch Ltd. manufactured numerous proprietary rounds for gun manufacturers; such as Gibbs, Greener, H&H, Jeffery, Lancaster, Purdey, Rigby, Westley Richards, and others. These cartridge head stamps bear the gun maker's name and often included a tell-tale "K". In 1926 Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) replaced Kynoch Limited, but the trademark head stamp "KYNOCH" continued under ICI.

George Kynoch was granted patents related to cartridge cases in 1868, 1881, 1884, 1885, 1886, and 1887. Additional patents given to Kynoch covered manufacturing of the then new Cordite propellant.

Information obtained from KYNOCH, Armory Publications 2000. ISBN 0-939683-20-2, Copyright Dale J Hedlund

Cartridges for this KYNOCH exhibit have been accumulated over seventy years.  Items were purchased at cartridge and/or  gun shows.  Personal collections were acquired from Don Amesbury, and Harry Kenton, both serious British Cartridge collectors.  Choice items from each source are included on this exhibit.  Collectors favor early Cupro-Nickel bullet jackets over later Guilding Metal type as used in the modern rounds for old calibers.  Cartridges with raised head stamps are from the earliest times.  This exhibit has the earliest sample of each round that I have found. Many would be difficult to duplicate.

I urge any serious collector to become a member of International Ammunition Association which sends bi-monthly informational booklets wit valuable information and contact information of other members.