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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918 (Read 2674 times)
idjeffp
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Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Apr 7th, 2025 at 5:20pm
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I came back with a baggy of ammo from the local gunshow recently. All old rounds but amongst them was a very interesting  .30-'06 dummy round (fired primer) that was nicely engraved with the following:

Pvt August G. Nouchy
Co & 31st Inf
A. E. F. Siberia
1918-19


Suspecting it was a commemorative round to honor those who served in this effort at the tail end of WW1. Looked up his name online and see documentation of our US AEF presence in N Russia during this time...
Some info here:
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Wondering if anyone else - cartridge collector or other, has seen a round like this before? Were these given to all those who served?

Still exploring this topic, so thought I'd reach out to others here and elsewhere... to see what I can find out?

Cheers!
Jeff Pfeifer
  
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rkba2nd
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #1 - Apr 7th, 2025 at 7:04pm
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Quite possibly done by the person whose name appears on the cartridge. Some very talented persons produced what was described as trench art from WW1. I would think that serving in Siberia allowed considerable time for such artifacts. In WW2 my father made all sorts of similar objects using parts and pieces of Japanese aircraft etc. When In Alaska commercial fishing I carved a beaver chewed branch with a map of our whereabouts, complete with salmon, rivers, sandbars and named places. A credible job done with my Case pocket knife, iIdssm. Similar to rock art done by native Americans, a sort of we were here notation. In my case, a tool to keep the village sled dogs at bay when they decided to chase me when out for my morning run.
  

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idjeffp
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #2 - Apr 8th, 2025 at 4:40pm
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Whoever did the engraving was a pretty good engraver... I'll give them that!
Jeff P
  
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gnoahhh
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #3 - Apr 8th, 2025 at 6:05pm
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Peters Cartridge Company.
  
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yamoon
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #4 - Apr 8th, 2025 at 8:12pm
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31st Inf. Regiment is one of the most famous in the army, owners of the Shanghai bowl. I think it is currently on display at Ft Drum.
Mike
  
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Otony
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #5 - Apr 8th, 2025 at 8:47pm
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Back in the late ‘70s I began my career with the Post Office (32 years) which I typically don’t discuss because of how terrible the service has become. But I digress from the story at hand.

In one of the apartment buildings I delivered to there was a scrawny, little old man with questionable hygiene who would hang out by the mailboxes waiting for me to arrive. He was desperate for conversation with somebody, anybody, so I would spare as much time as I could chatting with him.

Turns out he had been a member of the American Expeditionary Force, Siberia! He had paperwork to prove it, and various bits and trinkets over 50 years later.

That last part always impressed me until recently when I realized that I myself have “stuff” that I’ve been hanging onto for that long and longer, lol!

Anyway, he would share little stories about his experiences, but sadly he was in the beginning stages of some sort of dementia so his tales usually degenerated into quirky babbling. I’m not sure if ill health and poor nutrition played a part in his decline, but I always felt the need to pay attention to him as much as I was able.

I do recall he liked to describe himself as a “Polar Bear”. He also said they had been issued Mosin-Nagant rifles so as to be able to utilize captured ammunition, which I didn’t quite believe at the time. I later learned that was true in some cases, and that those Mosin rifles were part of the canceled contracts Westinghouse was stuck with when the Czar was deposed in the Revolution.

I sure miss that old guy…..

  

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gnoahhh
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #6 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 12:32am
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Thanks for that. Oral histories are fast disappearing from the fabric of our screwed up world.
  
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Dellet
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #7 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 9:06am
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The American Expeditionary Force in Russia is fairly well documented along with Company rosters. Sadly, August Nouchy does not easily come up. Might take a little searching. What you listed as “and” is actually “E Company”

Company E 31st Infantry is much easier. Here’s an example.
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Searching the unit history might find August.

Here’s a start if you think you might like to return it to family
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« Last Edit: Apr 9th, 2025 at 9:14am by Dellet »  
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oneatatime
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #8 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 12:13pm
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I had one of those Westinghouse Moisins. I remember it as being well made. I also recall the story that the Russians had more inspectors in the Westinghouse plant than there were workers. They went back to Russia to improve their own construction.
  
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rollingblock
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #9 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 6:04pm
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Interesting read, thanks for posting the link
  
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stevenjay1
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #10 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 10:49pm
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Can’t see the rim of the cartridge.  Are you sure it’s a 30-06 rather then a 7.62x54r?   The 7.62x54r would be more appropriate.
  

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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #11 - Apr 9th, 2025 at 11:52pm
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It is a rimless case, with what appears to have too much taper for a 30-06. More photographs would help.
  

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idjeffp
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #12 - Apr 10th, 2025 at 4:10pm
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What you listed as “and” is actually “E Company”
You guys might be right on this note... was looking at it again and wondering myself.

I will see about comparing it to a "known" .30-06 case... mo' pics!

Thanks for all the input!
  
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condorsc
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #13 - Apr 10th, 2025 at 10:27pm
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idjeffp wrote on Apr 10th, 2025 at 4:10pm:
What you listed as “and” is actually “E Company”
You guys might be right on this note... was looking at it again and wondering myself.

I will see about comparing it to a "known" .30-06 case... mo' pics! 

Oh, I think it's a 30-06 all right. I used to collect cartridges, but quit, partly because of powder deterioration in American .30 cal. rounds from this period. The powder degenerates often into a gooey green mess which will eat holes in the brass, destroying the cartridge's value. Your round's bullet has been tampered with, so maybe the powder is gone and it's okay. I acquired a couple thousand rounds of 7mm Mauser dated 1920 to break down and reload with current cases and primers and encountered not a single deteriorated round. In fact, I had to pad my RB's butt with a coat because it had seemingly increased in potency. It HURT to fire those rounds! Empty your 30-06 American rounds from that period is my advice.

Thanks for all the input!

  
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marlinguy
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Re: Engraved 30-'06 round - Pvt. August G. Nouchy 1918
Reply #14 - Apr 11th, 2025 at 10:28am
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You can see the primer has been struck, so likely a dead case that someone fitted a bullet into for appearances.
  

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