POSSIBLE MILITARY BLANKS?

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  • Last Post 09 May 2013
Bighorn06 posted this 09 March 2013

GOT SOME NEW TO ME BRASS. 30-06 MOSTLY LC. SOME OF THEM HAVE A HEAVY ROLL CRIMP ON END BUT HAVE A LARGE DEEP CANNELURE APPROX 3/32 FROM THE END AND SEEM TO HAVE A HEAVY RED SEALER OR WAX INSIDE THE CASE BETWEEN CANNELURE AND THE END ROLL CRIMP. CRIMP IRONED OUT WITH SIZING BUT CANNELURE STAYED SOMEWHAT. ANYONE KNOW OF THESE AND CAN THESE BE USED FOR CAST BULLET LOADS? WILL TRY TO POST PICS LATER

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R Dupraz posted this 09 March 2013

Your assumption is right. They are military blanks and when loaded had a red wad in the neck instead of a bullet.

Read some place one time that the brass is substndard. That's why the cases were loaded as blanks. don't know if that's true or not. And if for no other reason, don't like that that ring around the neck. Me? I would look for some good brass.

RD

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Bighorn06 posted this 10 March 2013

Bighorn06 wrote: GOT SOME NEW TO ME BRASS. 30-06 MOSTLY LC. SOME OF THEM HAVE A HEAVY ROLL CRIMP ON END BUT HAVE A LARGE DEEP CANNELURE APPROX 3/32 FROM THE END AND SEEM TO HAVE A HEAVY RED SEALER OR WAX INSIDE THE CASE BETWEEN CANNELURE AND THE END ROLL CRIMP. CRIMP IRONED OUT WITH SIZING BUT CANNELURE STAYED SOMEWHAT. ANYONE KNOW OF THESE AND CAN THESE BE USED FOR CAST BULLET LOADS? WILL TRY TO POST PICS LATER

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Rich/WIS posted this 16 March 2013

About 40 years ago before I learned otherwise someone gave me several hundred unfired blanks. I popped the wad out and made a tool from an old screwdriver to expand the neck and get rid of the crimp. Dumped the blank powder and replaced it 50gr IMR 4064 and 150 gr bullets. Shot well in a 03A3 I had at the time. I found out afterward that the cases were rejects from the loading line. Although I had no problems I would not recommend reloading them, good brass is too cheap and easy to find.

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delmarskid1 posted this 17 March 2013

Check the dates on the head stamps. They may be old enough to be corrosive or mercuric primers. I have some blanks from '43. I save them for the Fourth of July.

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Notlwonk posted this 17 March 2013

I had a bunch years ago. I dumped the powder and ironed out the crimp then used them one time for cast loads. Seems like a lot of work now. I too had heard that they were reject brass, not sure but some may have been reloaded as blanks from fired ball.

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Uncle Russ posted this 18 March 2013

I collect cartridges and have read a bit on the subject. This scrap/junk brass story is a bit tough to buy. 1st-when has the gov ever bought anything second rate? 2nd-this stuff has to work through bolt actions, semi autos, full autos and not miss a beat. 3rd-it has to store for unknown long periods of time. 4th-it has to package up for use in any possible manner the same as ball, ap, tracer etc. It is like folks thinking match brass is so special. Hate to tell you, but it comes off the same machines as anything else but is just gauged to a tighter standard. Interesting fact from Hatcher I believe, the best ammo was for machine guns used in aircraft. Kinda tough to crawl out on the wing in flight to clear a jam. Infantry man just recocks his gun. Just some thoughts to ponder. :kilroy:

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RicinYakima posted this 18 March 2013

Russ,

The only time I have seen the “2nd's” in print from a reliable person, was Clark Campbell, and that was for shooting grenades in WWI. They used the brass from the lipstick tube maker they had a contract with that could not make good brass. It only lasted from 1917 - 1918.

MGen Hatcher does say they used the best brass, FA, and primers for aircraft 30 Brownings. They just used the least accurate bullet, API, because it didn't matter 2 MOA or 5 MOA at 200 feet from a P-39 or other early with 30's.

Ric

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Bighorn06 posted this 18 March 2013

I scrapped them and used the ones that were not crimped. Thanks for the heads up before something goes wrong

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Eddie2002 posted this 07 May 2013

Back in the late '60s I picked up a lot of that type of blank cartridge after the National Guard had thier war games in Jamestown, Rhode Island. My older brothers would take me out to the area the war games had been run and we would pick up thousands of fired and unfired cartridges that were just laying around. The machine gun nests were the best, it was possible to scoop the spent brass up using a bucket. Even found a few unused smoke grenades and got a good beating bcause I set one off in the back yard. I still have a few of the cases left and have found that they are Berdan primed. Don't know about reloading them but seeing the picture of the brass brought back some good memories. If I remember right they had a extruded powder in the live ones I found.

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Uncle Russ posted this 07 May 2013

Ric; I agree, inaccurate compared to M1 ball? Probably is but Armor Piercing Incendiary (API) is maybe the right bullet for the job at hand. Shooting down other airplanes, dirigibles, blimps, and trench defenses. If you can't poke a hole in it, just burn it up.

Just a simple thought from a simple mind.

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Clod Hopper posted this 09 May 2013

I don't buy the second rate brass story either. However, I CANNOT recommend that anyone use this brass because I do have concerns about the crimp in the neck cracking and leaving that piece in the chamber. I have shot mine with starting IMR-4895 loads with no problems.

In my young and foolish days I sized some .30-06 blank brass down to .308 without annealing. These cases were easy to spot after firing, they all had cracked necks parallel to the bore. I dropped that idea post haste.

The blanks my local VFW uses now are said to be for grenade launching. They have a cone shaped six sided crimp. These crack when fired the first time as a blank. I sell it for scrap.

Dale M. Lock

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