What is this 30-06 ammo?

[heyjerr]

Found two en bloc clips years ago and hadn't given them any thought until now. Figured they were just some old leftovers and nothing special. Looks to be Lead Round Nose (LRN) with a headstamp of L C 5 4. Each letter and number are well-separated and evenly spread out into quarters.

I'm assuming these are Lake City from 1954, but what little I've found (weak AF GoogleFu) shows those cases (LC54) may have been used for AP rounds, which these clearly are not. Not sure if they would've been simple reloads, guard rounds, or just standard target practice.

So I figure I'd put it out to the ammo gurus to fill me in.

[M1A Rifleman]

Reloads with Lake City brass and cast bullets. Throw out unless you know what the load is.

[heyjerr]

And once I took a closer look at these pics on a large monitor I realized two rounds were not like the others. One stamped as S L 5 5 (SL55) and the other 5 3 T W (53TW)

[heyjerr]

Ah, was typing up my response when you chimed in. Makes sense that they'd be reloads.

[stevie]

yeah reloads

[sigstroker]

Twin Cities and St Louis, both common military .30-06 ammo.

[USMCM16A2]

SL Saint Louis Arsenal, TW Twin Cities Arsenal. I agree that those look like cast bullets. Pull the bullets use the brass. I am not sure if those primers are mercuric corrosive or not. The military crimp looks intact. A2

[elk hunter]

Those are not the original primers.

[BigFatGuy]

(This may be obvious, but just in case)

Note the red enamel around the primer. That SHOULD, in military ammo, be much more heavily applied. These are used brass.

[elk hunter]

That's whats left of the primer seal.

[elk hunter]

Could be someone worked up a cast load to shoot in their M1 I've never done that but have read where several guys did.

[FLIGHT762]

I am not sure if those primers are mercuric corrosive or not. The military crimp looks intact. A2

The US Military stopped using mercuric priming since 1898.

[Killer Bee]

I have some original .mil .30-06 factory loads I can share if I remember tomorrow..

these are .50bmg, reload from St. Louis 1945 and factory Lake City 2005.. I have a couple of high school friends that work at Lake City, used to drive by it frequently

[mausercat]

My father used to buy some factory loaded ammo that some company used to pull the FMJ military bullets and replace them with soft points. I don't know if they used the same powder but I think that they did. He would use this ammo in his Remington 740. He used this ammo for all of his hunting because it was cheap and for deer and pig it worked fine.

[Killer Bee]

My father used to buy some factory loaded ammo that some company used to pull the FMJ military bullets and replace them with soft points. I don't know if they used the same powder but I think that they did. He would use this ammo in his Remington 740. He used this ammo for all of his hunting because it was cheap and for deer and pig it worked fine.

Talon did this and it was CHEAP, like $2/rd cheap! too bad they're gone



to my knowledge, US military doesn't sell assembled ammo anymore, only the separated inert components, basically stripped brass n bullets..

licensed ammo manufacturers can buy these components and reassemble milspec rounds..

http://www.50bmgsupply.com/ammo.shtml

this is nice lot of what looks like 1942 WWII issue Frankford Arsenal M2 AP .30-06 in good condition