Ammo ID

[Hayashi Killian]

I bought some ammo from Cabela's earlier and I'm trying to find a little info about it. It's 7.62x54R ammunition. The box (a little white one) says "Made in Russia, non-corrosive, berdan-primed". 148-grain stuff. FMJ, not SP or JHP. But when the ammo is taken out of the brown paper wrapper...



Very clearly a brass case. Looks like it's non-reloadable, but eh. But the brass case throws me off, for 'Russian' ammo I'd expect a steel/lacquer case (Wolf/Tula) or bimetal (Barnaul).

I tried a picture of the base, but it's too blurry. The base says: 7.62x54R, LVE, 10. Everything so far makes me think surplus Yugoslavian, but the box does indeed say 'Made in Russia' (and non-corrosive, IIRC Yugoslavian surplus is corrosive).

ETA: I even asked a sales guy to try and find some additional info in their computers. Their local stocks showed nothing, and he even checked the group number and it doesn't show up on their website.

[Chief-7700]

Made by: Novosibirsk Low -Voltage Equipment Plant Plc., 30A, Stantsionnaya St, Novosikirsk, 630108, Russia

[SixPointEight]

Best place to ID 7.62x54r ammo:

http://www.mosinnagant.net/i3tro4.asp

[justMike]

So you did try a magnet? Maybe a grownup version of the X39 Goldenbear?

[Hayashi Killian]

I spent the last 20 minutes searching for a magnet in my place with no luck. Magnets are the devil's beads to an IT worker. They must be back in storage in CA.

Some people seem to think this might be copper-washed steel-cased stuff. Here's the box:


And the side of the box (with a UPC that shows up in no search results):


If mosinnagant.net is to be believed, that '10' would mean the ammo was manufactured this year. Which means it cannot be Bulgarian or Yugoslavian surplus.

[SixPointEight]

10 should mean bulgarian...gimme a picture of the headstamp.

Edit: You say 7.62x54r is the headstamp, I'm not 100% sure of any surplus that had that stamped, only wolf to my knowledge, so it's a little odd

[Chief-7700]

http://cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes.htm

[Hayashi Killian]

10 should mean bulgarian...gimme a picture of the headstamp.

Edit: You say 7.62x54r is the headstamp, I'm not 100% sure of any surplus that had that stamped, only wolf to my knowledge, so it's a little odd

I think the '10' is the year of manufacture, the 'LVE' is the actual manufacturer. Mosinnagant.net says that there's two stamps: one's the manufacturer, the other's the date of manufacture.

It has all 3 things on the headstamp: the caliber, LVE, 10. And it's most likely not Wolf, it's either brass or brass-washed steel (I'm thinking towards the latter, without a magnet it's hard to tell).

[SixPointEight]

Wolf bronze and gold have cases like that, again not sure 100% though

[Cheep]

That case is brass, you can tell it's heat treated-the change in color half way up the case. Copper washed steel won't have this.