Came a cross a deal that was hard to pass up but I was very hesitant to go through with. I was offered 480rds of 7.62x51 for $50.00 but they were claimed to be possible hand loads. The boxes the ammo was stored in was labeled “Match” Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, 7.62 Nato M-118 Lot LC 20-27, Bullet 173 grains Velocity 2550 FPS. The Brass is heel stamped “LC 72 Match” and the bullet has a hollow point.
Now the boxes are in excellent new like condition, brass and bullets are bright with no dents or marks and the heels are perfect with no extractor claw marks.
If these are hand loads then I can’t tell since the brass body has no scratches from loading and the heel has no extractor claw marks. So my question is did Lake City ever use hollow point match bullets back in 1972? If not should I just break down the rounds for components since I don’t know who rolled these rounds or take a chance and fire a few? Now my 7.62x51 rifle runs several thousand dollars so touching off a unknown hand load makes me a bit nervous. I do have a less expensive Saiga 7.62x51 that shoots nicely and is my poor mans version of a 7.62x51 battle rifle so I’m also hesitant since Saiga’s are not readily replaceable if something goes wrong.
I may pull a few bullets and take a look at the powder and check its weight but ID’ing the powder maybe impossible.
For that price I would grab them,but break a few down & check the Load ! Like ya say,hard to figure out what powder,but ya will be able to tell if its ball or stick powder,that will give ya some ideal I would think !! Hell the brass & bullets are probably worth the $50 bucks,maybe ya can talk him down to $40,;),LOL !!!
If what you have is actually from this batch, then it is factory ammo.
Yes, for service marksmanship competition (like Camp Perry type things). I have seen that type of ammo twice before. The first time was when I was a kid, and my dad was able to buy some Navy surplus Garands that were rechambered in 7.62X51 when he was at his last duty station at NAS North Island. He also got some ammo that had similar markings and probably still has it squirreled away somewhere. He was able (somehow) to get 3 Garands for something like $30 each (back in 1981), and gave me the one that was rechambered by someone using a drill bit and a chisel or something similar. Man, that was a woefully inaccurate and unreliable Garand.
The second time I saw it was at a competition at Camp Pendleton through the Rancho Santa Margarita Gun Club. Some older guy had it and was shooting through a bolt gun. This was probably around 5 years ago and I don’t recall the guy ever having any problems and his ammo was probably as old as yours.
If what you have is the genuine article, it is pretty rare (not that ammo has any collector value). As long as it was stored well, it should be OK. Since it was match ammo, the necks may not have been sealed, but it is likely the primers were. If you’re worried, pull the projectiles and swap powder with a modern load.
