Is this safe to shoot?

flashman

flashman

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Help please guys... I bought this round of something at a gunshow, but there's no info on it.

Is this safe to fire? Anyone know the caliber? Weirdest looking bullet I ever did see.

IMGP0271.jpg


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Please see post #9 for the real story.
 
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Ummm... besides the lack of any info whatsoever on calibre, load, etc, that cartridge looks to have been used a massive number of times in a gun as a snap cap or something to have that kind of ejector marks.

Safe to fire? Possibly, but I would not ever take the risk in one of my firearms, just not smart.
 
You PAID for a round at a show without knowing its caliber or whether it's even functional? Can I interest you in visiting my home? It's full of... stuff... you might want to buy, i'll make you a good price! :)
 
Yeah, no it's full of powder, bullet seated and lacquer sealed in place. Guy said he had a bunch, got them for free apparently.
 
flashman said:
Yeah, no it's full of powder, bullet seated and lacquer sealed in place. Guy said he had a bunch, got them for free apparently.
Click to expand...

I hope you got it for free...if not, you're the customer I want to buy whatever it is I'm selling...LOL
 
Ok, that's probably enough:d

It's .30-06, at least as far as memory serves. Either that or 8x57mm. It's a sterilized cartridge I came across in Afghanistan; sterilized by who I couldn't say, but there sure was a lot of it supplied to the mujahideen by the US via Pakistan's ISI during the 79-89 war.

No, I wasn't smart enough to take side pics, just of the mutilated headstamp which I thought was neat.

No, I didn't have to pay for it either - I snagged it for free from an ANA comrade. He didn't pay for it either as far as I recall, the guy he got it from had no further use for it.
 
What's most odd to me about this is you'd think the knurling would affect COAL, and thus negatively impact the reliability of chambering. There's only 10 thou between min and max chamber headspace on the SAAMI drawing, of course military rifles will be chambered loose, but still...

A google image search for sterilized ammo turns up nothing to compare it to, except some no - headstamp US produced 7.62x39. Which is also weird, since you'd think it'd just be easier to buy case lots of foreign produced stuff and use that if you wanted to conceal the origin. I mean, being the only guys out there leaving no - headstamp brass case ammo kind of still narrows it down, doesn't it?
 
Can't tell anything about any cartridge from just a picture of the base. Very much doubt it was made that way in a factory though.
What were you planning on shooting it out of if you have no idea what it is? Just curious.
 
THAT is a very interesting thought. I wonder? Afghans sure do like to jingle stuff up.

OTOH, it appeared in great condition, with no signs of being in a bandolier for any period of time. And it came out of a decent sized pile of identical stuff, from a TB safe house in Kandahar.
 
Post the picture on the IAA (International Ammunition Association). It's an American site with an enormous amount of knowledge on it from some very serious collectors - someone should know about it.

Give them as much info as possible about where it was found etc.
 
Thanks 37patt! Great suggestion, appreciate it. Done and done (well, done as soon as my acct is approved.)

Funny - searches for sanitized and sterilized ammo over there, and there was only one post with some "headstampless" Pak .303.
 
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