7.62 x 51 ammo: which one is the dangerous one?

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Cant recall which ammo caused rifles to blow up because it was loaded with pistol powder.

I have a coupe of very small quantities of '79 SB (Santa Barbara) and '75 CBC.

Are one of these rounds something to be concerned about?

What was the full story?
 
I know that Century Arms recalled some CBC ammo since it caused a lot of problem some years ago. But I do not recall the year of manufacture and the lot number anymore.
 
The CBC is by far the most dangerous.

If you can follow the bouncing ball- - it failed inspections in Brazil, and was wholesaled to Chile. They decided to pull the bullets and mix the powder in big hoppers. Somewhere it got contaminated with pistol strength nearly identical powder. It failed inspections again, and was wholesaled again to the US. Guys there bought it by the case load and started blazing away in their machine guns. Well, that ended badly with a few exploded precious guns. The importer attempted to recall all the ammo but many crates slipped away. Gold Cross was able to buy up a quantity and remanufacture it as 155gr PALMA capable ammo. That is the only verifiable CBC worth shooting.
 
CBC, 7.62MM X 51MM CALIBER CARTRIDGES

RECALL: It has come to our attention that CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from lots dated 1975 may pose a serious safety risk. The specific cartridges in question bear the headstamp "CBC 7.62 75".

We hereby provide written notice to you that a potential hazard may exist with respect to outdated CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges. There is a reported risk that such cartridges may cause excess pressure upon discharge and could result in serious bodily injury or damage.

Under no circumstances should these cartridges be used, given to anyone, or sold.

There have been isolated reports of rifles bursting as a result of excessive pressure in what appear to be these outdated CBC cartridges. An independent testing lab reports that it detected a peak pressure that they estimated to be in excess of 130,000 CUP in one out of a batch of 20 outdated CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges dated 1975 that it tested.

CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges are manufactured solely for military use in several nations around the world. CBC has not exported or sold any of these cartridges to or in the United States. These particular cartridges are not intended for civilian use under any circumstances.

In addition, a warning is issued for any CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from any year that bear a label on the packing material with the Spanish word "reengastada". That label was not affixed by CBC, and its application to ammunition is not yet clear.

Anyone who has, or believes they have, CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from lots dated 1975, or CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from any year with the word "reengastada" on the packing label should immediately contact the dealer from whom they bought the rounds, and call the following toll-free phone number:

(800) 742-1094
CBC/Brazil
 
CBC was the bad ammo.

Two problems. Some lots had dead soft case necks. Can be used to male plink loads, but not ammo you would trust for anything serious.

Some lots had some pistol powder mixed with the rifle powder. Both rifle and pistol powders were ball, so cannot see the problem.

If your CBC has stick powder (looks like 4895) it is good to shoot.

How much ammo do you have? If you have a lot of it, and it is all ball powder, pull the bullets, save and mix the powder and reload. You are then good to go.

I did that with several hundred thousand rounds.

Both Santa Barbara and CBC are non-corrosive.

The SB brass has a very low web. Lowest I have seen. I would not use it in a M14.
 
Nothing involving those letters should be trusted. :)

Grizz

A friend of mine and I each bought several cases of the CBC ammo. It came in brown, press paper boxes of 20 rounds each and the boxes were marked "REENGASTADA" which roughly translates to recrimped or re inserted.

This term was used for reloaded ammunition a lot on South America.

All of the crates my friend purchased contained a mixture of dates. The CBC 75 was printed on the box and if memory serves, on the outside of the crate with lot numbers.

He was shooting a K98 that had been used as a base to build a match rifle. I don't remember how many rounds he shot, but it was at least a few hundred, before he had the KABOOM. It was a nasty Kaboom.

He ended up with a bit of brass in his eye. Luckily the 98 bolt is built for such occurrences. The shield on the shroud deflect most of the bits but the stock was cracked and the bolt was frozen in the receiver by the brass that had flowed around the locking lugs.

International Firearms out of Montreal, sold us that ammo. It was cheap. They paid for his rifle and a damage claim for his eye.

All of the ammo I purchased was from a different lot, with different date stamps and all were the same date, 76. I wanted to be reimbursed for mine but they said my lot # was safe.

This is the CBC/Century notice.

CBC, 7.62MM X 51MM CALIBER CARTRIDGES
RECALL: It has come to our attention that CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from lots dated 1975 may pose a serious safety risk. The specific cartridges in question bear the headstamp "CBC 7.62 75".
We hereby provide written notice to you that a potential hazard may exist with respect to outdated CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges. There is a reported risk that such cartridges may cause excess pressure upon discharge and could result in serious bodily injury or damage.
Under no circumstances should these cartridges be used, given to anyone, or sold.
There have been isolated reports of rifles bursting as a result of excessive pressure in what appear to be these outdated CBC cartridges. An independent testing lab reports that it detected a peak pressure that they estimated to be in excess of 130,000 CUP in one out of a batch of 20 outdated CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges dated 1975 that it tested.
CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges are manufactured solely for military use in several nations around the world. CBC has not exported or sold any of these cartridges to or in the United States. These particular cartridges are not intended for civilian use under any circumstances.
In addition, a warning is issued for any CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from any year that bear a label on the packing material with the Spanish word "reengastada". That label was not affixed by CBC, and its application to ammunition is not yet clear.
Anyone who has, or believes they have, CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from lots dated 1975, or CBC 7.62mm x 51mm cartridges from any year with the word "reengastada" on the packing label should immediately contact the dealer from whom they bought the rounds, and call the following toll-free phone number:
(800) 742-1094
CBC/Brazil

Hope this helps

I eventually did what Ganderite suggested and pulled all of the bullets. Unlike Ganderite, I just threw the powder into a burn pile. At the time, I wasn't sure what would happen if I mixed it in with other ball powder. Ganderite once mentioned that when fast powder was mixed with slow powder. I don't remember it completely so I won't speculate.

It wouldn't bother me one bit if a small amount of a fast powder got mixed with a large amount of slow powder or vice versa. The thing is, I don't know enough about the effect the mixed coatings would have on the burn rate/pressure
 
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Found 35 of the CBC "75" rounds yesterday. I recall my parts manager and me pulling a big bunch of this stuff, stirring up the powder and reloading it. Back in the day, a few of us shot it all off in our various FN's. Probably the few I found were some of that batch, but the powder from these will get dumped and some good powder used instead.

Hmmm, I got thinking (stand back), now it seemed to me I still had most of a crate somewhere in the ammo dump. Sure enough, I found it! Luckily, the stuff I have left is marked "SB 80". I did pull a couple yesterday with that headstamp. It has a SC stick powder. The boxes are all marked SB as well. :)
 
I have a few hundred rounds of the CBC 75 along with the print off from the recall that was dated in the early 90’s I also have a ton of CBC 77 I shoot regulary, the crimp of the CBC 75 is pretty intense, I’ll pull one of each when I get home and take a photo. I keep telling 75 as a bit of a collectable I guess, never really thought what to do with it.
 
I have a few hundred rounds of the CBC 75 along with the print off from the recall that was dated in the early 90’s I also have a ton of CBC 77 I shoot regulary, the crimp of the CBC 75 is pretty intense, I’ll pull one of each when I get home and take a photo. I keep telling 75 as a bit of a collectable I guess, never really thought what to do with it.

I am putting the powder from those 75's in a jug and I'll give it to a friend of mine who uses it in an Indigenous ceremony. I knew the man's parents well and several of his brothers and sisters. Makes me happy to be part of their family. I always called the mother "Mom".
 
here's some photos of the bad 75 dated ammo next to the good 77 dated ammo, Everything 77 is on the right and 75 on the left.

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Good idea to post those pics. Gets the message out there in a good visual manner. I reloaded the few of mine with an equivalent to 3031.
 
If you lot of CBC is all loaded with stick powder, it is good ammo.

The problem is some ball pistol powder that got added to the loading machine running ball rifle powder. There were a few thousand rounds of ammo loaded with pure pistol powder.
 
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