7.62 Ammo
- Thread starter Bowie
- Start date
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
If the word 'REENGASTADA' appears on any packaging, it is not to be trusted. There have been some bad kaboom explosions with this ammo. I have '77 CBC with "LOTE 44-1.TRIMESTRE 1977' and a 1983 FAMAE white paper label.
In the mid-90's I bought CBC cases loaded with 155gr Palma bullets by Gold Cross. Excellant target ammo for the kind of shooting I was doing. But this was ammo that had the original FMJ pulled and then reloaded with new commercial bullets. Recently I came across more CBC ammo, and determined what course of action to follow before firing. So I called Jim B who runs/ran Gold Cross. I described what I'd found and then paid close attention to his explanation and remedy.
The Brazillians made a batch or batches of CBC FMJ with soft necks. The annealing was wrong, and when fired in machine guns, the bullets were moving in and out of the cases. So, they flogged that ammo to Chile.
This seems to be where the bigger problems crept in. When the Chileans reloaded the ammo and crimped the necks, which is where the 'Reengastada' markings were applied, some cartridges were loaded with pistol powder that got mixed into the rifle powder. Not every round, not every batch, not every lot. It is not visible to the eye, and only discovered many years later by examination under powerful microscopic study. The obvious hazard was soon found, but instead of condemning the remanufactured lot, the Chileans sold it into the surplus market and ran like Hell. When it arrived in the US, machine gunners started having explosions and many guns were destroyed. Lawsuits began.
Jim's advice was to pull 100% of the FMJ bullets. Separate the powder according to ball, stick or flake. He encountered some of each when remanufacturing to Gold Cross standard. Then thoroughly hand mix the salvaged powder to further redistribute what might be .05% of pistol powder amongst the 99.95% of rifle powder. No more small concentrations of pistol powder to cause erratic pressures. Prep the cases with a neck resizing die to squeeze the crimp just bit more. Then recharge with the same weight of powder and reseat the salvaged FMJ.
I asked if doing a 5% sample would catch a bad box of 20. Nope, he said. The Chileans dumped all the ammo into big containers and refilled the cardboard boxes with whichever were the next 20 rounds in the hopper. A random sample of a random assortment is not a valid predictor.
In the mid-90's I bought CBC cases loaded with 155gr Palma bullets by Gold Cross. Excellant target ammo for the kind of shooting I was doing. But this was ammo that had the original FMJ pulled and then reloaded with new commercial bullets. Recently I came across more CBC ammo, and determined what course of action to follow before firing. So I called Jim B who runs/ran Gold Cross. I described what I'd found and then paid close attention to his explanation and remedy.
The Brazillians made a batch or batches of CBC FMJ with soft necks. The annealing was wrong, and when fired in machine guns, the bullets were moving in and out of the cases. So, they flogged that ammo to Chile.
This seems to be where the bigger problems crept in. When the Chileans reloaded the ammo and crimped the necks, which is where the 'Reengastada' markings were applied, some cartridges were loaded with pistol powder that got mixed into the rifle powder. Not every round, not every batch, not every lot. It is not visible to the eye, and only discovered many years later by examination under powerful microscopic study. The obvious hazard was soon found, but instead of condemning the remanufactured lot, the Chileans sold it into the surplus market and ran like Hell. When it arrived in the US, machine gunners started having explosions and many guns were destroyed. Lawsuits began.
Jim's advice was to pull 100% of the FMJ bullets. Separate the powder according to ball, stick or flake. He encountered some of each when remanufacturing to Gold Cross standard. Then thoroughly hand mix the salvaged powder to further redistribute what might be .05% of pistol powder amongst the 99.95% of rifle powder. No more small concentrations of pistol powder to cause erratic pressures. Prep the cases with a neck resizing die to squeeze the crimp just bit more. Then recharge with the same weight of powder and reseat the salvaged FMJ.
I asked if doing a 5% sample would catch a bad box of 20. Nope, he said. The Chileans dumped all the ammo into big containers and refilled the cardboard boxes with whichever were the next 20 rounds in the hopper. A random sample of a random assortment is not a valid predictor.
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