Headstamp questions

[lineofsight]

Found the following brass and am curious about quality & ability to reload:

FC - some has small lettering, some has larger lettering - difference?

Presumed okay to reload
GFL - Italian origin
Frontier - US origin

Presumed not okay because cross symbol/Berdan primer
IVI - Canadian
DA - Canadian

No idea - both have three rectangular indentations around the circumference of primer pocket and green sealant.
CBC 7.62 75 - Brazil
79 and 7.62 x 51 with star symbols on either side

Also saw 7mm-.08 anyone resize these to .308 (I dont need to, have enough .308 brass but curious just the same).

 

[Wendell]

Found the following brass and am curious about quality & ability to reload:

Presumed okay to reload
GFL - Italian origin
Frontier - US origin

Presumed not okay because cross symbol/Berdan primer
IVI - Canadian
DA - Canadian

No idea - both have three rectangular indentations around the circumference of primer pocket and green sealant.
CBC 7.62 75 - Brazil
79 and 7.62 x 51 with star symbols on either side

Also saw 7mm-.08 anyone resize these to .308 (I dont need to, have enough .308 brass but curious just the same).

The IVI and DA have a NATO cross (as in NATO-spec ammunition). (They aren't Berdan primed.) Both they and the other 7.62x51/7.62 NATO cases that you describe - with the rectangular indentations - have had their primer pockets crimped to ensure that the primer does not back out and cause a weapon failure. A (so-called) machine gun crimp.

Machine gun crimped/military crimped cases are reloadable, but the primer pocket must be "prepared" prior to reloading by either swaging or reaming the crimp to facilitate re-priming. This is easily done.

 

[BattleRife]

79 and 7.62 x 51 with star symbols on either side

I recently came into a small stash of this stuff and reloaded 50 as a trial. At the same time I loaded 50 IVI-75 cases as a trial.

The * cases came in with a mass right in between Federal and Winchester ( giving me an idea of wall thickness), so I loaded them with my standard load of 43 grains and all was well.

The IVI cases came in noticeably heavier than anything else I have used so I backed down to 42 grains.

Both reloaded and shot normally, and gave velocities right around 2700fps with 147 FMJBT.

 

[CanAm]

Just look into the case, down at the bottom:

1 hole = Boxer
2 holes (or 1 offset, this is rare) = Berdan

 

[lineofsight]

Just look into the case, down at the bottom:

1 hole = Boxer
2 holes (or 1 offset, this is rare) = Berdan

Thanks, spend a fair bit of time trying to figure out how to tell the difference. Looked at images on line, though not helpful, did find this one.

The IVI cases came in noticeably heavier than anything else I have used so I backed down to 42 grains.

Cheers, may compare case volumes with some tumbling media just out of curiosity.

 

[ricciardelli]

http://stevespages.com/headstamps.html

and

http://stevespages.com/intheadstamps.html

 

[dan belisle]

FC is ok, regardless of letter size. Frontier is actually Hornady brass, also should be no problem. I've never used the Italian brass, so can't say. The IVI and DA is fine also, but as it's military brass you should reduce your loads and work up again (due to brass thickness). FWIW - dan

 

[Dantforth]

Get yourself a primer pocket reamer to remove the crimp on all of the military brass before reloading. I also run all through an annealing process when I first load so I know where I am with it.