IVI 7.62x51....any way to tell what it was shot in?

Hitzy

Hitzy

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Got a few bags of this from Xreload, not too dinged up, slight dings just below the shoulder but very minimal. They were a ##### to size though, so fired in something with a large chamber, took some effort. Used the 2010 headstamps for this batch and all weighed a very consistent 190gr sized and trimmed. That's about 22-23gr heavier then the Fed stuff I had on hand.
 
IVI is Valcartier Industries brass and in your case is loaded for the military. As such it will be heavier than regular commercial brass. The sidewalls and web will be thicker and the real issue is that the primer pockets will likely be crimped an will need have the mouths opened up to easily accept the primers you and I purchase from our local gun shops. If the primer pockets aren't slightly beveled there is a very good chance you will crunch primers when inserting them.

Also, because the sidewalls are thicker, you will need to reduce your load a bit because the capacity of the case is diminished. Not a big deal and the brass is usually excellent and very nice to reload once you iron out the wrinkles.
 
The vast majority of 7.62 NATO ammunition is fired in machine guns with chambers .003 to.004 larger in diameter than SAAMI .308 standards. Military 7.62 brass is also harder and thicker in the base and when fired in a machine gun it can take twice the effort to resize. Also as stated above this 7.62 brass has less case capacity and it is recommended to reduce your loads by 2 grains of powder.

Cartridge Case Capacities
http://kwk.us/cases.html

The most desirable 7.62 once fired brass is the long range sniper ammunition fired in bolt action rifles.

Once Fired .308/7.62 LC Long Range
http://brassbombers.com/308-762-LC-Long-Range-Cleaned-100-Pieces-7LR-CSP10.htm

308WinCaseWeight_zpscqytjeym.jpg
 
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Oh I'm not new to reloading mil brass, been swaging primer pockets for years. I was just surprised as how hard this stuff actually was to size. I previously did a bunch of WCC 2000-2001 and it was nowhere near the force required. It looked pristine though, no dents at all, so was obviously shot through something gentler...
 
2010 headstamp - what 7.62 firearms have been in service since then? C3A1 rifles. And machineguns. Overwhelming odds fired in C6.
 
I initially bought it with the intention of running it in my Benelli R1, figured it would hold up good with a semi. Now I'm not so sure, might just relegate it to the M14 as it has a huge sloppy chamber. I'm not sure how much spring back there might be, and if the base got sized enough using Lee FL dies.
 
Hitzy

We live in a plus and minus manufacturing world and chambers and dies vary in size. I have a standard full length Lee .223 die that sizes the case to a smaller diameter than my RCBS .223/5.56 small base die.

Sometimes with machine gun brass if you pause at the top of the ram stroke for a few seconds this reduces brass spring back. I buy a lot of once fired Lake City 5.56 brass and I size them all the first time in a small base die and pause while sizing.

Military brass has to be harder to withstand being fired in larger diameter chambers and not cause extraction problems.

I got into a heated discussion with someone at accurateshooter.com about how hard LC brass was and my buddy CatShooter came to the rescue.

How Hard is Your Brass? 5.56 and .223 Rem Base Hardness Tests
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2014/05/how-hard-is-your-brass-5-56-and-223-rem-base-hardness-tests/

TEST RESULTS
Using Rockwell hardness standards (.062″x100kg, Rockwell “B”), the brass measured as follows:

LC 2008 = 96

Lapua 223 Match = 86

Winchester 223 = 69

Remington “R-P” = 49

hardness-a_zps8d54ad66.jpg


Not only is military brass harder the flash hole web is thicker adding radial strength to the base of the case. (built Ford Truck Tough) :evil:

webthickness_zps54979hxw.jpg
 
I did hold each of them for about 5 seconds at the bottom of the stroke, they extracted from the die with no effort after sizing. I imagine I could run them forever in a bolt gun with the odd annealing. Maybe I'll try cycling them through the Benelli at the range.... Probably worried for nothing lol
 
I load a lot of LC and IVI . You will get spring back so I would recommend you size them in two steps. I use them in my LMT and SA only and they withstand a beating but after 4-5 reloads I toss them
 
Ran some through the R1, no issues with the sized brass, it's remarkably gentle on the brass, they all came out looking like they were fired in a bolt gun.
Did have 2 pierced Dominion primers out of 20 rounds I had them in....not sure what to make of that?
 
i get a lot of this IVI .308 brass,,most shot from bolt actions from sniper training,seems it is nicer shape than the machine gun fired stuff that tend to be a lot dirtier and black.the nice thing about this stuff is they are so easy to make match set of identical weight cases.kinda like cheap match cases,and they last forever,
 
Wiskey1 said:
i get a lot of this IVI .308 brass,,most shot from bolt actions from sniper training,seems it is nicer shape than the machine gun fired stuff that tend to be a lot dirtier and black.the nice thing about this stuff is they are so easy to make match set of identical weight cases.kinda like cheap match cases,and they last forever,
Click to expand...

We use to be able to get Norma match once fired that came from that training....still have a few hundred cases, I use that stuff in my bolt guns.
 
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