Caliber 30 M2 Ammo Question
I was cleaning out ammo stashes today, and came across a well tattered box labeled "Armor Piercing Caliber 30 M2 Denver Ordnance Plant". Inside are 18 rounds, 7 of which have an FA 39 head stamp, and are probably ball. The other 11 rounds have a DEN 42 or DEN 43 head stamp, but have no painted tips(orange?)signifying AP. They do have red paint on the primers. Sealant, or marking? Are these rounds ball also? TIA for any input.
0
-
According to Cartridges of the World, all your rounds with unpainted tips would be ball.
Black tip indicates Armor Piercing
Red tip and orange tip indicate Tracer0 -
AP have black tips. Tracer have red. So, yours are all Ball.
The FA 39 cartridges are from Frankford Arsenal, 1939. Do they have gilding metal bullets (copper), or silver colored bullets (tinned). If gilding they would be M1. If tinned, they would be M2.
The red on the primer is sealant. Doesn't signify anything.
The cartridges are not original to the box.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Cheechako
Do they have gilding metal bullets (copper), or silver colored bullets (tinned). If gilding they would be M1. If tinned, they would be M2.
Yes, the FA 39 have copper colored bullets. So what is the difference between M1 and M2 ball?0 -
M1 Ball has the 173 grain FMJ bullet. M2 Ball has the 150 grain FMJ bullet.
Make sure the tips were not painted at one time and have worn off. Sometimes that happens. There could be traces of color or a line where the paint ended.0 -
And, of course, they are all corrosive.
Neal0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
5 comments