.30-06 Black Tipped Ammo
Hi: I have some .30-06 black tipped military ammo. The headstamp is TW5. What do I have? Thank you
0
-
TW indicates manufacture at Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant, Minneapolis, Minn., and the 5 would indicated manufacture in 1945. The black tips indicate that it is armor piercing ammunition. It should be safe to shoot in any .30-06 rifle in good condition. 0 -
Der, Are you sure the 5 means 1945 manufacture. The single digit 4 indicates 1944 and I would assume 5 meant 1955. If it is 1945 manufacture it would be corrosive and, even though safe to fire, would require the cleaning procedure required of corrosive ammo. 0 -
Why do you figure 1945 .30-06 ammo was corrosive? Mind you, I could be confused again.
Oh, and a lot of ranges won't let you shoot AP ammo. Even if the back stop is dirt.
Edited by - sunray on 10/26/2002 23:52:300 -
Well, Herschel, you've succeeded in shaking my confidence. Looks like a job for ICONOCLAST (Wish I knew how to put little flashing lightning bolts before and after his name)! If a single 4 is 44, why wouldn't a 5 be 45? Or does one number only indicate a double number. Say...what year did .30-06 cease to be corrosive? I used to know but it has slipped away........I know that .30 Carbine never was.
***************************************
Say--you are absolutely correct, according to the corrosive ammunition chart located at www.jouster.com/bulletin/primers.htm as
supplied by Mr. Mark Christian on a post farther down on this page. I gather from visiting the site that headstamp dates consist of the last two numerals of the date (knew that!) and that only one would indicate a double number. Apparently the ammo produced by Twin Cities after 1954 is non-corrosive, so that also answers the unasked question. Nice call, Herschel!
Edited by - Der Gebirgsjager on 10/27/2002 00:10:390 -
US military ammo went non-corrosive (except for the carbine) in the early 50's. Jonk and Mark Christian (SP) just posted some excelent information on this subject in the last week. http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=35404
Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.
Edited by - Tailgunner1954 on 10/27/2002 07:31:250 -
sjc1, the Mtn Hunter is correct except for the date. The single digit '5' indicates mfg in 1955.
Reason for the single digits they could save money by either reusing the headstamp bunters by simply grinding off one digit or by fabricating them with only a single digit. This was done only in 1944 & 1955. I guess the idea of reducing expenses lost favor in the Camelot & Great Society years . . . . Not all arsenals did this and - off the top of my head, without consulting my references - I believe some arsenals had them both ways. You will see both offcenter dates (ground bunters) and centered ones (fabricated that way).
Although relatively common, depending on packaging, condition, etc., these rounds may bring a slight premium to standard ammo as a collectible, so depending on the amount you have, you might be able to promote them into more shooting by trade or sale. And Sunray is correct, some ranges get real uptight about the use of AP ammo, to say nothing of more exotic loadings. No sense of humor . . . .0 -
To all that posted above in response to my question, Thank You! 0 -
According to list published by E.H. Harrison, Senior Tech Advisor American Rifleman:All TW M-2 ammo was corrosive until 2-50 acceptance date. All A.P. TW M-2 A.P. ammo was corrosive till 2-52. First full
year of non-corrosive for TW M-2 ball was 1951 and for TW A.P. was
1953. Hope this helps. Most other arsenals show all corrosive up to at least 1950. Naturaly the black tip means A.P..0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments