RA headstamp 30-06 brass?
Does RA on wwII an Korea era 30-06 brass stand for Ravenna Arsenal or Reminton Arms? Any one know... I was given most of a 5 gallon bucket full of which about half is RA headstamped. Have been loading for my garand. Just curious.
A man with a gun is a CITIZEN, a man without a gun is a subject.
A man with a gun is a CITIZEN, a man without a gun is a subject.
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According to 'Small-Caliber Ammunition Identifcation Guide' put out by the Army Material Command, RA stands for Remington Arms. The head of the cartridge should have the RA at the 12o'clock position and the last two digits of the date at the 6o'clock position. After Remington bought out Union Metallic Cartridge CO. the headstamp on cartridges made for the military changed from UMC to RB. likewise, when they bought the United States Cartridge Co. the headstamp changed from USC to RL. I have a feeling that the brass that you have may be very old. Brass with the RA headstamp can go back to at least WWI and maybe before. In any case, any .30-06 ammunition loaded before 1954 used primers containing mercury and mercury weakens brass cases so, please be careful. I would not even consider reloading brass that I suspected had been fired with mercuric primers. Brass is to cheap to take any chances. 0 -
Rich, 99.98% probability the 'RA' brass will be Remington. You don't see much of the Norwegian stuff here (the other arsenal which used 'RA' in the headstamp). As the Scout noted, any WW2 US '06 brass will have used corrosive primers. The Korean War era material is on the cusp, but also almost certainly corrosive in this headstamp unless the dates are after the war. I'd donate these to the scrap dealer. If you've already loaded some of the brass, my sincere advice would be to break it down, save the powder and bullets and bury the primed brass. Don't attempt to deprime unless you inert the primers with a dose of penetrating oil inside the case. I've done that on some expensive cases, but not worth the effort on something this common. Bottom line, the 'RA' brass of the era is worth just slightly more than you 'paid' for it. 0 -
thanks for advice, didn't realize brass would be weakenend that much. Was told by some locals that the brass was from Ravenna Arsenal as I live only 2 minutes away... I will scrap it and get some fresh once fired.
A man with a gun is a CITIZEN, a man without a gun is a subject.0 -
Rich, while the connection to Ravenna might seem logical, to the best of my knowledge this institution never loaded any small arms ammo for the US military, at least not in '06. I'd never even heard of it until your post, and I've been collecting US military small arms ammo (.60 and under) for about 30 years. It's possible they may have made ordnance for larger bore weapons or done some development work, but that is outside my expertise. I don't put on the mantle of 'expert,' but on this one subject I feel I can speak with a high degree of certainty and authority. 0 -
I wasn't questioning your reply in the least. I have come to believe that you are truly GB's authority on Small Arms cartridges over the past months. I will take your word no questions over that on the local population of inbreds....
A man with a gun is a CITIZEN, a man without a gun is a subject.0
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