In addition to the 7.62x39 ammo that I inherited, I also inherited a ton of other ammo (ok, just several hundred pounds).  Some of it is 7.62x51 ammo that appears to be Radway Green, but I'm positive isn't.  It has the RG headstamp, but it comes in 300rd spam cans, it is steel case, and the bullet also attracts a magnet (steel core or jacket, I don't know).  
From what I can find, I think it's Chinese (most likely Norinco), which means it probably has corrosive primers, but other than that, I'm looking for more info on it.




















The 2nd item in our showcase tonight is more spam cans:  this one I know is .30carbine, as I have an opened one that is filled with 50rd boxes of it, marked "7.62MMLC".  I managed to pull one apart and noticed that it is berdan primed.  It is brass cased, but the bullet sticks to a magnet.  I can't tell if the jacket is copper or copper wash.  It's pretty thick, so I wonder if this is copper jacket over a steel core.   The headstamp:  LC 52.  I seriously doubt that this stuff is actual Lake City ammo, though.  I'm thinking fake Chinese stuff, but I don't know for certain.















 

 

Grab a set of dikes and try to cut the bullet.  You'll figure out quick if it's steel core.  If so, it has value for the components even if it is fake (and I'm pretty sure the 30 Carbine is).

Of course, if you want to just get rid of it, I'll take it off your hands...

I shot A LOT of that Chicom 30 carbine back in the 90's Paragon had a ton of it. It is corrosive BTW

 

I didn't think that Lake City ever made Berdan primed brass, but I'm definitely no expert on it.  I have some dikes, so I may just do that... yeah, cutting it with dikes just wasn't gonna happen.  The Dremel didn't fare that well against it either...

 



As for getting rid of it... I don't have a .30 carbine, so I have no use for it, or the 7.62x51.  I just want to know what I've inherited.



 

I figured it's probably corrosive if it wasn't real Lake City.  If the date is accurate, then I would be really certain of it.  Of course, I have some Twin Cities Arsenal M2 ball ammo that is not corrosive, but it was made in '53, and Twin Cities quit using corrosive primers in '50 I think.






So, RG is supposed to be Radway Green, right?  That means this is ultra-super-top-secret, rare, scarce and invaluable stuff licensed by Radway to the Chinese, right?
 

Both are Chinese made, lead cored and corrosive primed. Funny that they used copper clad steel cases for the 7.62x51mm with a fake "RG" headstamp when RG never used this case material. The outer packaging is also obviously Chinese in appearance, so who were they fooling?

1DD

How much chicom ammo is still sitting in those warehouses? Any numbers? Sure wish we could get it brought in again.

Actually they were trying to fool the ammo was produced for Chicom covert ops, such as giving it to guerillas around the world to mask the original source nation. I had an article about the Chicom produced ammunition with these head stamps somewhere I ll see if i can dig it up so I can scan it.

 

Does anyone know how accurate these might be?  Just because they were mass-produced Chinese knock-offs doesn't automatically mean they aren't accurate.

You can tell that the "LC" stuff is the Chinese knockoff by the large space between the L and the C.  That is the classic telltale sign on that 30carbine ammo.

The carbine ammo is deffinatly the corrosive chinese fake LC.  USGI carbine ammo was never marked  7.62

7.62x51 TZ head stamp is Israeli made and very hot.

Not as hot as your avatar.

Nasty corrosive stuff that did a number on more then a few guns when the shooter didn't realize they were shooting corrosive ammo and didn't clean them.

LC 52 is a year I won't even buy in .30 carbine, I will consider it Chinese until proven otherwise.

If it's in a steel lead sealed container that looks "cold war era" [not the 30/06 types], it's very likely corrosive and not NATO.

You mean the tin sardine-can type that peels back the top, like you see in my first post?  Yeah, the consensus here is that it's corrosive.  Fortunately, all it takes is being aware and taking some soapy water to the range with you to flush the barrel & parts  & run a patch of proper gun cleaner down it before heading for home for the real cleaning.