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Posted: 1/9/2015 2:56:46 AM EDT
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Picked up some 50BMG from a friend of a friend. Have a chance to get more, just wanted to confirm what it was(seller is a gun guy who isn't detail oriented). Bullet weight is 647.7gr with a lead base/cup. I don't see any sealant   Powder Charge is approximately 225.7gr. Doesn't look deteriorated at all:  It's LC brass marked 4 (so 1944). There appears to be crimps, but no sealant:  I assumed this is remanufactured 50MG using surplus brass and bullets? That powder looks in too good of shape to be super old, and is under the known 235gr charge of M33 Ball. |
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Could be old Talon remanufactured 50 BMG? Could be Bubba's back room reloads, hopefully its Talon.
Talon replaced the powder and primers on the stuff they reloaded, some had CCI primers. That's an easy way to tell if it was done by them on their late stuff before they went out of business. Some had staked primers and late stuff had the newer ring type of crimp on the primers. If it just has the 4 it was from 1944, they ran the die until both numbers broke off. They really didn't care about the stamp as they figured it was gonna get fired in war and left where it fell. If your friend can't remember if it was Talon or another company that reloaded it, you need to ask yourself if you trust it. If you don't then you'll need to break down each round, check the powder and then reload it. If you don't trust the primer ('52 was the cutoff year for 50 BMG) then you'll need to pop it out and replace it also. If you're gonna do all that and have the tools, might as well do the primer pockets and flash holes. |
| Usually the API bullets I use ar 647 grain and the M-33 a bit more. It looks to me like an API without the silver tip. Shoot one at a safe steel target to see if it flashes but be careful about fire. It's easy for me to say that because I live in the country and can shoot my 50 from the front porch. I've got tractor tires setting in my pasture 100 yards from the front yard that stop anything I shoot at them. I replace them about every 5 or 6 years. |
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Projectile is ball. M33, specifically. Lead base plug, knurled crimp cannelure, 647 grains are the indicators. Definitely a reload, not factory. no case mouth sealant and headstamp are dead giveaway. Also primer crimps have been removed as has the primer sealant.
LC 1944 production doesn't match M33 Ball. 1st year of M33 Ball was 1951. |
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Quoted: Projectile is ball. M33, specifically. Lead base plug, knurled crimp cannelure, 647 grains are the indicators. Definitely a reload, not factory. no case mouth sealant and headstamp are dead giveaway. Also primer crimps have been removed as has the primer sealant. LC 1944 production doesn't match M33 Ball. 1st year of M33 Ball was 1951. |
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Quoted:
You can get a copper tubeing cutter and cut it in half and see if its a mild steel or harden steel core. If you see powder its a api like this pic. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/ARsR4ME/2012-04-06155422.jpg Where is this powder located with in the bullet and is it known what type and wright it is? |
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Quoted:
Where is this powder located with in the bullet and is it known what type and wright it is? Quoted:
Quoted:
You can get a copper tubeing cutter and cut it in half and see if its a mild steel or harden steel core. If you see powder its a api like this pic. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/ARsR4ME/2012-04-06155422.jpg Where is this powder located with in the bullet and is it known what type and wright it is? If i recall, it was all in the front nose. I didn't measure the weight. Sorry. |
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okay so I took the pipe cutter to one of the rounds and found silver/gray powder in the nose. Does that make it incendiary? These were all 647gr. I cut a talon one apart, and found the same silver powder in the front. Talon on top, and the original ammo bottom:  Both had powders that looked like this:  I thought M33 had a lead nose, or was it not a solid nose? |
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Quoted:
For those that havent cut them apart here is a comparison of hardened (top)vs mild(bottom) steel cores. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/ARsR4ME/20150126_224113_zpsb8ad211d.jpg So the mind steel cores have the "band" around it near the bottom while hardened ones are flat? I have two cores I've recovered from two different days and yardages. Both were shot at the same steel plate. The first one was stuck in the plate and mushroomed. The second one I found sitting a few feet in front of the plate. Other than erosion from what I assume was caused by the sandy soil here, it is intact. I also found a couple of the copper jackets in front on the plate. |
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Quoted:
So the mind steel cores have the "band" around it near the bottom while hardened ones are flat? I have two cores I've recovered from two different days and yardages. Both were shot at the same steel plate. The first one was stuck in the plate and mushroomed. The second one I found sitting a few feet in front of the plate. Other than erosion from what I assume was caused by the sandy soil here, it is intact. I also found a couple of the copper jackets in front on the plate. Quoted:
Quoted:
For those that havent cut them apart here is a comparison of hardened (top)vs mild(bottom) steel cores. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/ARsR4ME/20150126_224113_zpsb8ad211d.jpg So the mind steel cores have the "band" around it near the bottom while hardened ones are flat? I have two cores I've recovered from two different days and yardages. Both were shot at the same steel plate. The first one was stuck in the plate and mushroomed. The second one I found sitting a few feet in front of the plate. Other than erosion from what I assume was caused by the sandy soil here, it is intact. I also found a couple of the copper jackets in front on the plate. The easiest way for me to tell the difference was the api core had a sharper point and didnt scratch when i used a hacksaw on it like the mild core. Are they all like that... I dont know. |
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M2 Ball (WW2) is lead point filler inside the bullet, no base plug, the jacket just wraps around the base.
M33 Ball (current) has an inert point filler, monosodium carbonate powder or some such, inside the bullet tip with a lead base plug. M8 API (silver tip) has incendiary powder in the inside of the point of the bullet and a lead base plug. As to cores, All ball is soft steel, APx (AP, API, etc) is hard core. The ball has a groove around the core which is the result of the bullet cannelure being "rolled" into bullet after it's assembled, the knurled cannelure. AP is too hard a core to roll a cannelure into the bullet, so it's cut (smooth cannelure). That means no groove around the core. The knurled cannelure, the lead base plug and the weight of the original poster's bullet means M33 Ball. (Confirmed by the point filler and groove in the bullet core) |
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Quoted: M2 Ball (WW2) is lead point filler inside the bullet, no base plug, the jacket just wraps around the base. M33 Ball (current) has an inert point filler, monosodium carbonate powder or some such, inside the bullet tip with a lead base plug. M8 API (silver tip) has incendiary powder in the inside of the point of the bullet and a lead base plug. As to cores, All ball is soft steel, APx (AP, API, etc) is hard core. The ball has a groove around the core which is the result of the bullet cannelure being "rolled" into bullet after it's assembled, the knurled cannelure. AP is too hard a core to roll a cannelure into the bullet, so it's cut (smooth cannelure). That means no groove around the core. The knurled cannelure, the lead base plug and the weight of the original poster's bullet means M33 Ball. (Confirmed by the point filler and groove in the bullet core) |
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