I have always wondered what the series of the 5 shallow/deep dots on the lake city ammo headstamp mean. I can only surmise that it must be the production line it was assembled on. I know someone knows and can tell me what they mean.

I like my 1988 lot headstamp better than the new head stamp

88 is  easy to read

I have no clue what it means, if anything and I'm going to lean on the side of meaning nothing but then again I don't know it's just my opinion and you know the saying about opinions.

These are raised dots so that blind shooters can read the headstamps, too.

The dots are part of the octal numbering system used to identify the station upon which a particular case was made.  Using five positions around the case head, a numerical value is assigned to each position.  When a dot appears at a particular position, its assigned value is added to the value of the other dots on the case head to give a total value that indicates the station or press on which that particular case was produced.*

For example, observe the case head below.  If the dot near 3 o’clock is given a value of 4 and the dot near 9 o’clock is given a value of 2 the total indicates that this case was produced on station 6.







*from The History and Development of the M16 Rifle and Its Cartridge.

Quoted: The dots are part of the octal numbering system used to identify the station upon which a particular case was made.  Using five positions around the case head, a numerical value is assigned to each position.  When a dot appears at a particular position, its assigned value is added to the other dots on the case head to give a total value that indicates the station or press on which that particular case was produced.* For example, observe the case head below.  If the dot near 3 o’clock is given a value of 4 and the dot near 9 o’clock is given a value of 2 the total indicates that this case was produced on station 6. img183.imageshack.us/img183/7458/octalexample01ai1.jpg *from The History and Development of the M16 Rifle and Its Cartridge.

Thank you molon. That's what I was looking for. Not that it really makes much difference,   but I have been curious about those for many years. I knew it would be something like that, but I wasn't sure what. I can't believe that no one has noticed these before.

Quoted: The dots are part of the octal numbering system used to identify the station upon which a particular case was made.  Using five positions around the case head, a numerical value is assigned to each position.  When a dot appears at a particular position, its assigned value is added to the other dots on the case head to give a total value that indicates the station or press on which that particular case was produced.* For example, observe the case head below.  If the dot near 3 o’clock is given a value of 4 and the dot near 9 o’clock is given a value of 2 the total indicates that this case was produced on station 6. img183.imageshack.us/img183/7458/octalexample01ai1.jpg *from The History and Development of the M16 Rifle and Its Cartridge.

I quess the saying is true that you learn something new everyday.  I had no clue there was a meaning behind the dots

thanks for the info

Just goes to show ya--

you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

THANX FOR THE INFO MOLON!

To expand on the answer given, this octal numbering system was needed for the "SCAMP" (Small Caliber Ammunition Modernization Program) high-speed (1200 cases per minute) production machinery. There are 24 stations on each turret where cases are made, so 24 different "headstamps" are needed. There are 5 positions on the case headstamp where the "dots" can be found. Each dot is assigned a value. From the approx. two o'clock position and going clockwise, the dot values are 4, 8, 16, 1 and 2. There are 32 possible number combinations with this system, but only 24 are used. This machinery is used at the Lake City plant, which began using the SCAMP machinery in 1977 and also by the Israelis, Taiwan, Italy, Australia and Pakistan. The first year the Israelis used the SCAMP machines was in 1980 and they used numbers (1-24) in the headstamp to indicate station location instead of the octal system. They also loaded .45 ACP on SCAMP. They apparently used the octal system only after 1980.

Devil Dog