.303 Surplus from Midway...

[Mike Irwin]

Midway has South African surplus .303 British ammo on sale right now, 300 rounds for $41.72.

Berdan, non-corrosive. I've fired some of this stuff. Decent ammo.

Mr. James, your ammo is on its way, as is mine and Herb's.

Looks like it should be here Feb. 4.

Tell Mrs. James.

 

[Mr. James]

"But, honey, without these, it won't go 'bang!'. And besides, lookit all the money I saved!"



Thanks again, Mike!

 

[Sactown]

Mike,

You might wanna give Midway a call or check again. I have 1200 rnds of that .303 and I don't believe it's South African or non-corrosive. I think it's Yugo ammo.

Checkout: http://milsurpshooter.net/ the Enfield forum. There's been some discussion about getting surplus .303.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Saw that in the Midway eBlast email they sent me and ordered 300 rounds.

Midway is a bad influence on me.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Sactown,

This is the stuff as advertised currently by Midway:

http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/613213


The markings are, as far as I can tell, South African if it is the same stuff that I've currently got. It appears to be packaged the same.

I'd be surprised if it were Yugoslavian surplus ammo. Yugoslavia was a member of the Warsaw Pact, and uses Soviet-style script on its headstamps.

Midway claims that it's non-corrosive, and I sincerely doubt that they'd risk their reputation by claiming it's non-corrosive without having tested it.

In any even, however, I treat ALL foreign military surplus ammo as corrosive, and clean accordingly.

The only foreign military ammo I don't treat that way is stuff bearing the NATO acceptance stamp.

 

[Sactown]

If you order from Midway, see if they can check the headstamp. The Yugo stuff has a headstamp .303 MK7Z over PP-73 which is made by Prvi Partizan. It has a red primer sealent. The Yugo comes in a box marked 15rnd .303 Cartridge MK7Z Powder Nitro-Cellulose PPU7306 MBL71111. The Yugo ammo was selling for 32.85 for 300 rnd boxes a month ago when I bought 600rnds. The South African I have has a headstamp of A81 over 7.7R1M3Z and comes in a box marked "50rnds Box 7,7X56R Ball R1". If that's truly SA that Midway is selling, snap it up, SA has pretty much dried up. Every store can make mistakes, especially with all the stuff Midway sells. Best is to check the headstamp if they can. Like Mike said, I also treat all surplus as corrosive.

 

[Mal H]

Well, under "More information..." on that page it says:

A great price on non-reloadable 303 British ammunition! This South African ammunition was produced in the early 1970s and is non-corrosive.

I would have to assume that's exactly what it is.

 

[Snowdog]

I bought mine from Sportsmans Guide (I believe) for around $8/50. I couldn't believe the quality, considering that it's military surplus. In terms of accuracy, I found it on-par any of the recent US commercial target loads offered for more than twice the price and happens to be just as clean as well.

From my beat-up old Enfield, I managed to turn in some respectable groups at 100 yards, below being typical; some groups were better, some worse, but not by much.

I'd highly recommend it!

 

[Oleg Volk]

Midway photo shows Yugo ammunition, text refers to South African. SA usually has purple/blue sealant, Yugo has red. SA comes in 50rd boxes, most Yugo in 15rd boxes...so this ammo is most liekly Yugo made.

 

[Mike Irwin]

OK, my order is on the way, and should be here in a couple of days.

I'll report back then.

If it is, in fact, Yugo ammo, I'll yelp at Midway and see what they do for me.

It's also very possible that someone linked the wrong picture to the ad.

 

[Sactown]

Looks like they changed the description under "Technical Specification, Use". It now says that it's Yugo ammo and non-corrosive, but it's corrosive. Damnit, I was hoping the picture was an error and it was South African. I don't think anyone is carrying SA .303 surplus.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Interesting.

I e-mailed them about 2 hours ago, questioning their description, and at that time it was still South African.

I haven't heard anything back from them.

 

[Mike Irwin]

THOSE FRIGGING MORONS!

In the "technical specifications" link it says that the ammo is Yugo.

In the "more information" blurb UNDER the picture it says that the ammo is South African.

Looks like Larry Potterfield had the "Drunken Monkey Web Company" running things for him.

 

[Mal H]

And now they've changed the More Information to: "This Yugoslavian ammunition ..."

Still, you might want to hold off on the irate emails and phone calls until you have your ammo in hand. They might have had some of each type and sold the So. African first. But, if not, may I listen in on the phone call? I figure I might be able to get some peripheral BTU's out of it and be able to turn off the heater for several hours!

 

[Mike Irwin]

"Extra BTUs..."

What, isn't the Rube Goldberg woodstove set up keeping you, Mrs. Mal, Pepper & Pumpkin warm enough this winter, Mr. Mal?

 

[Mal H]

Nah, it's doing fine. 7 deg last night and we were toasty warm. I just figured we could always use a little extra heat from your phone call.

 

[cratz2]

The ammo I received about two weeks ago is Yugo and they admitted it when I asked. They said the text on the website would be changed by tomorrow.

They said it wasn't corrosive. The guy that replied said the email was forwarded to him because he has an Enfield and had been shooting the ammo. He said he hasn't cleaned the rifle in several weeks and there is no evidence of rust.

I haven't been able to shoot any of it myself. Just S&B which there was obviously no problems with. Still, I clean all my rifles promptly after shooting. If everyone else does this, then corrosive ammo is to be enjoyed, not feared.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Hey Mal,

I think you may need a wood delivery. Last time I was out I noticed that the pile appeard to be dropping below 7,000 cubic yards...

 

[Mike Irwin]

"The e-mail was forwarded to him..."

Cratz, was he talking about my e-mail specifically?

If so, why didn't he bother to e-mail me back?

 

[cratz2]

No... I sent an email and the guy that responded and this is the response I got:

Mr Ratz:
Thank you for your email regarding this ammunition. I checked headstamps and it is from Yugoslavia as you said. We're getting our text updated now. However, I can't find where this is corrosive ammunition and would appreciate your help. Our vendor says non-corrosive. I fired 600 rounds of this through a rifle about a year ago and have never cleaned the rifle. No
rust at all. The empty brass is still rattling around in the back of my pickup, and it shows no sign of corrosion.
Thanks again for your information,

David Lichtenstein
MidwayUSA technical services

Of course, it seems unlikely to me that ammo shot a year ago that has been in the bed of a pickup for a year wouldn't be corroded or rusted in any way.

Oh well, at least he admitted that it was Yugo ammo.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Hehe...

Yeah, I find that hard to believe, too...

I'll continue to clean as if it is corrosive.

I'll test it, though.

 

[Gewehr98]

No worse than the Radway Green cordite I've been shooting...

My order will go in later this week. If you have the discipline to clean as if it's always corrosive, it ain't no biggy.

 

[Mal H]

Quite honestly, I don't think I would trust a single word from anyone who: a) Doesn't clean a rifle even once during or after shooting 600 rounds of any ammo not to mention mil surplus!;b) doesn't clean out the brass from his pick-em-up after a year.