7.62x51 bandoleer question

[vta33]

At the gun show today I had a hard time explaining 7.62x51 NATO ball ammo to the youngster at the ammo vendor's tables. I mentioned .308 and then the kid brought me a 50-round bandoleer with ten stripper clips of 7.62x51 ammo in it. Each clip holds five rounds.

Well, I was looking for a box of NATO ball ammo for my 1916 Spanish Mauser "Guardia Civil" but the bandoleer intrigued me. So, I bought it for $19.95 + tax.

Stamped in red on the bandoleer is 7.62 (???) M80 and below it, O.F.V 3-4-74. There are three horizontal lines with a vertical line on each side plus some other illegible marks.

Here's what threw me for a loop. The stripper clips work in the Guardia Civil Mauser.

Anyone have information about this bandoleer and the stripper clips?

The Guardia Civil Mauser is the only milsurp rifle I own. So, this is kind of new to me.

 

[CanonNinja]

it's 70's production Indian ammo.. good-to-decent stuff, keep the brass... reloads nice

 

[Hoppy590]

many stripper clips work in many differant rifles. only a few are "selective" ( Mosin & SKS come to mind though SKS can load AK mags)

strippers for the 1903 sprinfield work in Arisakas, and im told 8 mm mausers. .308 strippers can work with 3006 ( or so i believe the strippers i have are 308)

 

[Onmilo]

India uses, or at least used, a copy of the British L1A1 rifle which is a copy of the Belgian FN-FAL rifle.
They also used or use a copy of the British Enfield bolt rifle in .308 caliber
The Canadian version of the L1A1 featured a charger bridge on the top cover and all versions of the FN-FAL rifles had magazine charger guides available as an accessory just like the M14 and M16.

The stripper clips for these charger guides are all but identical to Mauser stripper clips and in most cases they will interchange with one another.
I do believe those Indian stripper clips will also work with the charger bridge on the Indian Enfield .308 caliber rifles.HTH

 

[44AMP]

M14 ammo

Back when we still used the M14 rifle, ammo came in two varieties. Linked (for the M60) and on 5 rnd stripper clips (for the M14). You could load the mag in the rifle, or use the stripper clip guide to load the mags. There was usually one (or more) of these for each bandoleer.

Your bandoleer may be of Indian make, as stated, or it may be ours, as I'm not sure they call the ammo M80 ball.

 

[DMK]

vta33, what is the headstamp on the ammo?

 

[HorseSoldier]

Back when we still used the M14 rifle, ammo came in two varieties. Linked (for the M60) and on 5 rnd stripper clips (for the M14). You could load the mag in the rifle, or use the stripper clip guide to load the mags. There was usually one (or more) of these for each bandoleer.

M80 ball, unbelted, is still packed the same way, as far as I know. We shoot it on occasion at work, usually lots from the late 80s to late 90s, and it still comes two five round stripper clips in a cardboard sleeve per pocket on the bandolier, with an M14-magazine speed loader in the bandolier as well.

 

[Ian Sean]

I bought 200 rounds of it about 2 months back, as was mentioned it is 70's production Indian 762x51.

Not to bad for plinking ammo, and it is reloadable. I burned through about 100 rounds of it so far and no problems and the brass looks good.

I believe it was the 90's production OFV that there were some issues with.

 

[vta33]

Headstamp

DMK. The headstamp is:

OFV 74 7.62 M80

Gratuitous photo attached. (Finding any excuse to use my new camera)

 

[Coronach]

OFV is Indian. 74 would seem to indicate 1970s manufacture. I have no experience with this ammo, but the internet consensus seems to be:

1970s Indian: Not great stuff, but not terrible, and certainly not dangerous. Reloads well.

1990s Indian: Do you feel lucky?

Mike

 

[DMK]

INDIA BANDOLEERS:
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kevin_a/Indiaband.html

Ordnance Factory Varangaon:
http://www.ofbindia.gov.in/units/index.php?unit=ofv&page=about&lang=en

 

[Davo]

How do you like that masuer?

 

[Afy]

Pardon my ignorance but are .308 and .303 rounds interchangeable?

I didnt even know we had surplus ammo that was being sold in the US.

It is by and large illegal to own a 7.62 or .303 weapon in India it self along with most semi-auto weapons. In almost any claiber.

 

[vta33]

Davo wrote: How do you like that masuer?

I enjoy the Mauser and its history. The bit of arthritis in my neck can sometimes make the stout recoil very unpleasant. Tho, I compensate for that by using Remington's Managed Recoil ammo and a recoil pad.

 

[vta33]

INDIA BANDOLEERS:
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kevin_a/Indiaband.html

That's the one DMK including the .303 stamps that are crossed out.