CAV1M headstamp?

[Jimbo1]

Just got some mixed brass. A lot of it has this headstamp. Looks heavy like the LC stuff, but is this military brass also?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[ReloaderFred]

It is military, made in Argentina. It's comparable to Lake City brass and very, reloadable. I like the stuff myself.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Jimbo1]

Thanks Fred. Yes it seems like very nice brass, and as heavy as the LC that I have.

 

[Darth Muffin]

That's Venezuelan, not Agentinian.

I haven't heard anything bad about the brass, but the ammo isn't so accurate. It's fine and reliable through my PTR-91, and not too dirty either, but many of the bullets are inconsitent sizes, especially undersized. Shouldn't affect the brass though, I'd use it.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Oops. I did get the wrong South American country. At least I was on the right continent......

Fred

 

[toecutter]

The stuff to look out for is the guatemalan. It shoots pretty well, but the flash holes are kinda small and tend to break/stick the decapping pin. These are usually marked with a "G" and have green sealant around the primers.

 

[Clark]

The Calvim was dirt cheap in 1996 and I got some.

The only complaint is that those with semi auto rifles with fluted chambers choke on the varnish type sealant used on the bullet to neck fit.

 

[Jimbo1]

Now the next question about this stuff.

I loaded 50 using this brass. Seems like out of 50, 6 wouldn't go into the case holder on the press. I didn't see any signs of anything wrong, but some just won't fit, so I threw them aside. They are too large just above the rim to go in smooth. Any idea what would cause this?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[ReloaderFred]

Shellholders, just like any other machined tool, will vary in size, as will brass. You might try another shellholder, if you have one. I try to keep several shellholders for all the calibers that I load on hand, just for this reason. The only problem is, they can also vary in height, which will affect headspace on bottleneck cases.

When you consider the millions of pieces of brass that are produced by the various manufacturers, in various countries, and using two different measuring systems, it's really amazing how close they are in tolerances. The same goes for tools.

The bottom line is, it depends on how bad you want to use the brass that is slightly out of spec in that one area. If it's worth the effort to you, then there are ways to do it, but if it isn't, then just scrap the brass.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Jimbo1]

Yes that helps a lot Fred, thanks.

I was worried that there may have been some odd type of extreme over pressure on these cases. I'll try them with some other shell holders.

Thanks,
Jim