Help with Lake City ammunition

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DFW1911

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All,

I'm thinking about buying some bulk ammo (.308 and 30 Carbine) and Lake City has gotten on the radar screen: I have no experience with this manufacturer.

From the research I've done it seems that these guys are one of the suppliers to the military. Is that correct? If so, how are rounds loaded for military sales - hotter, milder, or comparable to commercial ammo?

Is this ammo you would / would not recommend? How does it compare to WWB, UMC, American Eagle?

Thanks for the help,
DFW1911
 
Lake city is very respectable, ammunition from them will probably be slightly less shiney than commercial, but it is very good quality wise. and yes they are one of the primary .mil suppliers.
 
Lake City is very good surplus ammo. Have no fear about buying Lake City ammo. It is a little bit hotter than to most commercial ammo. The brass is very good if you reload.
 
Lake City is actually a military owned plant that is currently being run by Federal/ATK.

Their .223 is pretty desirable stuff since it is true 5.56 FMJ and generally fragments well. Can't speak for other calibers.
 
If you find .308 Lake City you've discovered the Lost City of Gold. So while it may be good, don't count on buying any unless you run across the random guy that has some to sell.

Most folks know what it's worth and are selling it at a very high premium.

An ammo that IS available, and it just about as good even in the brass reloading department is the Lithuanian GGG surplus that's out there.

Several of the online guys have some in stock. It's about the best surplus on the market today.


As for the Lake City, it's loaded to the 7.62x51 NATO spec so it isn't valid to compare it to .308 loadings from "civilian" manufacturers. It's as good as it gets in the surplus ammo world and if you find a source let me know please :)
 
rcmodel said:
Good luck finding any LC .30 Carbine ammo anymore!
Click to expand...

I have some.

And it's all date-stamped 1944/45 because my father brought it back with his M-1 Carbine from the Korean War in '53. I also have some WCC ammo. I've shot some of both and it worked well.
I don't know if you can get new Lake City .30 Carbine either, but as others have said, it's quite good if you can. I wouldn't feel bad off with other major brand -- in fact I've accrued a substantial quantity of .30 Carbine over the years in Federal, Remington, and others.
And no, I won't shoot the WW2 stuff anymore anyway, not while I can get new ammo.
 
In fact, I don't believe you can get any current production Lake City ammo, of any caliber.

Sale of military surplus ammo ended with an executive order signed by Bill Klinton when he was president.

Even the CMP has to sell Greek ammo now, because they can't get American surplus ammo any longer.

If there ever is any surplus again, it has to be destroyed and rendered useless for shooting it, or reloading it, unless the law is changed.

The LC ammo you still see from time to time is either pre-Clinton era surplus, or stolen, or loaded by Federal using left-over LC components shortly after the Olin to ATK/Federal transfer of Lake City Army Ammunition Plant that occurred in 1999.

Nobody is getting any current production LC ammo now, unless they are wearing a GI issue military uniform.

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rcmodel
 
LC is excellent ammo.

The only calibers being produced at LC are those currently in use by the US Military.
 
All,

Thanks for the responses and help on Lake City.

You're right: no .308 anywhere to be found but I'll keep looking.

Thanks again,
DFW1911
 
Surplus Ammo

It is possibile to purchase current ammo from Lake City. The contract that ATK ( the contractor ) has with the Army allows them to sell any ammo that does not meet mill spec. That may be something as simple as brass not bright enough. They have a production building that demils the ammo for sale to civilian markets.

Sportsman's Guide is selling their ammo.

I used to work at the Lake City installation. It is really a neat place. Currently it manufactures all the 5.56, 7.62, 50 cal and 20mm that is used by the US.
 
As for the Lake City, it's loaded to the 7.62x51 NATO spec so it isn't valid to compare it to .308 loadings from "civilian" manufacturers. It's as good as it gets in the surplus ammo world and if you find a source let me know please
Click to expand...

I'll second that. I have plenty LC brass but am out of ammo!
 
I bought 1000 pieces of 5.56 brand new LC brass about 6 or 8 months ago. It is stampped Federal/LC, and does not look like seconds. Annealed case mouth's to boot. Nice stuff.
 
I'm looking for a GOOD CONDITION Lake City Match box... It will be photographed/scanned at high resolution, and returned.

Not particular about dates, but if you've got a variety...

I've got a '65, but I'm not really happy with the condition.

Had a nice '67, but not sure where it went...
 
TexasRifleman said:
Good God. 54 cents a round? Amazing.....
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:D I guess I'm too dumb to know any better. I'm brand new to the .223/5.56 world, and .54 cents a round doesn't seem too bad when you normally shoot Federal 168 gr SMKs in .308. at $1.14/round (CTD price). Heck, I even bought a box of 200 cheap 45 gr JHPs for $99.95, which is still 50¢ per round. I guess I got into .223 at a bad time.

Boy have I got a lot to learn. The problem is, my AR doesn't seem to like lighter weight bullets below 60 grains as much as the heavier ones, and I haven't bought reloading equipment yet, so I'm pretty much stuck on having to pay the higher prices.
 
I guess I'm too dumb to know any better.
Click to expand...


Oh I'm just pining for the good old days I guess. I bought M193 for $199/1000 the last time I bought in bulk.

At today's prices, in the 5.56 game, even 54 cents is pretty high for surplus.

The Prvi Partizan surplus that's out there now is really good ammo in realoadable brass and it's going for 34-35 cents a round.

Worth looking into though it is a 55gr bullet.

Ammoman has some Prvi Partizan 75gr for 45 cents a round shipped, it's supposed to be good ammo as well but I haven't used any of it.

The good thing about this stuff is that you do at least get brass you can save and reuse at some point if you are pushed into reloading.

50 cents a round is standard these days for 7.62 NATO.
Click to expand...

But not for 5.56
 
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