Very Odd Powder

[MarcusT]

My dad bought a box full of holsters and a bunch of reloaded ammo one of the boxes of reloads was dated 2-22-65 so its some pretty old stuff. Well I finally got around to pulling the bullets on all the round and came across this very strange one It had real stick powder not the little stuff we complain about metering poorly. The case head says RG then a 3rd of the way around theres a 4 with an upside down 2 the another 3rd around it says IM and is berdan primed. The bullet is either steel or bi metal jacket weighs 173.5grs and measures .3135 in diameter and 1.351 in length. Case length is 2.202 rim is .532 just under the rim is .453 and tapers to .396 right before the shoulder. Now for the pics.

 

[Galil5.56]

Cool, Cordite loaded .303 British.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Yep, that's regular old Cordite. According to some sources, the powder was loaded into the case and then the neck was formed. It made it much easier to insert the strands that way.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Dirtdgger]

Cordite powder

Marcust you might want to google cordite powder. Look under wikiPedia pretty interesting.

 

[bbuddtec]

Cool stuff, thanks all!

 

[Sunray]

Please reduce the size of your pictures. A dial-up member will be loading this page until next weekend.
"...regular old Cordite..." Yep. Invented in 1889 and last used in the 1960's. Just burns with no excitement unless its contained.
'RG' is Radway Green. British. Isn't a reload though.
Have a look at this. http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/303hist.html

 

[MarcusT]

Huh I guess Ive just never pulled down any old ammo. I knew it wasn't a reload just most of the stuff was.

 

[Sunray]

"...never pulled down any old ammo..." Hi. Cordite came in different thicknesses too. Took some .50 BMG apart loaded with it, long ago. Much thicker stuff than rifle cordite.

 

[FROGO207]

I just took apart about 200 POF rounds dated in the 1950;s and found it was easy to tap it out with an impact puller after I had removed the bullets. I then reloaded the brass with a new charge and hunting bullet. Any one need some corrosive propellant? I have almost a full pound container of it saved.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Propellant isn't corrosive, and primers aren't either. What "corrosive" primers are is hygroscopic, which means the priming compound attracts moisture. It's the moisture that causes the "corrosion", which is really just rust. Simple cleanup with hot soapy water washes the priming residue off the metal and a quick dry keeps the rust away. Oiling prevents later rusting, after the soap and water cleanup.

There were solvents made for "corrosive" primed ammunition, but it was pretty poisonous, so they stopped making it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Jim Watson]

At one time the .458 Win Mag was badly underloaded, compounded by Winchester going from 25" to 22" barrels in Safari Grade rifles. There were some safairi guides, the few who reloaded, who got around the problem by loading .458s with Cordite from pulled down .303. Velocity went back where it was supposed to be. No doubt erosion was greater with the high nitroglycerine content of Cordite, but how many big game critters do you have to shoot to keep them from stepping on your client?