Brass info?

[Reload]

Some of you may remember I picked up a lot of Carbine brass a while back. I sorted it out by manufacturer and year. A couple of questions:

Why did Lake City make brass stamped with a '4' and also with a '44'? Weren't these both 1944?

Does anyone have any idea who WMN is, and why the 7.62 x 33 designation? Does 'N' stand for Nato? I did a search for WMN and got...'women'..

Here's the list of what was in the box:

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bubba-7]

I'm thinking WMN is Dutch. I have some and if I can find it, I'll check the head stamp.

[Skip]

Holland is NWM

[Reload]

Too funny!

I got to thinking maybe I transposed the letters so I dug them out. I did not transpose the letters.

But, turn NWM upside down and see what you get....

Can't seem to edit the first post, so here's the updated list. Still would like to know the reasoning behind the single number or double number stamped year.

[browningautorifle]

7.62x33 is the metric designation for .30 carbine. 33mm long cartridge. 7.62 bullet. European production.

[Bruce McAskill]

As to the single number date. It was to be able to make the stamping die last as long as possible. May have been a fairly new die from 1943 so to continue to be able to use it they just ground off the 3 and continued to use it into 1944 till it was worn out and replaced with a new one with 44 on it.

[emmagee1917]

In early '44 we still had our backs to the wall and the outcome was still very much in doubt . Making do with what you had was still the order of the day .
Chris

[Reload]

As to the single number date. It was to be able to make the stamping die last as long as possible. May have been a fairly new die from 1943 so to continue to be able to use it they just ground off the 3 and continued to use it into 1944 till it was worn out and replaced with a new one with 44 on it.

Ok, I'm not doubting you, but I'm not 100% sure I buy that. The thing is, the digits are centered equi-distant from the letters. If you hold the case (For Lake City, as an example) it'll have the L at 10:00, the C at 2:00, and the date will be centered on 6:00, which puts each individual digit at about 5:30 and 6:30.

If you look at a case with a single digit for the date, it is centered at 6:00.

Logically, if they just ground off one number the remaining one would not be centered, but would be slightly offset.

[emmagee1917]

There is no doubt of this. It was common in much of the ammo production lines , 30-06 and .50 cal for example. The dies are set into a stamping machine and the spacing can be changed. Some people took the time to re-adjust the spacing , some did not . Just sorted through a bunch of WW2 50 cal. to sell a couple three months ago , so it's fresh in my mind.
Chris

[Reload]

Excellent, I'm convinced. Thanks for the reply.

So essenitally a case marked with a '4' could've been any production year in the '40's, correct?