Old(er) Ammo Question

[SteveC]

I think I saw this asked on the old Jouster page before, but wouldn't begin to know how to locate that, so I'll ask here again...

An older friend of mine gave me a "clip of WWII (.30-'06) ammo" yesterday. In the clip are 4 rounds of "F A 49", black tip, with an aluminum looking primer; and 4 rounds of black tipped "S L 4" with brass looking primers. Would appreciate any and all insight as to manufacturer and cetera regarding this ammunition.

Thanks!
Steve

Information

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[Mike in NC]

I think the FA stands for Frankford Arsenal. The "49" is of course 1949 vintage. The black tip on the projectile means it is armor piercing (AP). The SL stands for St. Louis Arsenal if I remember correctly. There is probably two numbers, not just the "4" so it is 1940 somthing vintage.

Both are corrosive ammo. I think the change started in 1953 and was complete by 1954, but don't hold me to the exact date. I know any US military 30.06 from the 40s is going to be corrosive primer.

[kcw]

I believe that the SL 4 ammo is 1944. I recall reading that, due to the dire circumstances in making machine tooling the arsenal was allowed to use old dies with the number 4 in them (ie 40) to indicate the year 44. The unused number was merely ground off.

[Mark in Rochester]

All you ever wanted to know about 30-06

An Introduction to Collecting .30-06 by Chris Punnett

[sdkrag]

In the late 40's there was considerable experimentation with primers looking for a reliable non-corrosive unit that met military req. I recently read about some of this and I would bet the FA49 has one of the experimental primers if it has light coloring of the primers. Or a second possibility is that those rounds have been reloaded with commercial primers.