.303 ammo marked "FOR EARLY USE ONLY" ??

[MrNatural]

.303 ammo. POF. God-only-knows what vintage. $.62/rd before shipping. I'm not interested in buying - I'm not short of ammo and POF is NOT on my recommended list - but I've never before seen the markings on the case "FOR EARLY USE ONLY". No help from Google.

http://cdn5.luckygunner.com/media/ca...it_surplus.jpg

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[Peter Laidler]

We used to see 7.62mm belted ball marked like this and I seem to recxall that the ammo techs said that it was because it had been opened previously, part used, (and maybe made up to full belt/box capacity) and then resealed in a less than acceptable standard. In otherwords, not air tight!

This stuff had to be put out for use on a last in-first out basis instead of the usual rotational way