Very early Model 1903 cartridges

[RCS]

Some years ago, I found a loaded 30-06 cartridge with a 1905 headstamp. After doing some research, I found a posting by the late Ray Meketa in 2012. He stated that after the adoption of the 30-06 cartridge, there was still large stocks of 30-03 cartridges. It was decided to have these 30-03 cartridges resized, shortened and reloaded as the Model 1906 cartridge. Most of these 30-03 cartridges converted to 30-06 have the 04 and 05 headstamps.

From information available, I believe the earliest original 30-06 headstamp is F A 9 06

my photos show the 30-06 conversion next to the longer original 30-03 cartridge. While early dated blanks are still around, these converted 30-06 loaded cartridges are not common to find

Information

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