Help identifying a cartridge

G

ghbucky

New member
I've just gotten my hands on an M1 carbine (YAY!) and it came with 20 rounds.

Due to this coming through family hands that know nothing about the rifle, I want to make sure that the rounds are actually appropriate for this rifle. I'm not having any luck identifying this headstamp.

Can anyone tell me what this round is? It came in a stripper clip.
 

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F S 8 1 - either Federal or frankfurt arsenal, possibly made in 1981?

If its a military headstamp, which it looks like. Doesn't look like a civilian stamp.

Hope this helps -

Best of 2021 to all!
 
Letter code (P S ) and date (81) plus the primer sealant (red) indicate a military cartridge or one made for military use.

Lots of rounds came on stripper clips. Unfortunately only seeing the base of the round with nothing for scale makes ID difficult, as it could be lots of things.

I assume its a .30 Carbine round, but without seeing anything else it could be a .30-06 or almost anything else using a rimless case.

Another picture, showing the case body and bullet would greatly help positive ID.

Measurements would also help, a lot.
 
thanks for the pics and the measurements. Those make it easy...

.30 M1 Carbine

Appears to be the standard 110gr FMJ "ball" ammo.

with an 81 date on the rounds they weren't made for US military use, the US dropped the M1 carbine decades before that. They appear to be made to mil-spec standards with sealed primers. Several nations used the M1 carbine after the US military dropped it.

Can't help with who "P S" is, sorry.

IF/when you fire some, take a look inside the case and see if they are boxer primed, or berdan primed. If they are Berdan primed that means foreign manufacture and they MIGHT be corrosive primed. If there's any doubt, clean the gun as if they were corrosive primed and all will be well.

US made (Boxer primed) M1 carbine ammo would be non-corrosive primed.
 
PS is Korean, 81 is 1981 year of manufacture. The South Korean army used M1 carbines until fairly recently, possibly 1980s (I thought it was 1970s, but I could be wrong).
 
 
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