I was late to the game too. Luckily I got a couple cans of Korean surplus before it all hit the fan. Looks like that was a good score. It’s $1/round locally these days…

 

I got the carbine in a package deal from a coworker's family friend. $600 for the M1 and a 1951 39A that had seen better days. Put a few dollars and sweat equity to get them going and both are real shooters now.
I picked up a couple of bandoliers of the Korean surplus before the election at ~56 cents a round.

I think I did OK on the recent ammo purchase, estimated 37 cents a round after discounting for the magazines.
Not shooting the half dozen rounds of LC 52 head stamp ammo with brass primers, I read that they are Chinese knock offs made during the Vietnam War and are corrosive primed.

I am interested in knowing more about the ammo in the tan bandoliers if anyone knows.

REK

 

The ammo in the bandoliers is post-WW2 M1 Ball, Winchester, manufactured in 1952.

 

Great M1 carbine

it's hard to say what that ammo is being people been using the M1 Carbine since they came out for Mil. or Police
BUT WCC 52 would be Winchester case company 1952 so from Korean war era

I have shot my carbine 1000's of times, and all my reloads
this gun is able to shoot any ammo you find because they are almost blow proof, the action is so over kill

the 30cal US has it's own ball powder called H110 same as the bullet 110g .308
I'm sure the reloads you have are using H110 14g sounds right, I load mine @ 12g because I was shooting inside 25y and save powder
I would shoot the reloads, guns made for military use are made strong, can shoot ammo made by anyone

loading this round is easy but it has a few extra steps being a straight wall case and case length is important because the gun head spaces off the rim of the case
but I use Berry 110g copper plated for low cost and they work great and H110
when the H110 was $20LB I was making $.13 a round

 

Great M1 carbine

it's hard to say what that ammo is being people been using the M1 Carbine since they came out for Mil. or Police
BUT WCC 52 would be Winchester case company 1952 so from Korean war era

I have shot my carbine 1000's of times, and all my reloads
this gun is able to shoot any ammo you find because they are almost blow proof, the action is so over kill

the 30cal US has it's own ball powder called H110 same as the bullet 110g .308
I'm sure the reloads you have are using H110 14g sounds right, I load mine @ 12g because I was shooting inside 25y and save powder
I would shoot the reloads, guns made for military use are made strong, can shoot ammo made by anyone

loading this round is easy but it has a few extra steps being a straight wall case and case length is important because the gun head spaces off the rim of the case
but I use Berry 110g copper plated for low cost and they work great and H110
when the H110 was $20LB I was making $.13 a round

Thank you for the information makes me feel a little better about the reloads.
What primer did you use for your reloads? I have lots of CCI 400's but only a thousand Rem 6 1/2.
Maybe I will order a set of dies and try some of the Berry plated bullets.

REK

 

"the 30cal US has it's own ball powder called H110 same as the bullet 110g .308"

FWIW, H110 and W296 are exactly the same powder. The WCC is I believe Western cartridge Company, a subsidiary of Winchester as in Winchester-Western.
Paul B.

 

Great Looking Rifle - and a great looking shot group!

Congrats to you and all the best going forward with it.

 

Just be careful of WWII ammo it was corrosive. the stuff from the 50's is good. Also, I bought some M1 carbine ammo from the CMP ---it was Aquila brand from Mexico----it was all over the place out of my carbine. I pulled a couple of heads and found it was undersized----like .307 diameter.

 

I believe any US ammunition made for the M1 Carbine is NON Corrosive. I do believe some French and Chinese made ammunition had corrosive components.

 

My FIL was a radio man in the Philippines toward the end of WW2 and carried a M1 carbine. He did not have much good to say about them.
On an impromptu recon mission his "full of piss and vinegar" LT. from Texas had to save his skin with a .45 Thompson SMG when his M1 carbine jammed.

 

Nice looking carbine, and congrats on the ammo and magazine score!

 

From the very beginning of issue, all American made .30 Carbine ammunition was/is non-corrosive primed. All foreign made ammunition is suspect, some is corrosive, some not. I refer you to Cartridges of the World by Frank C Barnes, copyright 1972, page 66 and page 347.

Handloading full powder rounds with plated bullets may or may not work out for accurate shooting. Give it a try, see if it's OK. Jacketed bullets would be a better choice. At one time you could buy jacketed soft nose bullets for reloading and JSP factory ammunition.