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Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:25 am
by WWW
Who can school me on this 54r ammo? All I know so far is that the two green cans are on stripper clips. The other one, I am not sure.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:03 pm
by WWW
No one? I'm trying to figure out if the one in the second picture is worth going back for. They are all the same size "cans" but the contents in the can in the second picture slide back and forth (as one solid mass), so it is definitely packaged differently than the other two.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:27 pm
by InOmaha
I'd consider going back if it's cheap enough Bulgarian Surplus?.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 2:34 pm
by redspoon
This might help, I've seen some better charts posted here on the forum but can't locate them.
spam-can-markings-resize.jpg

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:06 pm
by Joeinthehills
Outstanding reply redspoon.

Need better pixs before anyone can reply unless they've got better eyes than mine.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:49 pm
by InOmaha
They had a picture in the link I provided that looks very close to the can on the right. So it seems to be 250 round tins of Bulgarian Surplus on stripper clips.

Image

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:54 pm
by bunkysdad
It isn't easy to find that stuff so if you have the cash you should get it if you ever want to see any more than you already have again. If someone has several for sale I bet they sat on it for years and are just now deciding to sell it.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 3:57 pm
by Pip6214
I'm guessing the bottom it is 1950's Bulgarian lps. Text and marking locations look like the heavy ball cans minus the yellow stripe and factory 10 making

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 4:04 pm
by WWW
Sorry about the bad pics. All I had on me was a lousy cellphone.

Well, here are better pics of the two I brought home. The unpainted can that I didn't get was the same size, but packed differently as I said earlier, as the contents were shifting inside the can.

I paid $90 each, which is more per round than the normal surplus round, but these come on strippers.

Image

Image

Btw, it isn't really visible in the picture, but the one unpainted can I didn't bring home had a date code of 1950, if it follows the date sequence like the others do.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:55 pm
by WeldonHunter
I'm going to have to do a little research on these. Never seen a small green tin like that. Looks like 250rds of light ball, brass cased (Л ГЛ) Broken down I think (Л) stands for light ball and ( ГЛ ) stands for brass cased. Not sure if it's on strippers. Not sure but it looks like the one is at least 1942 or the powder year was which can be before the actual production year. They used those square soldered tins up to the 60s. Some were painted green during the 60s, some weren't then they switched to the spam cans some time in the 60s. The other unpainted tin looks like the stuff we were getting a few years ago that was on strippers. It ranged from early 40s to early 50s. The stuff I have is 1947. Those were 300rds per tin on strippers. I'd need to see a better picture of it to say much more about it though. Might just be LPS not on strippers.

There's symbol definitions and some samples of packaging here down the page. http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoID01.htm

Below is another reference I use to identify Cyrillic charactors.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 6:23 pm
by WWW
Thanks for the replies, guys.

The LGS actually still had another green tin there, like one of the ones I already bought. Then there was the unpainted one which I don't see how it could contain 300 rounds on strippers when the contents moved around inside, compared to the green painted tins which have 250 rounds on strippers.

So, is $90 considered a decent price these days for this sort of stuff?

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:07 pm
by Cosmoline guy
If they are on original Russian stripper clips, it's well worth the price even if the price per round is higher.
Original clips are getting harder to find. Great find!

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:08 pm
by bunkysdad
That is a good price, and if those are Bulgarian strippers they are the best stripper clips I have seen without a doubt.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:36 pm
by WeldonHunter
WWW wrote:Thanks for the replies, guys.

The LGS actually still had another green tin there, like one of the ones I already bought. Then there was the unpainted one which I don't see how it could contain 300 rounds on strippers when the contents moved around inside, compared to the green painted tins which have 250 rounds on strippers.

So, is $90 considered a decent price these days for this sort of stuff?
The 300rd tins and the crates of 600rds they came in with strippers are the same size as the 440rd spam cans and crates of 880rds. They have less rounds in them because of the strippers. Here's the post I made with pictures of the crates, tins and ammo. http://www.russian-mosin-nagant-forum.c ... =30&t=5182 I couldn't tell how big the unpainted tin you posted was but if you look at the thread it'll give you an idea to compare them. There was also soldered unpainted tins of lead core 1940s to 1960s not on strippers for sale about the same time. They were 440rd/tins also.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:12 am
by WWW
Thanks Weldonhunter. I stopped by the LGS again today that is selling these. I bought one more painted tin and I bought one unpainted tin. I will open up the unpainted tin later tonight to see what is inside and will post the results here.

As it turns out, this LGS has at least 50 more tins of both types in the back room. They were only putting out a few at a time.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:45 am
by InOmaha
If you get tired of being awash in stripper clips, I'd take a some off your hands. I'm thinking of buying some for display and historical valve. But online you run the risk of fakes and I'm not interested in the cheap knockoffs.

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:33 pm
by Ironnewt
For what it's worth, the cans that are soldered shut contain ammunition on strippers while the cans with the seams (the ones with the obvious lip that you open with a 'can opener') contain ammunition in tied packs w/o strippers. YMMV

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:35 pm
by jones0430
Color me uninformed.

What do the initials LGS stand for?

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:48 pm
by Ironnewt
LGS = Local Gun Shop

Re: Ammo question

Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:53 pm
by MnMosin
jones0430 wrote:Color me uninformed.

What do the initials LGS stand for?
Local Gun Store

:)