Old brass casings

[cudamark]

Does anyone know how early the military put the year date on the end of brass shell casings? I found three such casings close to a fairly old military site, and they have 08, 14, and 18 on the end. Thanks.

 

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[Retired Sarge]

Not uncommon. US military ammo from around the WWI era was dated. Should also be some letter codes and at times additional numbers, to tell what arsenal made them etc.

Example FA for Frankford Arsenal.

Posting the entire headstamp markings, along with a picture of the casing. You can find out cartridge size, manufacturer etc.

 

[cudamark]

Ok, here some photos. The live round has 18 and what I believe is RA, the short casing has both 12 and 14 on it, but, I can't make out the arsenal code. The last one has 08 and what looks to be FA. I don't have a micrometer handy (I can get one if needed), but, just doing an eyeball measurement with a ruler, they look to be about 11mm in diameter under the head end. The bullet itself looks like about 8mm.

 

[Joe-Dirt]

They look like .30-06 Springfield or possibly .303 British

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Not sure when they started putting the date on them , there is a site for military headstamp identification

 

[Retired Sarge]

RA is Remington Arms 1918, looking at the pic again, I believe it's RA H, the H means Holboken NJ. So RA H 18

FA is Frankford Arsenal 1908. FA 08

12 14 is most likely Dec 1914

Long ones are most likely 30 caliber round of 1906 aka 3006 Springfield round. The short one is either half of a 3006 round or if wider maybe a 45 ACP shell from a 1911 pistol.

 

[cudamark]

RA is Remington Arms 1918, looking at the pic again, I believe it's RA H, the H means Holboken NJ. So RA H 18

FA is Frankford Arsenal 1908. FA 08

12 14 is most likely Dec 1914

Long ones are most likely 30 caliber round of 1906 aka 3006 Springfield round. The short one is either half of a 3006 round or if wider maybe a 45 ACP shell from a 1911 pistol.

Yes, I believe the short casing is just a damaged long one. They're the same diameter. Thanks for the info. I would still like to know when they started putting the dates on. I wasn't able to find it out with Google without taking a couple of days to do some reading!

 

[Retired Sarge]

Yes, I believe the short casing is just a damaged long one. They're the same diameter. Thanks for the info. I would still like to know when they started putting the dates on. I wasn't able to find it out with Google without taking a couple of days to do some reading!

Well the earliest I've seen is 1904 30 caliber round, I've read of a 1903 dated rounds being found. So safe to say prior to WWI.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

The earliest I've seen are 45-70 with dates in the 1870's, I don't know if there are any before that or not

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

RA is Remington Arms 1918, looking at the pic again, I believe it's RA H, the H means Holboken NJ. So RA H 18

FA is Frankford Arsenal 1908. FA 08

12 14 is most likely Dec 1914

Long ones are most likely 30 caliber round of 1906 aka 3006 Springfield round. The short one is either half of a 3006 round or if wider maybe a 45 ACP shell from a 1911 pistol.

You're a wealth of information Mike.
Dave

 

[A2coins]

Awesome info looks like a good hunting spot

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Cudamark asked:
> Does anyone know how early the military put the year date on the end of brass shell casings?

NOLA_Ken's answer to you, 1870s, is correct. Answering more specifically... the earliest date marking on US Military bullet-cartridges is 1877. The earliest known version is on a US .45-70 Government Rifle cartridge, and it says "R 3 F 77"...which translates to Rifle [type of cartridge] March [month] Frankford [arsenal manufacturer] 1877 [year of manufacture].

 

[TommyB]

I fired off a bunch of rounds on Red beach off of Camp Pendleton practicing beach landings back in 1972. We were using M14's. Similar to 30.06 rounds

 

[cudamark]

Cudamark asked:
>

Does anyone know how early the military put the year date on the end of brass shell casings? ​

NOLA_Ken's answer to you, 1870s, is correct. Answering more specifically... the earliest date marking on US Military bullet-cartridges is 1877. The earliest known version is on a US .45-70 Government Rifle cartridge, and it says "R 3 F 77"...which translates to Rifle [type of cartridge] March [month] Frankford [arsenal manufacturer] 1877 [year of manufacture].

Thanks, that's the answer I was looking for!

 

[cudamark]

I fired off a bunch of rounds on Red beach off of Camp Pendleton practicing beach landings back in 1972. We were using M14's. Similar to 30.06 rounds

I found a whole belt of practice rounds buried in the sand just north of Camp Pendleton. Probably when whoever landed too far north and had to hoof it south, they didn't want to carry that heavy thing and just dumped it. I would have had to carry that heavy load over a mile to take it to my truck, so, I reburied it right where I found it after taking a chunk for our club meeting show and tell. I did take a photo though!