Will help ID ammo!

[Devil Dog]

Howdy all,
I am new to this board and would like to
offer my like to offer my services to anyone needing to identify 7.62x39 and 5.45x39
cartridges. I have been collecting these calibers for nearly twenty years and have an extensive resource of information and experience in these calibers. Re: the earlier post about EG 7.62 ammo. A lot of ammunition of east bloc origin was remanufactured in Germany (former EG) using military cases. The steel core bullets were pulled and replaced with flat based lead cored ones. Known cases used include EG 04 and 05 codes, Romanian 22 code, Hungarian 21 and 23 codes.
Hungary also did this remanufacture thing
with 21 and 23 coded cases. Factory code
13 is CUBA, not Russian, by the way.

D.D.

[56s]

Hello Devil Dog,
First of all welcome to the board.
Here is your first ID job.
I bought a case of this 7.62&39 some years ago and I was told it was from Iraq.
FMJ, brass case, red paint on the primers and very hard to read or to understand the headstamps but here goes,
w9/6v/^w Thats the best that I can describe them. I think it is written in Arabic. They came packed in fifty round boxes with a zip lock opener. Any idea's?
Thanks again, OUT

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56s-2



[This message has been edited by 56s (edited May 19, 1999).]

[Devil Dog]

Sounds like Iraqi made. This three element headstamp is known with dates from 1985
to 1990. Arabic numerals are hard to describe, but your description sounds like
"03 39 89" which translates to factory code 03, caliber 39 (7.62x39) and 89, year of manufacture 1989. I saw tons of this stuff in the Gulf and saw ads for this ammo for sale just after the war was over. I even bought some at a gun show in the early 1990's, also dated 1989. The red primer seal is also a good clue. It is a red-orange
color, right? Egyptian ammo with arabic headstamp in this caliber usually has a purple primer seal and Syrian will often have a violet color seal at the primer and case mouth, or no seals at all. If you have an extra box of this for sale, let me know. I have about 20 variations of Iraqi 7.62x39
cartridges, but no boxes. Curiously, all the ammo we captured in the Gulf , of Iraqi manufacture, was packed loose in ammo cans! Hope this helps!

D.D.

[56s]

Thanks Devil Dog,
You nailed it on the head!
I did buy this shortly after the war and I am sorry to say that I can not part with any of it at this time.
Thanks again for the help.
OUT

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56s-2