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RogersNative
01-27-2013, 12:44 AM
I bought a case of 7.62x39 today with an AK. I opened the crate but didn't open either can, if only because I gave up on opening it before I could figure it out. I'm hoping that someone here can tell me exactly what I have. I think I'm going to sell it but need to know what it is and perhaps what it's worth before attempting to sell it. Or maybe I'll keep it...but either way I'd like to know what it is.

I was told that it's the banned steel core rounds, on stripper clips. The guy that sold it to me said he shot up another crate of it and it's not boxed but rather each stripper clip is wrapped in wax paper. The attached round is supposedly one that he took out of the other crate.

The top of each can says something along the lines of:


56 (something in Chinese) 7.62 (more Chinese) 550
0162-31
10-66 2/1 (more Chinese) 22/66 - 45

The headstamp (of the round in the photo) says 31 on the top and 70 on the bottom.

2193

2194


So...can you tell me what these are, what you think they might be worth now, and what you think they were worth 2 months ago? This is in fact Norinco ammo? How do I tell how old it is?

Thanks in advance for any help, I really appreciate it.

Schuetzenman
01-27-2013, 02:09 PM
You have a case of Chicom 7.62x39 steel core corrosive primed ammo. It is illegal to sell if you are a dealer, penalty is $10,000 bucks and a year in the club Fed for each occurance of selling it to a civilian. If you are joe-shmoe civilian, no law against you having it or selling it to another civi.

The date is on the can 10-66 means October of 1966. 31 is the factory headstamp. Norinco is an acronym for a group of Chinese arms and amunition makers. Retail worth is what ever you can get for it. I've sold the noncorrosive 1991 head stamped version for 75 cents a round in 2008. Retail is commonly 1 buck a round due to the belief it is armor piercing. It really is not, the core is mild steel, not hardened steel. It does do a little better on penetration but not as much as you might think.

With the panic going on now i would think you can get at least a buck around on an auction site, maybe a buck fifity.

RogersNative
01-27-2013, 04:14 PM
Schuetzenman--

Thanks for the reply. Great info, much appreciated. Am I correct in thinking that these are on stripper clips rather than in boxes? The fact that the ammo is that old isn't an issue if it was stored properly, correct? Of course I have no idea how it was stored but so long as its age doesn't automatically impact the value too much I'm happy.

Thrilled to hear that it is what I thought it was. I bought the case and a Century Arms M70 underfolder yesterday for $1250. With the price of everything I was hoping to split the ammo from the rifle and maybe make $150 selling them seperately but in reality will do better than that. The guy I bought it from said someone had told him that the ammo was worth $600 nowadays but I wonder if they meant per tin and he misunderstood them. Either way, good for me. Thanks again for your time and response.

Schuetzenman
01-27-2013, 08:46 PM
Most likely it is on stripper clips, but sometimes it did just come layerd between corrosion inhibiting paper. You won't know until you open the can. On ok depending on how stored, yes but as you pointed out you have no real information on that. The proof is in the shooting. If it goes bang, it's good, if it doesn't then it's only good for salvaging the powder and bullet out of the case to load into a new case with new primer.

The reason why it is so rare is that Olympic Arms got built an AR pistol chambered in 7.62x39. As soon as BATF got wind of that they classed the 7.62x39 round as a handgun round and banned sale of it to civilians because of a "Cop Killer Bullet" law passed in the 1970's by Democrats. The way it reads a bullet that has more than 50% of the core made up of something harder than lead is classed as Armor Piercing. In this case it means soft body armor piercing. The rule is BS when you talk about any round that goes over 1700 fps and has a pointed FMJ profile. Any lead core bullet shaped like that and going that fast will punch through kevlar soft body armor. Only hard plates, ceramic plates will stop the bullet going that fast. So the point is moot, the lead core will go through, doesn't need to be steel cored so the ban accomplished nothing in reality except to cut off ammo that use to cost $85 bucks a case.

RogersNative
01-27-2013, 10:24 PM
Excellent info, thanks. A sardine can of them sold tonight on GB for 605 plus shipping. Wow.

Schuetzenman
01-28-2013, 10:42 PM
Excellent info, thanks. A sardine can of them sold tonight on GB for 605 plus shipping. Wow.

You're making a killing with the ammo. $1.1 a round plus shipping, nice for you. You sell the other one and you essentially have a free rifle.

Oh, and you're welcome for the info. That's what I'm here to do, pass it on to others.

RogersNative
02-04-2013, 02:59 PM
Schuetzenman (or whoever else can help)--

I'm hoping for help identifying another case of ammo. Tomorrow I'm buying another case of the Norinco steel core (as pictured above) and will also reveive a case of Russian ammo as pictures in this post. Can anyone provide any info as to what this Russian ammo is and, more importantly, what's a fair price to pay.

I think that it's decent but not highly sought after, worth $500-700 today, steel cased, in 20 rd boxes. Does this sound about right?
Anything else I need to know?

I'm paying $1200 for both cases and based on the value of the Norinco, the Russian stuff would have to be about worthless for me to lose money, I think, but I want to make sure that this is about what I think it is before laying out my cash.

As always, any help is very much appreciated. Thanks

2233

Schuetzenman
02-04-2013, 07:39 PM
It is Russian export for US consumption Hollow Point ammo. Could be anywhere from 1996 to 2006 vintage. Can't tell from the photo. Any x39 ammo is probably valuable these days. That ammo would of originally sold for about 9 to 12 cents a round. Today if you sell it for less than 25 cents a round you're being very generous. 30 cents would be average probably. The H.P. bullet is simply an FMJ that's had the tip trimmed off. They are going to be the steel jacket, copper plate on the steel and lead core bullet. They do break up when they hit stuff. I shot a PASGAT helmet with a round of it. It went through one side, exploded into fragments and shreaded the inside to a fairly high degree.

RogersNative
02-04-2013, 10:13 PM
Thanks a bunch for the info. Much appreciated. I don't think there's much profit in this deal but hopefully I can at least break even and keep a few rounds for myself. Not sure about elsewhere but here in Phoenix AK prices have dropped pretty quick the past couple weeks and it looks like ammo prices are beginning to follow them down.

Schuetzenman
02-04-2013, 11:45 PM
Thanks a bunch for the info. Much appreciated. I don't think there's much profit in this deal but hopefully I can at least break even and keep a few rounds for myself. Not sure about elsewhere but here in Phoenix AK prices have dropped pretty quick the past couple weeks and it looks like ammo prices are beginning to follow them down.

It's simple IMO, people that didn't have "the good stuff" have spent themselves out of money panic buying and paying 4 to 7 times more for the stuff than it was worth prior to Sandyhook.

RogersNative
02-05-2013, 04:54 PM
It's simple IMO, people that didn't have "the good stuff" have spent themselves out of money panic buying and paying 4 to 7 times more for the stuff than it was worth prior to Sandyhook.


Well said. But don't you think also that people are relaxing a bit and are no longer as worried about a real ban or confiscation?

Schuetzenman
02-07-2013, 09:15 PM
Well said. But don't you think also that people are relaxing a bit and are no longer as worried about a real ban or confiscation?

Actually I think very little relaxing is going on. The back log of rifles, mags and demand for loaded ammo is off the charts and not slowing down except that a lot of companies have said no more back orders. There is 1 Billion rounds of ammo being cranked out every week, the shelves are not filling up at gun shops nation wide. There are no reloading components left; primers, bullets and powder. Only some Fud calibers powders are around.

RogersNative
02-09-2013, 11:04 PM
You were basically spot on with that description. Only thing you missed (barely) was the year. It was 1995, factory 711. I'll be sold out sometime tomorrow morning. My prices varied a bit but it will all sell for between 39 and 45 cents a round. I pass that on just so people can see what the market currently looks like, at least here in Phoenix. At an asking price of $9/box I had so many inquiries that I think I could have sold out in a few days without caving at all on the price, but as it was I was happy to go as low as $8. Lest I be accused of gouging let me say that it's on almost no store shelves here and when it is it's 7.50 to 9 a box so I was right in the ballpark. And to sell 1440 rounds in barely 24 hours shows an awfully strong demand still. I was surprised.