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snowtracker · Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

Just got a buch of rifle shells from my neighbor that say WRA 67 on the back of the casing. Have no idea what caliber of gun this is. If anyone has any Ideas I would appreciate it.

Don Fischer · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 2185 Location: Antelope, Ore

Military case. WRA is the manufacturer and 67 is made in 1967. I have a lot that say FA 49. Frankfort arsennal made in 1949. On military cases you'll see the arsennal it was made in and the year it was made. You might find some marked National Match. I think a lot, if not all, were made in Salt lake City. They are good cases but tend to have thicker walls than commercial cases. That equals less volume so start low and work your way up.

WesternHunter · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 685 Location: Western USA

Yup like Don said. It's a US military shell casing. I want to say made by Winchester, but all the Winchester contract military brass I've seen is marked with the initials of WCC (for Western Cartridge Company). If it's auto pistol looking, it's .45ACP. If revolver looking then it's .38 Spcl. If bottle necked then it's rifle, could be 5.56mm or 7.62mm.

Word of advise on reloading military brass. AVOID it like the plague. The primers are usually not boxer. Re-priming military brass can be problematic, and in my opinion is just not worth the effort. Others may disagree. Also just for reloading in general I avoid using other peoples brass. You just never know if any conversion or crazy resizing to accept another caliber bullet was done to it.

Don Fischer · Joined: 24 Mar 2005 Posts: 2185 Location: Antelope, Ore

Actually all american military cases are boxer primed. Where the problem is is the crimp in the primer pocket. Primers in mil cases do come out a bit harder and need to have the crimp removed before using them. That is simple, couple of twists with the de-burring tool and it's gone. The other primer type, Berdan, is found in some eouropean cartridges. It has a double flash hole. Takes either a Berdan de-prim tool or they can be removed with hydrolics. Best thing is to simply avoid Berdan primed cases. If your not sure, look inside the case with a light, There will be two flash holes in berdan cases.

JCalhoun · Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 11:12 pm Post subject:

Don is correct about the US brass using boxer primers. All US military brass has crimped primers EXCEPT Lake City match brass in .30-06 and 7.62mm NATO. This LC MATCH brass doesn't have crimped primers.

WRA is Winchester Repeating Arms
RA is Remington Arms
TW is Twin Cities ammunition plant
FA is Frankford Arsenal
LC is Lake City ammuniton plant
WCC is Western Cartridge Company

If it has a circle with a cross inside (looks like a crosshair in a scope) stamped on the case head this indicates that it is NATO spec ball ammo.

These are the most common USGI codes. There are several others but they date back to WW1 & WW2.

The case you have could be 5.56mm NATO, 7.62mm NATO or .30-06. It's hard to say without seeing it.

WesternHunter · Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 685 Location: Western USA

Well I don't know about US military rifle brass, but in the past I've encountered US M882 NATO 9mm ball (as made by either Federal and Winchester/Olin Corp) that all used Berdan primers with the double flash holes.

Can't recall 100%, but I also thought I've seen some GI .45 ball casing that were from the 60's and 70's that were Berdan primed as well. Again I can't be cerain about the .45 stuff

I've never tried reloading military rifle brass.