Saturday, March 20, 2010

Praxis: Repacking the Brit 7.62 NATO



Most of you will recall my post "They don't grow on trees. . ."

Well, a fellow Irregular who understood my poverty but sensed my hunger for this primo stuff kindly offered to do a trade for something he needed. The deal is half-done, because I received a crate of this stuff the day I came back from Florida. I was surprised that UPS delivered "ORM-D" without a signature, just dumped 750 rounds on my front porch when nobody was home.

The Brit shipping crate.

Anyway, pursuant to reports that some folks have received this particular manufacture of Brit 7.62 and opened the packages only to find rusted stripper clips and corroded rounds, I immediately inspected every clip.

What great stuff. Truly primo.

Brit crate opened, showing green vacuum-packed sleeve.

Anyway, having broken open the green vacuum-packed sleeve, I tried to substitute a very large zip-lock bag and repack the bandos in the same wire-bound container they came in.

Thirty-minutes later, I gave up and went to find a SAW can (larger than an M2A1 "fifty-cal" can), which seemed to be about the same size.

SAW Can.

Worked great, accepting all ten 75 round bandoleers.

Remember, boys and girls, the Brits do not include "spoons," also known as "chargers" or "stripper clip guides," with their ammo, so you'll need to get some of those (I suggest one per bandoleer).

Also, remember to take off or black out the original markings (I use acetone to remove them completely) and remark the can with the new contents in paint or magic marker so there is no doubt what is inside without having to open it.

Now all I have to do is disperse it in an off-property cache. If the ATF raids me, they're going to come up disappointed.

Mike
III

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, there's a crate full of ammo that won't be wasted!

Carl Bussjaeger said...

A long time ago, I heard a knock at my door. Opened it up to find a visibly nervous UPS driver holding out an ORM-D package. I took it and he ran without saying anything. Guess he expected it to explode.

I live elsewhere now, renting from someone who's even more of a gunny than me; has a private range. Needless to say, ORM-D deliveries are routine. About the only reaction the drivers show is to occasionally ask for help unloading. Considering the mass of lead, I find that reasonable.

Ahab said...

Have been unable to locate the "spoon," or stripper clip guide. Any suggestions?

Steve K said...

Mike,

Have you ever done a Praxis on the carrying of M14 magazines on a vest or bandolier?

I was wondering, because I have a number of them yet haven't been able to find any means of transporting them in a readily accessible fashion.

Best.
Steve K.

Anonymous said...

Stripper clip guide are available from several retailers.Fulton Armory has them for $4.95 ea,which I think is totally outrageuos.But $4.95 seems to be the retail price.Sarco (e-sarcoinc.com)has them for $2.00 for 1,3-9 are $1.85 ea.or 10 or more are $1.25 ea. I HAVE NEVER ordered from Sarco.I know nothing of their shipping and handling or minimum order.They have been around for years.I am sure there are horror stories to be told.I don't know any.This is for info only.I have NO connection.

Anonymous said...

I picked up a NcStar stripper clip loader for the AR last week. I thought it was the neatest thing since shirt pockets.

They make them in a few sizes too. Here's one for the 7.62x51 (.308) cartridge.

http://www.ncstar.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=250

Enjoy
Eric
III

Ahab said...

Hey anonymous @ 11:57 am,

Thank you very much. Called Sarco, Inc., but they're closed. I'll pick them up again on Monday. Again, my thanks.

thedweeze said...

Anon@11:57,

I have ordered from Sarco, a Parker-Hale modified rear sight for one of my Enfields (and some other stuff, not firearms).

There was no problem at all. Sent in the money order with a printed out order sheet, and got exactly what I ordered about a week later.

Pat H said...

You can find the spoons for M14 mags on eBay, not to mention all kinds of stripper clips themselves. I bought over 100 7.62x39 phosphated stripper clips because my 6.5 Grendel rounds will fit into them. The only issue now is to figure out the spoon issue, I need 7.62x39 size on the clip end and AR15/m16 on the magazine end. I suspect modding the AK spoons will work. The 6.5G's in the stripper clips will fit nicely into Chinese bandoliers.

bobn said...

I got mine. But the bottom of the wooden box says: "SHELF LIFE FEB 2004".

So is this really reliable now and how long could one expect that to continue?

(Also posted this on the original post regarding this ammo, hope to maximize chance of useful responses.)

Anonymous said...

Steve - Check with Michigan Tactical Supply for bandoleers. They make a really good 6 mag bando that will take every type of 7.62X51 mag I've tried in it.
Hint. it will also work for 20 round AK mags as well.