FN headstamp, 308 linked blanks question

[birch]

I just had a family friend give me 150 .308 blanks that are linked up. He found them in the trunk of an old car and thought I might get some use out of them. I am wondering if it would be worthwhile to pull the plug and use the powder for some bolt action 30-06 cheap cast boolit reloads.

They are FN 54 headstamped and have a red wood plug in the mouth. If they hold no collector value, what is the best way to pull the plug safely? Does anyone have any idea of what type of powder I might be dealing with? Any help is appreciated.

[429421Cowboy]

If I remember correctly, blank powder is super fast, dirty and does not make for good or safe rifle powder! IMHO, best to dump on the lawn and scrap the brass, or just save them as a decoration rather than get hurt trying something just to say you can.

[birch]

I blame my illness on my father being Dutch with a hint of German. My mother has a bunch of American Indian blood. I guess that combination makes me want to squeeze every last cent out of something, and when I'm done squeezing, I want to do some trading! Tobacco anyone?

I kinda figured this was probably the case, although I was willing to bet some other endeavoring feller might have gotten the same idea I had.

[Boerrancher]

Do not load use the powder out of those military blanks for anything but lawn fertilizer as it may be old enough to be black powder or it could be a smokeless powder that burns faster than bulls eye. Now on to the brass. If you have a lathe or a power case trimmer and the time, you can easily cut off the nose of those blanks, trim them to length, fire form them, inside neck ream them, anneal the necks, and bingo you have good 308 brass. I am still shooting on some blanks that dad and I reworked back in the mid 80's. I made 243 win, 7mm-08, and 300 Savage out of them as well.

If you are willing to put in the work to make them right, that blank ammo will make some of the best brass you have ever used, if you take care of it after you have fire formed it. As I said I am still shooting some that was made as blanks back in the 50's and converted back in the mid 80's. It is nice and thick and as long as you anneal it every once in a while it will not crack or split on you. You don't have to have a lathe or power case trimmer, as you can do it all manually but trust me, after you do a box of 20 manually you will want some power tools.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Hardcast416taylor]

I don`t doubt Boerrancher and his making usable rounds from blank cartridges. However, blank rounds have a history of sometimes being made with reject brass cases. I recall how it was a standard warning among reloaders back in the `60`s to not try using these rounds for anything more than to make noise. If they are on a belt linkage, just hang them on a nail on the wall for a cool chat piece. If you decide to pull the powder, it makes great fertilizer on flower beds.Robert

[fatelk]

.308 blanks from '54? That's real early for the 7.62 NATO, probably about first year production. Being FN, they're probably berdan as well.

[birch]

As usual, I am astounded by the knowlege base of "Cast" members. My hat's off to all of you and thanks a bunch. I think I have a nail all ready by my reloading bench.