Surplus 3006 M2 ammo

[tomme boy]

I have some LC M2 in a 420rd can. All in boxes that are un opened. And another smaller 30cal can that is a TW M2 which are all in clips and in bandoleers.

I have not looked what year either of these are. I just opened the cans to look at the ammo and that was it. Nothing looked bad. No rust or anything inside.

What would these be worth?

[georgerkahn]

The "wise-acre" reply would be, "Whatever one might pay :) :) :) ". Seriously, the CMP sells '06 at prices which hover about $1.35 per round. https://estore.thecmp.org/Catalog/Search?search=.30-06+ammunition
At a large show in September, eight-round full Garand en bloc's had a ten dollar each price tag on them...no idea if/how many were sold.
In *my* area, the "popularity" of the Garand -- at least in hi-power leagues I'm familiar with -- has been replaced with the .2xx lower-recoil cousins. Of course, new-bee's will get the club-owned Garands to shoot -- but, again, most who "stay" migrate to lower-recoil firearms.
Wish I could help more.... BEST WISHES and good luck. As one note I might add, I have been "victim" to buying mil-surp '06 -- this years back -- where some were corrosive-primed; and, others had "measles" -- spots of corrosion in brass, enough to make these rounds unsafe to shoot. Assuming your Lake City is virgin, these factors should be negated -- a definite "plus".
geo

[Rich/WIS]

The ammo may or may not be corrosive depending on date of manufacture. LC switched to non corrosive with lot 13700 in 1951, TW switched with lot 19362 in 1950. Those and later lots are NC. The cans boxes will have the lot number, don't recall if it is printed on the bandoleers. Not sure of price, see it on the CMP forum for 85 cents and up for NC, the clips on the TW make it worth a bit more. Corrosive usually brings less.

[Outpost75]

Around here even the WW2-era corrosive ammo brings $1 per round. More than that if packed in the 8-round M1 Garand enbloc clips and bandoliers. If clipped pack figure $1 per round plus $2 per clip. WW2 dates are more collectible and if in clean original condition, bring what the traffic will bear.

I've seen 48-round bandoliers of LC43 APM2 in Garand clips go for over $100.

[tomme boy]

The TW ammo has a lot # of 41609 and it is in clips and the cloth bandoleers.

The LC has a lot # of 35360. I did not see a year. I am not going to open the boxes to check the brass. None of the boxes are opened. But on the side of the boxes there is a black dot??? The boxes are marked BALL. The dot is strange. And it is 400 round in the can

[Bazoo]

If it's AP ammo I've heard of it going 2.00 a shot. Heard some of them prepper types buy it up.

[Adam Helmer]

tomme boy,

WWII .30-06 ammo would not be worth much to me since it is ancient (over 70 years old) ammo. All ammo has a shelf life and I suspect WWII ammo is a bit long in the tooth in 2019. I have several Garands and shot my way on to my state high power rifle team twice and went to Camp Perry.

Ancient ammo is worth whatever anyone will pay for it. If it is corrosive, it would not ever be shot in my Garands, even if it was FREE.

In the 1950s and 1960s, NC GI Ball was great ammo at $5.00 per hundred. I still have some on the heap, but I would not use it in gravest extreme today. I hope this helps.

Adam

[Outpost75]

If properly stored, USGI Ball M1, Ball M2 and APM2 ammunition of WW2 manufacture should still be 100% reliable. I am still using FA and LC ammunition made in the 1940s, which has produced normal pressure, velocity and accuracy, functioning reliably in the Garand and Browning machineguns.

The reason the US Army postponed adoption of noncorrosive priming until the 1950s was to ensure that the chemical and ballistic stability of the new primer mix was as good as the older FA26 mix. WRA and Remington-UMC adopted noncorrosive priming for commercial ammunition in the late 1920s and it wasn't until the 1950s that the Army was prepared to accept it.

[john.k]

I would not guarantee it.......its not just primers ,but the powder eventually decomposes,and becomes acidic,corroding the cases.Powder has a finite life,depending partly on the amount of stabilizer used.A lot of WW2 powder decomposed quite quickly,........but 50 years would be very close to end date for most IMR type powders.

[30calflash]

I also shot some WW2 era ammo that fired fine at a local club match 5 or 5 years ago.

It wasn't boxed and there were some discoloration and corrosion on a some rounds. A few had some green nasty stuff around the primer, unknown if from outside conditions or going bad inside the case. None of the bad rounds were fired.

In truth there were a few misfires with the "good" ammo, but they went the second time around. The O3A3 I was using was disassembled at home and was found to have a striker spring cut very short, by someone for whatever the reason. Once changed everything fed thru it fired.

Some mid 60's LC M2 ball I have is boxed in original cans, will have to check lot# and date, And if there's a black dot on the box.

Older ammo I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase, 1960's or newer I would.

[jimb16]

I was at a show in Pa. today and 20 round boxes of L.C. were for sale for $20/box. This was mid-fifties NC ammo.

[samari46]

Lake City AP was first made non corrosive in 1951 according to an old ratty chart I have. I have about 40 rounds of LC 53 AP I plan on loading onto the 8 round Garand clips. Many year more than I like to thing about I was given one of the galvanized 520 cans pf TW 44 AP. After trying it against cast iron brake drums which it would penetrate with ease I finally got serious about reloading the 30-06. Pulled the bullets with inertia bullet puller, saved the powder and manually removed the corrosive primer with the sizing die spindle and did not one have go boom. Cleaned off the asphalt sealer on the bullet and the paint is in excellent condition. used that brass for years in loading and shooting in a Garand. The remaining AP billets are repsosing at the bottom of my reloading supplies cabinet.Well all the WWII surplus American ammo for all intents is gone, The greek HXP is almost gone,And most of the late 60's American stuff is about gone so the only alternative is to load it into some of the U.S. milsurp brass that have had the primer pockets either swaged or reamed primer pockets and go shoot it In one of the NRA books is a section for military duplication loads. Frank