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Thread: KA and PS headstamped Korean 30-06 ammo

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    KA and PS headstamped Korean 30-06 ammo

    Within the last week or so there was a member who recently got a garand and mentioned that he had bought some KA korean 30-06 ammo to shoot in it. I had mentioned that to the best of my knowledge that the KA stuff was corrosively primed and the PS was non corrosive. That post by me left me wondering about how true it was, so I posted this in the ammo bunker on gunboards. Basically it seems that both the KA and PS at times was loaded with both corrosive and non corrosive primers and accordingly you need to know the lot numbers for either the KA or PS ammo. There is supposedly a chart with the lot numbers which would tell you wether corrosive or non corrosive primers. Also regarding the kabooms I mentioned, again certain years are ones to stay away from. And I have no listings of the years. I tried to find my old post but couldn't find it so hope the OP sees this and makes his own decision as to shoot this in his garand. Frank

  2. #2
    Boolit Master trails4u's Avatar
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    Good on you for the follow up!
    "Do not follow where the path might lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" Ralph Waldo Emerson

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    The way I heard it is KA-74 and up is non corrosive, I usuulay avoid corrosive but with the 2 cans I got I will just have to clean it sooner than later

    Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Well got lucky and found the original poster regarding his purchase of KA stamped ammo. Gave him a condensed version of my updated post and referred him here for the full version. Think the CMP may have a chart of corrosive versus non corrosive KA and PS lots and also which years to stay away from regarding kabooms. Frank

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    When my father got back from Korea in 1951, he was stationed in Seal Beach Naval Weapons Depot.
    They were taking the .30-06 ammo stamped 49 and 50 and putting it on a barge and then dumping it in the ocean.
    He said they were loading the ships to go to Korea with ammo stamped from 1918 thru 1944
    They never told them why they were disposing of the ammo.
    But he did say that the Garands did have problems with the ammo they were issued overseas , like Blowing up in the chamber.
    He thought it was because of the cold weather at the Chosen Res.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master rondog's Avatar
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    Just avoid that garbage, problem solved!

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by samari46 View Post
    Well got lucky and found the original poster regarding his purchase of KA stamped ammo. Gave him a condensed version of my updated post and referred him here for the full version. Think the CMP may have a chart of corrosive versus non corrosive KA and PS lots and also which years to stay away from regarding kabooms. Frank
    There is a thread in the cmp forum that deeply dives into the subject

    Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Remiel, got on the CMP forum in the ammo section had to scroll back about 7-8 pages before the KA-PS chart came up. Some KA was loaded with non corrosive primers. But when you get down to the PS section about Kabooms it becomes very apparent that a bunch of the PS ammo suffered from case splits and rifles destroyed or severley damaged. Lot numbers are furnished so someone can check against the list to see if their ammo falls within these lot numbers. I knew there had been some problems with the PS stuff having case splits but never imagined it would be the size it is. Frank

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
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    This seems to be an old thread, but I wanted to share a pic. of a KA 71 head stamp. I pulled a can out, that had 128 rounds of this. It had been showing very irregular velocities and I had quit using it a couple of years ago. I was wanting to run some more through my 1903 A3 Mark 1. This was the first and last round I shot. I checked the rest and found 9 rounds corroded or dented.
    I'm very glad I quit using it in my Garands.
    I'll be doing something with it, besides shooting the rest.Click image for larger version. 

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  10. #10
    Boolit Master

    Uncle Grinch's Avatar
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    Looks very much like my KA71 brass that I fired in my 1903A3. No harm to rifle, but it smoked my forehead pretty good. I pulled the bullets and dumped the powder, some of which wet with a gooey residue.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Shoot Safe,
    Mike

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    Marion Road Gun Club
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  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    I ended up with a whole can of this years ago and it is buried in the tomb somewhere. Sounds like I need to dig and tear down no matter what head stamp is found. Wonder how good the J's are?

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Wow. DoubleBuck and Uncle Grinch, those are quite interesting brass failures. Pulling the bullets and finding the powder wet and gooey suggests the powder was breaking down. Was the inside of an unfired case coated with an aquamarine blue color residue? Or perhaps white and crusty?

    When nitrocellulose in the powder decomposes, it sheds nitrate ions that can combine with moisture in the air to form nitric acid. The nitric acid could cause dezincification (zinc on the surface of the brass case essentially being eaten away by the acid) and then potentially progress to intergranular stress corrosion cracking. I've seen some examples of decomposing powder causing intergranular SCC which lead to some strange failures through the case wall, though the ones I saw were not straight through the head like in your photos.

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Uncle Grinch,
    I just found your post from 2006 on your case head failure. You reported bluish green residue in the powder. To me that supports the theory of breaking down powder forming nitric acid that attacks the brass from the inside out.

    In my example, I took a failed piece of brass and had a metallurgist look at it with a scanning electron microscope. She showed me lots of microscopic cracks in the interior surface of the case than ran along the grain boundaries (metal grain not powder grains). It takes one of those cracks that's deep enough to unzip right through the whole case wall upon firing to vent high pressure gas into the action.

    Based on my experience, any brass cases from pulled down ammunition that contained wet/ gooey powder is scrap not to be reloaded.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I just saw this post. The photos by DoubleBuck and Uncle Grinch of the splits in the case heads remind me of a problem that was occurring with PS-75 30-06 brass. From what I heard Pusan arsenal produced 6 lots of 30-06 M2 cartridges during 1975, and one of those lots was defective. The stamping equipment that was used to form the cartridge cases was designed incorrectly. Instead of having a radius at the juncture between the case walls and the case head inside the case, these cases had a sharp corner which caused a stress concentration when the cartridge was fired. These improperly made cases would occasionally split at the case head, with a crack running from the primer pocket out to the edge of the rim. I have 300 once fired cases of PS-75, but I have inspected all of them and they all have the correct radius inside the case head. All of them were non-corrosive primed. I only use these cases for cast bullet loads in bolt actions and have had no problems. For jacketed loads I use Lake City brass.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Uncle Grinch;
    Yours does look nearly identical to mine. Even the little dot at the beginning of the crack on the side of the case. It blew hot dots everywhere on my upper face and all around my eye. Pretty scary event. No telling what it would have done, in a Garand.
    JRD the case is just normal color inside. I have not pulled any bullets or done anything with any more of them. I will try to do that and get back to you with the results.
    Last edited by DoubleBuck; 11-30-2023 at 03:11 PM.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by rondog View Post
    Just avoid that garbage, problem solved!
    Amen

  17. #17
    Boolit Master



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    I had a LC 30M1 carbine round split thru the rim and ejector groove like that. Gave am a puff of gas on the forehead as well as a very, very small cut. Just enough of a cut to draw blood and that was all. God was with me that day. I never had a problem like that with US military ammo before or since. It is good to wear safety glasses when shooting. I do now and have for many years but in my early days of shooting I did not. Better safe than sorry, james

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy Chili's Avatar
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    After reading this thread, I think I will pull down the 384 round can KA in the locker. My first thought was to shoot it in my 1921 M1903, but not anymore!

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  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy Eddie1971's Avatar
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    About 15 years ago I bought some of that stuff. It was sold as non corrosive, but it wasn't. It did a number on my Remington 1903.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check