6mm Lee Navy ammo available on Gun Broker

[MUSTANG]

Saw on Gun broker this morning that one can buy legacy 6mm Lee Navy ammunition. Price is only $27.50 per round, plus $20.00 shipping per round, and of course the 3% credit card fee.

https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/1043278956

37 Rounds available.

[cwtebay]

That's quite a few to put together without split necks.

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[MUSTANG]

If one scrolls through the picture; there are a few with corrosion showing through the primer/case junctions - same for the case/bullet jacket junction on at least one. I noted one case that appears to have been cleaned with probable steel wool and a drill as there are circular striations all up and down the neck and shoulder. Many of the powders and primers of this period were corrosive over time to copper based cartridge cases.

The rifle powder for the new cartridge was Rifleite, a flake nitrocellulose smokeless powder originally developed for use in the British .303 cartridge.

Walke, Willoughby (Lt.), Lectures on Explosives: A Course of Lectures Prepared Especially as a Manual and Guide in the Laboratory of the U.S. Artillery School, J. Wiley & Sons (1897) p. 343: Rifleite was a flake smokeless powder composed of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose, phenyl amidazobense, and volatiles similar to French smokeless powders; unlike cordite, Rifleite contained no nitroglycerine.

[cwtebay]

If one scrolls through the picture; there are a few with corrosion showing through the primer/case junctions - same for the case/bullet jacket junction on at least one. I noted one case that appears to have been cleaned with probable steel wool and a drill as there are circular striations all up and down the neck and shoulder. Many of the powders and primers of this period were corrosive over time to copper based cartridge cases.

The rifle powder for the new cartridge was Rifleite, a flake nitrocellulose smokeless powder originally developed for use in the British .303 cartridge.

Walke, Willoughby (Lt.), Lectures on Explosives: A Course of Lectures Prepared Especially as a Manual and Guide in the Laboratory of the U.S. Artillery School, J. Wiley & Sons (1897) p. 343: Rifleite was a flake smokeless powder composed of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose, phenyl amidazobense, and volatiles similar to French smokeless powders; unlike cordite, Rifleite contained no nitroglycerine.

I saw that. I have quite a few examples of the cartridge, strangely enough - those that were still sewn into packs on stripper clips were the least affected examples that I have seen. Perhaps the best example of a cartridge developed before its time.

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[Watergoat]

I would think you could 6mm Lee Navy cases by necking up 220 Swift cases, since that was the base case for the Swift. I found a listing for 6.5 x 53R Dutch ammo yesterday, only $141.69 per 20. OUCH! I just need to find a set of dies, have plenty of .303 British cases to form it from.

[Thom_44]

some of those old cartridges were indeed ahead of their time,, but odly enough id still give a wager the 6mm lee navy would beat a 5.56 any day of the week.

But the rifle is the expensive part of the equation.

[cwtebay]

I would think you could 6mm Lee Navy cases by necking up 220 Swift cases, since that was the base case for the Swift. I found a listing for 6.5 x 53R Dutch ammo yesterday, only $141.69 per 20. OUCH! I just need to find a set of dies, have plenty of .303 British cases to form it from.

Yes one can do that, but it's far easier with 25-06 brass.

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