What have I got here???

[Hogwylde]

I recently inherited an ammo can of 30-06 ammo. To my surprise, it appeared that the whole can was M2 AP ammo. Headstamps on the first 100 rounds was DEN 44. Most of the ammo looked shootable, but I don't have a 30-06. So, I decided to pull the bullets and have them loaded in 308 cases in the future. After I pulled the the first 100 rounds from the cloth belt, the rest of the rounds don't have the black tips anymore. Headstamps on these newer rounds are WRA 52. These newer rounds have ball poweder instead of the stick like the older stuff. However......these bullets will stick to a magnet. This indicates to me that they are at least steel core....probably AP also. My question though....just exactly what bullets are these? They are shorter, FMJ, and about the same size/weight as standard 147g ball. Are these M61 AP bullets loaded into 30-06 cases? Did M61 AP even exist in 1952? Both bullets measure 0.307" diameter. Tell me what I've got here guys. I'm sure these newer bullets will load easier into 308 cases since they are shorter and won't cause the problems that the longer AP rounds cause when loading into the shorter 308 cases. See pics...

 

[AmmoManAaron]

The bullets that you have are M-2 Alternative, they are not any type of AP. They are lead core with a mild steel jacket and a gilding metal (brass/copper like) coating. More details here:
M2 Alternative - CMP Forums

FYI - The Wikipedia article on 30-06 that has the last year of use for M-2 Alt as 1945 is incorrect.

 

[Hogwylde]

Thank you Aaron. You would be correct. After seeing your post, I sectioned one of the pulled bullets. Just like you said, gilding metal over a steel jacket, filled with lead. Another happy INGO customer. I guess there's no need to continue pulling that junk. It made me curious though about what was in the other ammo box that was filled with loose 30-06. Top two layers had soft points in them and I hadn't dug down to any of the other layers assuming that the whole box was the same stuff............OH NO......

More of the Alternate ammo and about 100 more rounds of the black tip AP stuff buried. Fun, fun!!

 

[AmmoManAaron]

FYI - Your M-2 Ball Alternate that is headstamped WRA 52 is non-corrosive. On the other hand, any WRA 52 AP would be corrosive - they didn't switch for that loading until mid-year 1954. If you don't want the M-2 Ball Alternate, you shouldn't have any trouble getting 50 cents a round for it since it is good non-corrosive plinking ammo for a Garand. You could then go buy some decent .308 that you can use for approximately the same price (I'm thinking ZQI commercial or Hirtenberger surplus that is on the market right now).