Danish M2 ball differences over time?

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Rich Jordan
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Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:04 am

Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Rich Jordan »

I've got two crates of Danish M2 that I bought back in the '90s and never opened; 1984 in en-blocs and 1961 in Springfield stripper clips. In order to save on my reloadable LC and commercial M2 ball at an upcoming event (company, believe it or not, is doing a team-building at a range and those of us who own firearms have been invited to bring a couple. The M1 Garand (and maybe a carbine) proved to be very popular when I asked about them). But first to an indoor (close) range to test and re-sight; its been a long time since they were shot due to range availability issues.

My recollection and the surprisingly scanty info I've found online says all Danish should be non-magnetic and non-corrosive (but Berdan primed). Anyone have experience with the different decades of this ammo's manufacture that would make a diff in what to pick for general unscored range shooting?

Thanks
Rich Jordan
Posts: 1840
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:04 am

Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Rich Jordan »

I guess Danish M2 is just a mystery.

I went through all my stored ammo (which I haven't done in years) and found some more LC66 non-magnetic M2, and some boxes of PMC M2 ball. Used a box of each today to proof and re-sight in the Garand. Also found a bag of my hand loaded M1 carbine ammo and got it rechecked and sighted in as well. I found out I can use steel-jacket ammo at the event range if necessary; it was today at the indoor range that needed nonmagnetic

It has been too long; outdoor ranges are far away and I haven't shot either in several years. I forgot how wonderful both of those guns are to shoot. Even though I could only do 50 yards today (indoor range), was stuck with somewhat flakey aftermarket 10 round mags for the carbine, and my eyes no longer like the sights on those rifles as much as they used to (did much better with the red-dot on the 10mm MechTech CCU I also took along).

On the down side I lost about 6 of 50 carbine cases and all but 2 of the M2 cases; they fell too far forward beyond the firing line to retrieve with the broom (and thats the rule at this range). But I've got plenty of usable factory ammo for the company outing; I don't expect anyone will get to shoot all that much out of any one gun so the contribution won't hurt too much, and I should get the brass back for reloading.

But I have to get a real carbine magazine to use for the event; all my original ones are in safe storage due to the local ban.
Cobar
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Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Cobar »

Don't know about the Danish M2, but is there any surplus M2 out there anymore? My Garand has been in storage and my ammo burned up in a house fire at my friends house. The Garand was stored elsewhere.

I went looking for more ammo.... wow expensive. It looks like at this point that if you don't have something stored up, it is Prvi M2 then reloading.
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slowpoke
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Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by slowpoke »

Cobar wrote:Don't know about the Danish M2, but is there any surplus M2 out there anymore? My Garand has been in storage and my ammo burned up in a house fire at my friends house. The Garand was stored elsewhere.

I went looking for more ammo.... wow expensive. It looks like at this point that if you don't have something stored up, it is Prvi M2 then reloading.
I havent checked, but I thought cmp still had some ammo, even though I missed out on getting a garand from them...
"Islam delenda est" Aesop
Cobar
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:23 pm

Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Cobar »

As of now I see HXP for $0.80/round, and S&B for $0.85/round on CMP's site.

I think all the surplus is dried up. Makes sense, no military has used .30-06 in a long time.
Rich Jordan
Posts: 1840
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:04 am

Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Rich Jordan »

CMP also had some Danish for $0.89/each. Its pretty damned expensive scrapings left at this point. I got cut out of the mail order market years ago when crook county banned ammo shipments in (illegally but the vendors didn't want to challenge it); since then it has been (partially) overridden but too late to pick up more M2 when it was cheaper.

The lack of outdoor ranges (and work becoming the great eater of free time) is the reason I still have a fair supply of the 'factory' loads. But I think I will use the earlier Danish for the office event. Berdan primed so losing brass (and using it up at all) hurts less ;)

My Garand deserves to be shot more. Its too sweet of a rifle to be left in the safe for so long. I'll either have to get my reloading setup going again or reinstall the vented gas plug so I can use the non-M2 ammo I still have. But I'll absolutely need to set up a brass catcher if I use it at the indoor range again.
Cobar
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:23 pm

Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Cobar »

LINK

Anyone ever dealt with this place? It is the cheapest I have seen it by far.
Rich Jordan
Posts: 1840
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:04 am

Re: Danish M2 ball differences over time?

Post by Rich Jordan »

I haven't used SGAmmo but some acquaintances (online and local) have in the last year. No problems reported.
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