[cookiemonster]

Okay...I purchased this stuff not holding my breath...I saw that it is boxer primed and figured..."Heck, if I get reloadable brass out of it, its worth it."

I wasn't planning on shooting it out of any of my quality firearms. Instead I have a CAI beater FAL that I was going to use to help "produce" the brass then just FL resize and go from there....

I decided to take 100 rounds of it and de-mill it. (I got 1000 pcs)

I am scared. First off, the crimp was only really working (read that it was difficult to pull the bullet on mebbe 2 out of 20) on only a few. And out of 100 pieces, about 10 of them randomly had stick powder instead of ball powder....suprisingly the bullets were fairly close in weight...the ones I was measuring were 148 gr. +- 1.5 gr. (this is considering how the rest of the ammo looked at this time...QC in India isn't impressing me any)...

So I am sure that there have been other warnings about this ammo...let this be another. :(

Darrell

[LiquidTension]

Where did you get yours from? Some company is saying that they've inspected the stuff they sell and throw out the bad rounds...maybe J&G?

Doesn't matter to me, I've heard too many horror stories. I'll stick with Australian, South African, or whatever else I can find that's NOT Indian.

[Master Blaster]

Indian surplus = unsafe crap.

Egyptian surplus = unsafe crap.

Greek Surplus/Olympic ammo = unsafe crap.

Pakistani surplus = Unsafe crap.

A good rule is if drinking the water in the country of manufacture wouldnt be something you want to do because it might have crap in it, their ammo is probably crap.

[cookiemonster]

I got it from J&G sales.

Don't get me wrong, its visually fine...but you can't look inside the case. :(

And I have already decided...its all getting demilled and decapped. I don't even want to trust the primers...besides I get to try out my primer pocket swager...

I figure 1000 bullets and 1000 pcs of brass...all it needs is a little work.

And the brass shouldn't be in question...I don't load up hot-rods...

Darrell

[Master Blaster]

First off, the crimp was only really working (read that it was difficult to pull the bullet on mebbe 2 out of 20) on only a few. And the brass shouldn't be in question...I don't load up hot-rods...

You may want to resize the cases, one of the problems with the ammo you mention was inconsistant case dimensions, poor sizing, and thats why there was no case neck tension holding the bullets in.

I would call JG inform them of the problem and ask politely for a refund.

[TooTaxed]

There have been instances where early (1980's) Indian was blamed for blowing up a CETME, a FAL, and a MG-42...complete reports, including photos. The early Indian surplus was de-linked machine gun ammo, with a fairly high incidence of loose bullets and damaged cases. The damaged gun photos appeared to indicate that the cartridges ignited before being completely chambered and locked...possibly protruding primers?

On the other hand, recently manufactured stuff seems to be of much better quality. Before running across the damaged gun threads, a buddy gave me 5 rounds of 1997 mfg, which I fired in my CETME...and was rather shocked to get a 5-round one-minute group at 100-yds, much better than the Austrailian, Portugese, and South African I had been testing. As I still have sizable quantities of other surplus, and have been collecting sufficient Lake City brass from the range for reloading, plus the many complaints about the Indian, I haven't gone further with the Indian.

What year of manufacture is your stuff?

[cookiemonster]

Head stamp is as follows....

KF 92 7.62B

KF- I assume the plant of manuf.
92- Date of manuf.

I am sure that this was not linked ammo as there are no noticable dents in the case...

But I am still not taking chances...I took 50 and have gone through my own QC check and have, out of 50, discarded two for rim issues...no other problems I could find. I have swaged the primer pockets, trued up the flash hole with a Lyman flash-hole tool and ran through a RCBS FL sizing die after getting the throats cleaned out of that sealant.

I also noticed that the case mouths are VERY hard...I am considering annealing then before going any further...

Darrell

[Freightman]

I pulled down 2560 rds of '02 dated Indian and used the powder and bullets (after de tarring them) in my 7.5x54 Mas loads made a great load. Paid $200 + $7.50 shipping for 2560 . That is 15.64# of powder, 2560 147 g FMJBT bullets, and 2560 cases For 207.50 now in my books it is worth the money for the componants. I also use the powder for my K31 Swiss.
I didn't find too much of a varance + or- .5 at most. only found 6 cases that were bent where they would not have chambered.

[Mikul]

If you're so inclined, I'd love to see the powder charge for 10 random cartridges. I've often wondered if the charges were as erratic as the rest of their reloading process.

Freightman, of the 2560 rounds that you pulled, did you find any squibs?

[Sunray]

"...its all getting demilled and decapped..." Would have been less fuss to just buy new brass. Likely cheaper too.

[cookiemonster]

not really...its not too bad when you get going. Especially with an RCBS collet puller...

I have already tried some of the "processed" brass I did and it works great...I even used some of the bullets for breaking in a new barrel. I didn't waste my "good" stuff on it...I am happy. :)

Darrell

[Freightman]

I did not find any that had a dangerous lack of powder, but I had only the 2002 ammo not the earlyer stuff. I have never had anything earler than the '02 ammo, it all came in cans that were marked '02 also, so I wouldn't say that the earler was or was not safe.
I bought the ammo for only the componants so as far as shooting it as is I do not know.
O by the way all apeared to be the same powder and most was loaded with 42.5/43g and I weighed about every 10th rd.
I am also not concerned with time as I am retired and need something to keep me out of trouble.

[cookiemonster]

hmm..I haven't been able to find any '02 manufacture yet...I will keep looking, though...mebbe their QC grew up in the 10 year span from my batch to yours...

Darrell

[Master Blaster]

Just out of curiosity, after you pulled down those rounds, how did you know what data to use when you recycled the powder and loaded new rounds????

[Freightman]

I weighed the powder in the cases of 20 rounds and came up with a 42.5 average and loaded my 7.5x54 French at 39g well I loaded it a little lighter but it wouldn't cycle the rifle the 39g will and 40.5g works best.
I also pull down the 8MM Turk ammo and reload at a lighter load so I have worked up a load using that powder also.
If you are not comfortable with this DO NOT DO IT I do not recomend this you take your own chances.

[cookiemonster]

I have done it with 7.62x54 ammo...the czech machine gun stuff?

loose about 2 grains and its a little more pleasant to shoot in a carbine. :)

Darrell