Can you identify this 223 ammo?

[mkl]

I picked up a case of some very nice looking 223 ammunition at gun show, but can't for the life of me find out who made it. Any help appreciated.

The head stamp is H1 (letter H, numeral one) on the top, and 5.56 on the bottom.

The brass has the small flash hole which destroys decapping pins, and has a standard military crimp around the primer.

The primer is sealed with green sealant.

The brass has not been polished -- the annealing mark is quite visible.

It is packaged in boxes of 40 rounds, with each round supported in a plastic carrier of five holes by eight holes. Stamped on each box is "40 cartridges, 5.56 MM ball, 40 RD. carton, LOT FHB645A."

I was told the ammo had a 55 grain bullet; I can pull one and weigh if that becomes a determining factor. It is FMJ.

Anyone out there who can tell me who made the stuff, and if so is it decent brass. I would hate to go to the trouble of uniforming all the flash holes to normal size only to find out the brass is of poor quality for reloading.

Thanks

mkl

 

[Ridgerunner665]

The "H" is for Hirtenberger (spelling?)...the 1 is a date code...which is 1981 I think...its good ammo but hell on decapping pins. Don't try to reload it.

 

[mkl]

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to keep the empty cases separate from my other 223 brass.

 

[amlevin]

I have loaded this brass before. I use a LEE Universal Depriming die first and a drill bit to make the primer hole a more standard size. The LEE die seems to hold up OK. I have only had to replace one deprimer pin/expander in over 10,000 rounds of mixed .223/5.56 ammo.

 

[CBS220]

Lyman tends to make the smallest pins, in my experience.

Has anyone tried to decap it with lyman dies?