What is this .308 round?

[raindog]

So I'm at a gun show this past weekend, with my wife who is 8 months pregnant. One of the vendors, who seemed a little odd, took one look at her and began spouting Bible verses. We smiled and nodded and listened to him.

Then he asked "Do you shoot .308?"

Yes, I do.

"Do you like The Sound of Music?"

Well...I've seen it...

He then gives me wife a round of ammo (pics below) and says it's from Austria, very rare, and is his gift to our baby's college fund.

OK, the guy was a little strange...and he had some sort of speech impediment, so I couldn't really understand everything he was saying. We thanked him and left...and now I have this weird bullet. It's all in one piece (no separate bullet/brass), and if you shake it, you can hear what I presume is the gunpowder rattling around inside.

Is this a blank?

I am not going to load it into my rifle to find out...of course, that leaves the question of what to do with the thing. Maybe give it to my child when she turns 18 and say "here you go, kid, this oughta pay for Harvard"? ;-)

 

[General Geoff]

Looks like a blank to me.

 

[Tim the Enchanter]

It's a blank.
from:
http://www.afte.org/ExamResources/g...etters_001/H/762NATOL31A1BlankHdstmp.jpg.html

Description: 7.62 NATO caliber Blanks from Hirtenberg Patronen of Austria. L31A1 blank, brass, full-length case, rose crimp case mouth, green mouth sealant, brass, percussion primer, red primer sealant, no primer crimp, headstamp "HP 92 L31A1" Packaged 20 rounds to a tan cardboard box with white over label & black printing, purple lot number. For commercial US market, circa: 2007
# Owner: Richard G. Hitchcox

 

[Drachenstein]

It's a blank. Sounds like a nut case with a message.

 

[Oldfalguy]

Truly is a bit strange gift in this circumstance

And I wonder what that message would be?

Raindog certainly isn't shooting any blanks?

Still sorta of a need round I had not seen before-

 

[bullseye308]

I bought a bunch of that at a gun show a while back and was toldit was good reloadble brass. Still fact primed and it did look good. Whn I got home nad ran the headstamp I realised I was ripped off. Went back to the show and he was nowhere to be found. Still have a bunch but it isn't safe to reload. :banghead:

 

[waldonbuddy]

The stuff rattling around inside are probably diamonds..........lol.

 

[Eric F]

gun shows are great places to meet mentaly ill folks some times.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

Something rattling around on the inside?

That is very strange

 

[Eric F]

I would suspect it to be some sort of wad to keep the powder in the case.

 

[NMGonzo]

"shooting blanks" and "pregnancy" joke somewhere ...

 

[Eric F]

Ha I get it HA!

 

[jakemccoy]

That looks like something most people couldn't give away. This guy managed to pull off the improbable.

 

[raindog]

The rattling sounds like it's half full of sand or something. I'm going to guess gunpowder.

Various police departments sometimes have those "trade in any gun for a gift certificate" programs...maybe someone around here will have one for ammo and I can bring this in ;-)

 

[Hazzard]

L31A1=7.62 NATO blank. Sounds like the guy you met at the gun show may have been "touched" (or "teched" as they said it where I grew up). BTW, don't try to reload it, they are made of thinner brass.

 

[evan price]

"HP" = Hirtenberger Patronen (the maker) Austrian
L31A1 = designation for a blank
91 = year of manufacture

 

[Mp7]

...there MUST BE diamonds inside!

or it´s one of those secret swiss-blanks full of Nazi-gold
smuggled by a submarine in ´45 ... that made it to your
gunshow via argentina ...



" gun shows are great places to meet mentaly ill folks some times. "
...ah.. yeah, and they have guns.

 

[lions]

Anyone have an estimate as to how many cents this gift to the baby's college fund is worth?

Maybe there will be enough left over for the retirement fund too!

 

[dastardly-D]

Crimped round

Way back when I was in the service,we used a round like that to shoot rifle grenades.Mind you we were using M1's and it was 3006.Maybe,just maybe,when the military went over to the M14,they tried the same rifle grenade concept with the 7.62x51 ? I also remember ALL our blanks had a blunt end with a small piece of red painted cardboard crimped in place,not a totally pointed tip crimped cartridge..........like what is shown.........

 

[dubbleA]

Looks to be a blank to me.

Be thankful, your child's college fund now has $.50 more than it did.

BTW, starting a 529 would be great idea when your child is born.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

I guess I get it:

he's saying that if you only have one kid, you'll actually have enough dough to send that one to the Uni LOL

 

[Walkalong]

Do let us know if it was diamonds or gold inside.