DEN 43

[Mark Daiute]

I just picked up one of those kitchen sized trash cans that was 3/4 full of 30-06 brass almost all of it head stamped WRA 54 or RA 57. Occasionally I'll come across a case that is head stamped DEN over 43.


Who's head stamp was this?

Thanks as always.

Mark

[Mark Daiute]

As soon as I posted I saw the headstamp ID site.

Denver Ordinance Plant, Colorado.

Thanks, guys.

[Litt'le Lee]

It is corrosive primered-so if you reload it you need to wash it

[Mark Daiute]

It is corrosive primered-so if you reload it you need to wash it

this is old empty brass that I've tumbled. Once the old primer is knocked out still need to wash it?

[Hecklerusp45]

I would. Better safe than corroded.

[Mark Daiute]

Glad we had this conversation! never woulda thought of it. How bout the Remington and Winchester cases from the early 50's?

[Tuna]

The Winchester and Remington brass were loaded with non corrosive primers. The DEN brass was loaded with corrosive primers so you do need to wash the brass out to remove any of the chloride salts that may be left in the brass. Once done your good to go using it.

[Johnny in Texas]

I would wash it DEN 43 is very corrosive if there is such a thing I shot some in an 03A3 years ago and cleaned it with USGI WW2 bore cleaner twice and it started to rust in two days when I cleaned it the third time the patch was orange
Water and windex is the best thing to use as is it washes the salt out of the copper fouling

[Mark Daiute]

Johnny, thanks for the heads up. Out of thousands of cases I've only spotted a couple of DEN cases. They are intersting to me since they were around for WW!!.

I'll separate all that brass prior to using and set aside and wash the DEN brass.

Regards and thanks to all,

Mark

[sdkrag]

I'd heard years ago that some of the Denver brass was the best for reloading. It was supposedly "virgin" brass vs. recycled. I don't remember if it was 42 or 43. I still have a fair quantity that the boys shoot in their rifles for fun.

[Tuna]

There was no such thing as recycled brass for use in standard military ammunition. Blanks often were loaded with recycled brass but that's about it. The military stopped using fired brass many decades ago about the time of the adoption of smokeless powder.

[George in NH]

For Johnny in Texas,
Sir,
Odd that the WWII bore cleaner did not do the job. That period bore cleaner is water based and contains petroleum emulsifiers. The water base dissolves and removes the "salt" and the emulsifiers provide protection against rusting. I have used WWII dated bore cleaner for many years and have had no problems. If I remember correctly, one should shake the can before opening as the contents seem to separate or may separate. HTH George in NH

[raymeketa]

Denver Ordnance Plant manufactured nearly 5 Billion rounds of Cal .30 (30-06) between October 1941 and July 1944. It is the most common of the WWII ammunition. At peak production, they were manufacturing 10,000,000 rounds per day.

[sdkrag]

Tuna, I didn't mean reloading recycling. Some brass was made from reclaimed metals during the war. What I had heard was that the Denver stuff was made with new mineral straight out of the mine, thus few impuritys and very easy to reload. Anyway that's what I heard. But my memory is as old as me. It's really good but short.

[Johnny in Texas]

For George in NH I was using the dark brown stuff.

[PhillipM]

I've bought two 420 round ammo cans of DEN 42 on 5 round clips in bandoleers from the cmp when it was selling it as collector ammo 10 years ago. I wish I had bought more.

[Mark Daiute]

I started segregating my brass and have come up with far more of the WWII stuff than I originally thought I had. So far I have SL, UT, DM, EW and DEN head stamps, all 42 and 43.