45 ACP military

[tedog]

Cases are stamped E C S 43. Cases are free of corrosion. Would these have corrosive primers? Have been stored in a cool dry reloaders home. Would it be safe to shoot in my Range Officer? Thanks.

[gwpercle]

Loaded military ammo or empty fired cases you wish to reload ?

Are the primers crimped in place ?
Gary

[LoboGunLeather]

If memory serves correctly, ECS indicates the Evansville ammo plant. "43" indicates 1943 production. Ammo of that era utilized corrosive (fulminate of mercury) primers, so fired cases should be cleaned thoroughly before reuse (I always used hot water with dish soap, soaking for several hours followed by two or three rinses in clear water). Primer pockets may be crimped, so could require removal of the crimp prior to repriming (crimps may be reamed out with a cutting tool or swaged in a die).

Should be safe enough in your pistol. Proper cleaning procedures should follow use to remove primer residue. GI solvent will do the job nicely, or hot soapy water followed by your usual cleaning methods.

Over the years I have fired several thousand rounds of WW2 era GI ammo without any problems. Quality control was well maintained in spite of massive wartime requirements.

[OFT II]

Evansville produced steel case corrosive primed ammunition during the war. If I remember correctly the primers are crimped. Long ago I reloaded some EC cases and decided that they were more trouble than they were worth.

[cgt4570]

I wrongly assumed E C was Eau Claire, WI ammo plant. I learned something.

[Skeet 028]

Are they steel cases? Check with a magnet. I still have some Evansville made 45s here and the headstamp is just EC 43 no S on mine....and as stated corrosive primers. However not as stated above...not Fulminate of Mercury in the primers but I am pretty certain it was Potassium Chlorate... which when fired turns into a salt type residue...which in turn causes rust in the bore

[tedog]

Thank you for your replies, they are steel cases and primers do not appear to be crimped. I will not be saving the cases as I have a thousand or so good brass.

[Mike0251]

They shoot great! Primers are corrosive so clean well after shooting and the cases are indeed steel. EC is Evansville Chrysler plant. See my post in this thread:
Bullets By the Billions

[Mike0251]

Here is the PDF of the book a most enjoyable read! Uploaded in 2 sections due to file size. Enjoy!

[BE Mike]

That ammo might be worth more to a collector than for your plinking. It might be worth checking out. As has been stated, corrosive primed ammo means a detailed cleaning. I always used soapy hot water.

[stansdds]

If that is original, ECS 43 ammo, I would not shoot it. It is corrosive primed, but it is also of value to collectors, worth more than new ammo.