Need help to Identify 7.62mm ammo

[kieffer]

Greetings from way around the world: (the western part of New York State, USA)
I have a request for information that hopefully someone on your forum can help.
I am an avid small arms shooter of older military arms and have recently acquired a quantity of 7.62x51 mm M80 rifle rounds with the following headstamps (OFV 97 7.62 M80) and (OFV 98 7.62 M80) they come in a clear plastic sleeve, 10 rds. per package. Marked "cartridges 7.62 mm NATO Ball M80 10 rds. mfg. in India" with " Warning keep out of reach of children
"ammunition should be kept locked and separate from firearms" imprinted in English on the package.
The dilemma I face is that on one of the M14 rifle sites that I frequent a "tempest in a teacup" has ensued as to the viability and safety of the manufacture of OFV rifle rounds. Some have said that in the early '70s the Brits turned over the manufacturing to the Indian government and the quality became questionable. (erratic powder charges, poor seating and/or crimp and generally unsafe to fire in semi-auto rifles) As I wish to expend these 400 rounds I have acquired in my Chinese clone M14 (PolyTech) I would like some input from someone who has first hand knowledge, not just hearsay or he heard from someone who heard from a friend etc. etc. ( I do like my face and hands the way they are )
I would love to know what "OFV" stands for as I cannot find it under cartridge head stamp sites and if there was a problem(s) they or it had been corrected by '97-'98 manufacture.
Thanks for any information you can pass on.

[xl_target]

Kieffer,

The OFV headstamp means it came from Ordnance Factory, Varangoan, Busawal, India
7.62 NATO is a prohibited bore for Indian citizens. It is unlikely that very many civilian shooters will have experience with this ammo while resident in India.

I did find a bunch of links about this ammo:
http://freedomshighprice.awardspace.com ... ianofv.htm
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.p ... 073&page=2
http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsfo ... stamp.html
http://www.sporterizing.com/index.php?showtopic=5999
http://www.falfiles.com/forums/printthr ... adid=22959
http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthre ... ight=.308*

[winnie_the_pooh]

Keiffer,

From what I have experienced ,of all the ammo that the Ordnance Factories turn out 7.62 NATO ammo is generally better.Even old ammo generally fires.Off course a lot would depend upon how it has been stored.Since 7.62 SLR's are still in use by the state police forces and many of the Central Police Forces,the fact that some ammo has been surplussed off should tell you something about it.

Also,India gained independence from the British in 1947 and the ordnance factories too came under Indian control in that year itself.

[kieffer]

thanks for all the information. I think I will try to contact the factory and see what they say(even though it may be the factory line) since this is the "newer" '97-'98 stuff hopefully the age issue is not a factor.
I can't believe the average citizen can't own this caliber rifle (great hunting round .308).

[casual shooter]

Contact the factory !!! good luck to you.

[kieffer]

factory website contact person has bad email address and the website is less than stellar.
I winder how long a postal snail mail would take?
Kieffer

[goodboy_mentor]

I do not think you will be able to extract any useful information from factory. They hardly care to respond or listen to even Indians living in India. Government owned Indian Ordnance Factory is the ONLY rifle, pistol/revolver and related ammunition manufacturer in the country of over 1 billion people. Hence it is a complete market of monopoly for IOF, resulting in products of inconsistent and variable quality. Imports are practically banned for civillians. These are the ONLY arms and ammunition available to citizens of India besides shotguns: http://ofbindia.nic.in/index.php?wh=Spo ... ms&lang=en
Therefore if you want to fire those 7.62*51 mm cartridges through your gun, you will have to take a decision. If you decide to fire them, as a precaution I would recommend you to clean/wash the barrel thoroughly after firing daily(just to rule out corrosion, in case the primers/powders used are of corrosive nature)

[kieffer]

Aha! More good information. Only one factory for the whole country! How on earth would it keep up for the demand of the military in case of an actual hostile situation? It makes no sense to me, but there is a whole different culture and government involved, which, at this point, is not the topic, is it? Suffice it to say I feel a whole lot more "Free" now than I did 30 minutes ago.
Good advise on the rounds (possible corrosive primers). Other reports from shooters have indicated "very dirty", " tar like substance inside cases after firing" . What we have taken to doing is firing "unknowns" and then firing a few rounds of "known" clean ammunition to cleanse most of the fouling out and then cleaning accordingly.

Thanks for the sage advise

[sanjiv]

Civilians wishing to fire 7.62 can use the .308 instead which is the equivalent ammo and legal for civilian use.

-- Sat Aug 07, 2010 12:12 am --

thanks for all the information. I think I will try to contact the factory and see what they say(even though it may be the factory line) since this is the "newer" '97-'98 stuff hopefully the age issue is not a factor.
I can't believe the average citizen can't own this caliber rifle (great hunting round .308).

Btw hunting is illegal in India !

[MoA]

I have used the OFV 97 ammo. Dirty, inconsistently loaded and inaccurate. It is cheap and brass is fairly decent.
I would buy something better if possible, unless the primary aim is plinking.

[kieffer]

This would just be casual shooting not for extreme accuracy. I just wanted to be sure it wouldn't harm the rifle or me. By inconsistent loads do you mean overloaded or under? I heard the brass was good for reloading and being boxer primed, easy to reload.
thanks for the response.
What? Hunting is illegal in India?

[xl_target]

Only one factory for the whole country!

There are several Ordnance factories in India. OFV is just one of them. What the poster meant is that the Govt. Ordnance factories are to sole manufacturers of Indian made firearms and ammunition in India.
Some foreign ammo is available but in very limited quantities and is generally very expensive.

What? Hunting is illegal in India?

Yes it is and has been for some time.

[kieffer]

"Dirty, inconsistently loaded and inaccurate" and this is supplied to the military for use in their rifles
AND sold on the surplus market? I hate to think that all I can do with it is pull the bullets and discard, pour out the powder charge and discard and pass on the brass with unknown (corrosive or not) primers to a reloading friend.

Oh well, without any other information as to my safety and the possibility of my rifle being damaged, I fear I have no other recourse.

[MoA]

Actually I believe the ammunition on the surplus market was rejected by the Army.
The ammunition is non corrosive, and bullets can be reused. The ammunition is fine for plinking, just dont expect sub 2-3 MOA groups.

[kieffer]

Any Idea why it was rejected? It's turning up here in the US.