Thread: Old .303 Ammunition

The 'Deer & Mountains' packet came out in the late 60's and are quite collectable in good condition. The FN box is part of a large batch that the NZFS imported from Belgium for culler use. It was made for the Belgian Army for use in Bren guns. Another collectable item. The CAC 'Deer & Mountains' and the later red, black, and white packets are boxer primed and are not known for their storage qualities, cracked necks and corrosion being common. They were made after CAC lost their military contracts (and a lot of their skilled staff) and the company went through a period of restructuring which caused many quality control problems, not long before they went completely tits up. Another classic case of letting accountants and people with business degrees fuck a good business up!

Originally Posted by gundoc

The 'Deer & Mountains' packet came out in the late 60's and are quite collectable in good condition. The FN box is part of a large batch that the NZFS imported from Belgium for culler use. It was made for the Belgian Army for use in Bren guns. Another collectable item. The CAC 'Deer & Mountains' and the later red, black, and white packets are boxer primed and are not known for their storage qualities, cracked necks and corrosion being common. They were made after CAC lost their military contracts (and a lot of their skilled staff) and the company went through a period of restructuring which caused many quality control problems, not long before they went completely tits up. Another classic case of letting accountants and people with business degrees fuck a good business up!

Sad that a country, even combined NZ/AU, would/could not keep even its small arms ammunition manufacture domestic.

Originally Posted by Cordite

Sad that a country, even combined NZ/AU, would/could not keep even its small arms ammunition manufacture domestic.

When the changeover to 7.62mm occurred in 1960 the factory made a mistake by not upgrading to new machinery and tried to make do with retooling the old .303 machines that were 70 years old. The fact that only the cases and bullets were made here (on outdated machinery), the raw metal strip, propellant, and primers all being imported, it was not possible to compete with much larger overseas factories (Australia, Singapore, etc). The 7.62mm production only lasted about 5 years and it was all downhill from then on. CAC did expand their range of calibres (.243, .270, .30/30, .30/06, and .303) and were exporting to the USA but price and quality were real problems. There mainstay 12 gauge production also suffered quality control problems and the debacle of the High Flyer ammo blowing up a few guns was the final nail. They tried expanding into plastics and deep-drawn products like lipstick tubes but without real success.

Originally Posted by gundoc

The 'Deer & Mountains' packet came out in the late 60's and are quite collectable in good condition. The FN box is part of a large batch that the NZFS imported from Belgium for culler use. It was made for the Belgian Army for use in Bren guns. Another collectable item. The CAC 'Deer & Mountains' and the later red, black, and white packets are boxer primed and are not known for their storage qualities, cracked necks and corrosion being common. They were made after CAC lost their military contracts (and a lot of their skilled staff) and the company went through a period of restructuring which caused many quality control problems, not long before they went completely tits up. Another classic case of letting accountants and people with business degrees fuck a good business up!

Greetings,
The Deer and Mountain packet cartridges I have have the large diameter, and I assume Berdan primers. They are head stamped CAC, 303 and NZ same as the ones I had over 50 years ago. These last were definitely Berdan. Possibly early production?
Grandpamac.