List of military headstamps

A headstamp is the marking on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. Military headstamps usually have only the year of manufacture .

The left cartridge's headstamp says "FC 223 REM" which means that it was made by Federal Cartridge Co. and it is in the caliber .223 Remington. The cartridge on the right has a Two digits are the last two digits of the year of manufacture. They can be together as two digits or opposite each other (i.e., the tens digit at 9 o'clock and the ones digit at 3 o'clock). Early 20th century cartridges may have additional digits or a letter indicating the month or yearly quarter of manufacture.

A letter, number, or alphanumeric code indicates the place of manufacture:[1] Other codes may indicate metal suppliers (like France or The Netherlands) or the percentage of copper in the alloy the cartridge case is made of (like Poland and Germany).

  1. ^ Sharpe, Philip B. Complete Guide to Handloading (1953) Funk & Wagnalls p.75