I know this horse has been beaten into the great beyond before, but does anyone here have first hand knowledge of someone having problems importing non-matching headstamped brass into Africa? If so, what country(s)?

Just what are your alternatives if you create brass for your boomer from another caliber than the one stamped on your barrel? (When was the last time you saw the words "Ackley Improved" stamped on ANY ammo?)

I don't know anybody that has had problems, but if you are going to Africa you can spend a bit of money (not much either) and have Quality Cartridge make you up some properly headstamped brass. I think they already have 375 improved and are planning on doing 257roberts AI 35whelen AI. if they don't have it yet you can order a minimum amount and they will get it going for you.

Red

I have never spoken to anyone directly who has had this problem. That said, there are options that should eliminate the possibility of a problem. The most obvious one would be a two line caliber stamp on the barrel (or a separate stamp on the opposite side of the barrel. It could be along the lines of groove diameter/parent case (example 416/458 Win Mag or 416/338 Win Mag for the 416 Taylor). If the inspector is so unknowledgeable about firearms as to not be aware of wildcat calibers, they are not knowledgeable enough to question this method of caliber marking. In the case of an Ackley Improved, just add the Ackley Improved on a second line below the parent caliber.



The other option (if no custom brass is available) is to mill the original marking off the base, and remark with a die stamp of the proper caliber. This should be done as a groove on the surface of the base/rim to prevent causing excess headspace which would result from thinning the base/rim by the thickness of the depth of the original caliber marking. Actually on a rimless case that has to have the shoulder set back to form a wildcat it would be possible to simply face off the base enough to remove tha caliber marking before forming and restamp, but this could weaken the area that the extractor has to work on more than the groove process.



My preference would be the barrel marking, since so much less work and expense is required, and the brass would be SLIGHTLY stronger and more reliable in the rim area than the grooved or milled brass.



Jim

I have never heard of any country but Botswana requiring matching headstamps on ammunition. I have heard that even in Botswana, you're likely as not to get a customs officer who pays no attention to the headstamps on your ammunition. So before I spend one dime having my barrel or my headstamps modified, I would decide where in Africa I wanted to go, except for Botswana, and contact several operators who book there and ask them whether it was problem or not. Otherwise, "Thou shalt not fear for the worst because the worst never happens" . . . even in Africa.

This is one of those problems that can be made to disappear, if it should appear, with the help of a $20 bill. I doubt you will have any problems however.

I observed this once entering Namibia in '95. My wife and I were in line behind an Austrian gentleman and his wife, and the customs inspector took all his ammo out of the boxes and examined each headstamp. With 100 rounds of shotgun ammo, this was tedious.

Since our luggage didn't make it on the plane, we didn't have any ammo. He just checked the serial numbers on the rifles and waved us on.

Africa is after all Africa, and things can happen where ever and whenever.


jim dodd

Dago red, do you have contact info on Quality Cartridge? D

Do what I did...buy those red plastic boxes and I sealed them with a vacuum packer with a label on the side stating
375H&H magnum
300gr spitzer Boattail


Mike