Headstamp Guide - Symbols
Headstamps with Symbols
A Brief History
Made in Austria. They also made a "***H" headstamp as well.
A Brief History
In this example of Bulgarian-made 7.62x25mm ammunition from top to bottom (horizontally):
the star usually stands for brass case
the backwards '3' is a Cyrillic 'Z' that stands for 'Zavod' or Factory, to the right of that is '10', to combine as Factory 10 (located in Kazanlak)
the year of manufacture (1953) is on the bottom
A Brief History
The 'S' on the headstamp denotes 'small pistol primer'. These were produced by Starline in a few calibers, to include 10mm, when large pistol primers were difficult to get. The *S headstamps were not sold in retail stores, they were only sold to one manufacturer - The Hunting Shack, who utilized them in their HSM line of ammunition.
A Brief History
Starline Brass
1300 W. Henry
Sedalia, MO 65301
800-280-6660
660-827-6640
Fax: 660-827-6650
info@starlinebrass.com
Starline Brass Website
A Brief History
Made by Aguila of Mexico - 5 star headstamp represents "in-house" ammunition, not meant to be used for commercial use or sale. The 5 star headstamp has been seen on 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto caliber cartridges.
A Brief History
North Korean made, '2' symbol stands for year of production: 1962.
A Brief History
The mark "-" between the * and the 11 is a symbol indicating that it is a single flash hole Berdan primed cartridge.
Povazske Strojarne Narodni Podnik Povaszka Bystrica
Factory #2
Povazska Bystrica
Slovakia
Czechoslovakia
A Brief History
Rotate headstamp 45 degrees counter clockwise to view the Browning buck logo on the headstamp.
Browning now offers ammuntion in a variety of calibers for shotguns, rifles, and handguns, including rimfire.
More information available at http://browningammo.com/
A Brief History
Marketed as Golden Tiger
Manufacturer: Federal State Enterprises Vympel
Russia
Marked on box of Golden Tiger cartridges:
Exclusive importer to North and South America
Star Vector Corporation
A Brief History
Igman Commerical Export .223 Remington - Konjic, Bosnia & Herzegovina
A Brief History
Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant Website
US Importer
DKG Trading Inc.
8791 Stringtown Rd.
Evansville, IL 62242
Phone Toll-Free: 877-354-2666
Fax: 618-785-2120
Email: sales@dkgtrading.com
Barnaul Ammunition Website
From Website:
JSC "Barnaul Machine Tool Plant" is one of the leading producers of industrial goods and ammunition in Russia. The history of the plant's dates far back in the past to the times of Aleksander I. He was the Emperor who ordered to open one of the first cartridge plants of Russia in St. Petersburg in 1869. Later, during the First World War Russian Army was supplied by it's production. The plant operated in St.Petersburg till the Civil War. When the German Forces were coming to St. Petersburg, the plant was evacuated from the Moscow region to Podolsk city. With the beginning of the Second World War (1941~1945), under the threat of Moscow siege by German Forces, the Podolsk Cartridge Plant was evacuated to Barnaul. It is here where all issues of almost all types of cartridges was started. The first echelon of ammunition for the Soviet Army was sent from Barnaul in about a month. It is well known that almost every second cartridge used by Soviet Forces during the Second World War was produced in Barnaul. The city, where the Barnaul Machine Tool Plant is situated, is in an advantageous geographic position. The presence of all direction railways, one of the main highways of the country and an international airport allows to promote goods successfully. The company has long term and stable contacts with large suppliers of raw materials and also some direct relationships with Russian and foreign firms, whose numbers are increasing. Unique technology and great scientific potential allow us to develop new types of products and to extend their range. The most substantial trend of plant activity is the manufacturing of sporting and hunting cartridges for rifled armor and shotgun cartridges for smooth bore rifles. Ballistic, constructional and exploiting characteristics of sport hunting cartridges do not yield to the best foreign analogues, modern technology of production allows us to keep prices for them stable and competitive. This makes the company one of the largest suppliers of cartridges in Russia and also gives an opportunity to deliver cartridges regularly to the United States of America, Europe and Asia. Such orientation on new development trends in the world ammunition market and ambitions for technology improvement are the central moments in the plant's market policy which provide for the dynamics of it's development.
A Brief History
Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant Website
US Importer
DKG Trading Inc.
8791 Stringtown Rd.
Evansville, IL 62242
Phone Toll-Free: 877-354-2666
Fax: 618-785-2120
Email: sales@dkgtrading.com
Barnaul Ammunition Website
From Website:
JSC "Barnaul Machine Tool Plant" is one of the leading producers of industrial goods and ammunition in Russia. The history of the plant's dates far back in the past to the times of Aleksander I. He was the Emperor who ordered to open one of the first cartridge plants of Russia in St. Petersburg in 1869. Later, during the First World War Russian Army was supplied by it's production. The plant operated in St.Petersburg till the Civil War. When the German Forces were coming to St. Petersburg, the plant was evacuated from the Moscow region to Podolsk city. With the beginning of the Second World War (1941~1945), under the threat of Moscow siege by German Forces, the Podolsk Cartridge Plant was evacuated to Barnaul. It is here where all issues of almost all types of cartridges was started. The first echelon of ammunition for the Soviet Army was sent from Barnaul in about a month. It is well known that almost every second cartridge used by Soviet Forces during the Second World War was produced in Barnaul. The city, where the Barnaul Machine Tool Plant is situated, is in an advantageous geographic position. The presence of all direction railways, one of the main highways of the country and an international airport allows to promote goods successfully. The company has long term and stable contacts with large suppliers of raw materials and also some direct relationships with Russian and foreign firms, whose numbers are increasing. Unique technology and great scientific potential allow us to develop new types of products and to extend their range. The most substantial trend of plant activity is the manufacturing of sporting and hunting cartridges for rifled armor and shotgun cartridges for smooth bore rifles. Ballistic, constructional and exploiting characteristics of sport hunting cartridges do not yield to the best foreign analogues, modern technology of production allows us to keep prices for them stable and competitive. This makes the company one of the largest suppliers of cartridges in Russia and also gives an opportunity to deliver cartridges regularly to the United States of America, Europe and Asia. Such orientation on new development trends in the world ammunition market and ambitions for technology improvement are the central moments in the plant's market policy which provide for the dynamics of it's development.
A Brief History
Barnaul Machine-Tool Plant Website
https://www.dkgtrading.com/barnaul
US Importer
DKG Trading Inc.
8791 Stringtown Rd.
Evansville, IL 62242
Phone Toll-Free: 877-354-2666
Fax: 618-785-2120
Email: sales@dkgtrading.com
Barnaul Ammunition Website
From Website:
JSC "Barnaul Machine Tool Plant" is one of the leading producers of industrial goods and ammunition in Russia. The history of the plant's dates far back in the past to the times of Aleksander I. He was the Emperor who ordered to open one of the first cartridge plants of Russia in St. Petersburg in 1869. Later, during the First World War Russian Army was supplied by it's production. The plant operated in St.Petersburg till the Civil War. When the German Forces were coming to St. Petersburg, the plant was evacuated from the Moscow region to Podolsk city. With the beginning of the Second World War (1941~1945), under the threat of Moscow siege by German Forces, the Podolsk Cartridge Plant was evacuated to Barnaul. It is here where all issues of almost all types of cartridges was started. The first echelon of ammunition for the Soviet Army was sent from Barnaul in about a month. It is well known that almost every second cartridge used by Soviet Forces during the Second World War was produced in Barnaul. The city, where the Barnaul Machine Tool Plant is situated, is in an advantageous geographic position. The presence of all direction railways, one of the main highways of the country and an international airport allows to promote goods successfully. The company has long term and stable contacts with large suppliers of raw materials and also some direct relationships with Russian and foreign firms, whose numbers are increasing. Unique technology and great scientific potential allow us to develop new types of products and to extend their range. The most substantial trend of plant activity is the manufacturing of sporting and hunting cartridges for rifled armor and shotgun cartridges for smooth bore rifles. Ballistic, constructional and exploiting characteristics of sport hunting cartridges do not yield to the best foreign analogues, modern technology of production allows us to keep prices for them stable and competitive. This makes the company one of the largest suppliers of cartridges in Russia and also gives an opportunity to deliver cartridges regularly to the United States of America, Europe and Asia. Such orientation on new development trends in the world ammunition market and ambitions for technology improvement are the central moments in the plant's market policy which provide for the dynamics of it's development.
A Brief History
Case made by Starline for reloading and sales to other manufacturers (seen on a TEN-X cartridge in Jan 2010)
[i](information courtesy of Axel Manthei)[i]
A Brief History
Starline Brass 1300 West Henry, Sedalia, MO 65301
http://www.starlinebrass.com
Interesting trivia note per Robert Hayden of Starline:
Very few of their cartridge cases get the three stars, only the larger calibers with a short caliber designation; 50-AE leaves plenty of extra room on the case head to add the third star.
A Brief History
Unknown factory
North Korea
character on bottom represents year of production - upside down square 'A' pictured is 1964
A Brief History
Manufacturer of firearms and ammunition for Ukrainian law enforcement and army.
See http://www.fort.vn.ua/en/products/ammunition/ammunition-for-conventional-firearms.htmlfor additional information.
A Brief History
Sellier & Bellot
Vlasim
Czechoslovakia
A Brief History
Norinco (China North Industries Corp. Beijing Branch)
7A Yue Tan Nan Jie
Beijing, China
A Brief History
North Korean made, backwards 'F' symbol stands for year of production: 1969.
