The Rifleman's Journal: History: Lake City M118 Special Ball Ammunition

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-lake-city-m118-spec...

Lake City M118 Special Ball Ammunition

by: Ray Meketa

At the 1980 National Matches, shooters were introduced to a new cartridge, the PXR-6308. Loaded with the Sierra 168 grain MatchKing, the cartridge would become the XM852 Match in 1981 and the M852 Match the following year.

The M852 replaced the M118 which had been the Match standard since 1963. But the M118 did not go away quietly. It was last manufactured in 1982, with an LC 82 MATCH headstamp, packaged in the familiar white box. Some boxes of M118 with '81 and '82 lot numbers are found with earlier dated cartridges, indicating a desire to use up all remaining stocks. After the introduction of the M852, remaining M118 was issued for practice and for Match use when the new M852 was not available. M118 as late as 1982 can be found converted to "Mexican Match", probably as an economy measure by individuals and teams.

It's often been said that some of the remaining M118 was repackaged as M118 SB (Special Ball). I've searched long and hard for such a box but

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1/26/2012 10:31 AM

The Rifleman's Journal: History: Lake City M118 Special Ball Ammunition

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-lake-city-m118-spec...

have yet to find one. I recently acquired a box of the first lot of 7.62MM NATO SPECIAL BALL, LC-83B133-001, that was not in very good condition so I decided to sacrifice the box and some of the cartridges to see what was actually inside. I soaked off the paper over-label revealing the standard white M118 box without a lot number. The cartridges were headstamped LC 82, the primer was sealed and crimped, the bullet was the standard 173 grain M1 Type (smooth). Not surprisingly the powder was IMR 4895, 42.1 grains.

Sometime later (1984) the 7.62MM SPECIAL BALL M118 box was changed to plain brown, the headstamp was changed to include the NATO (+), and the powder changed to regular service ball type. Inspection of cartridges from these boxes confirm this.

I chronographed cartridges from the box to compare with the latest M118 and the earliest M852. They were loaded slightly hotter (as expected) at 2656 fps @ 12 feet. That's 30 fps faster than the two MATCH cartridges chronographed at the same distance. The later SB cartridges loaded with ball powder may be loaded even faster since the official velocity for M118 SB is 2640 fps at 78 feet.

I realize that these are only a few samples, but it has convinced me that the remaining stocks of M118 were never re-boxed as M118 SB. I believe that the paper over-label on M118 boxes led many to believe that. The M118 SPECIAL BALL was the M118 dressed in tactical clothing but it was it's own unique cartridge, intended to be a 7.62MM sniper cartridge following the JAG ruling that hollow point bullets (M852) could not be used in combat.

One thing that I found interesting is that, in 1982, LC was

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1/26/2012 10:31 AM

The Rifleman's Journal: History: Lake City M118 Special Ball Ammunition

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-lake-city-m118-spec...

One thing that I found interesting is that, in 1982, LC was manufacturing three different cartridges at the same time, The M118 Match, The M852 Match, and the M118 Special Ball. What's worse is that many of them were packaged in the same basic box, only with pasted on over-labels. It's no wonder that some shooters were confused. So, whether you agree or not, I'd like to hear your opinions. Most particularly, I'd like to hear from anyone who has, or has seen, any M118 that has been re-boxed and labeled as M118 SPECIAL BALL. Ray Meketa

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1/26/2012 10:31 AM