Can you identify this 223 ammo?

[mkl]

I try not to do double posts, but one of the guys at THR said that this was discussed here last year. I can't find the thread, so here is the question:

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This is an unusual one. If anyone can tell me who made it, it would be appreciated.

The bullet is a 55 grain FMJ.

The box contains 40 rounds individually separated in a plastic holder.

I bought a case of around 1000 rounds at a gun show about ten years ago, and just got around to shooting some a few months ago. It was some of the most accurate mil-surp ammo I have found.

The unusual part is the flash hole is undersized. It is Boxer primed, but a standard decapping pin is too large to fit through the flash hole.

I have a manual decapping pin & base set with which I can drive into the flash hole with a hammer and eject the primer. I then have to use a bench vise to hold the case while I lock on a set of vice grips to the decapper and tap it back out. Only did this once.

I can fix the flash hole problem using a 5/64 drill bit in my drill press and then decap as usual, but I' still curious as to who made these durn things.

I'm unable to find this head stamp using my regular sources, and am not sure if the numeral one is part of the manufacturer's code or a date code.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Thanks in advance.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Check out this.. http://cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes.htm

If you Look under "H" it shows it could me made in China or Germany. Then if you look under "1", Germany is a possibility there too. Maybe it was made in Germany. As far as the undersized flash hole....weird. Good luck!

[rrp]

I had some of that brass about 10 of 15 years ago too. I've since recycled all of that brass. I used to pull the decapping pin out of my rcbs die every time I would try to resize one. I think it is China stuff. My brother in law had sent it to me because he didn't reload at the time. He used to shoot a lot of full auto rifles and bought quite a bit of Chinese surplus because it was so cheap at the time.

[kwells6]

i may be wrong, but dosent Lake city use the Blue watermark or whatever that is...

[TATER]

Hirtenberger, it is Austrian(Germany) Good Stuff..

[mkl]

Hirtenberger, it is Austrian(Germany) Good Stuff..

Thank you very much. I thought it may be, but never could find that head stamp on line. Some of the references indicated it could be China.

Shoots great groups in my Colt AR-15.

Best wishes

mkl