FN 65 with Circled Plus--What Kind of Spent Round is This?

[Erik in NJ]

I have found several of these spent rounds on the same former British island. The headstamp containsFN 65 and a circled plus sign on it. It looks like the top was crimped, but why is it extended and squeezed together on all of these spent rounds?

In the on-line table I see that FN translates to "FN Fabrique National d’Armes de Guerre, Herstal BELGIUM" and is the 65, 1965?

Thanks for any info.

[zwerge]

The plus in a circle means it is made to Nato standards by FN in 1965 and is 7.62x51 caliber and is a blank cartridge,also known commercially as .308 Winchester.....Pete.

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks for the quick reply Pete!

[Walkwolf]

Pete is correct. Nato rounds.........

[TonyE]

If you found it on a British island then it could have been from British service. When Britain adopted the 7.62mm NATO round in 1954 we did not have a suitable blank so bought the FN blank and adopted it as the Blank L10A1.

In 1961 the first British made blank was adopted as the L10A2 but some FN continued to be purchased for a few years.

These are known as extended neck blanks, the extension acting as a mock bullet to allow the round to be fed from the magazine. With a blamk firing adapter (BFA) fitted to the barrel semi-automatic fire is possible to more realistically simulate battle conditions.

The "cross in circle" which identified the ammo to be to NATO standard is a stylised version of the NATO badge.

Regards
TonyE

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks you again Tony! Please post or PM me on how I can purchase your books. Best Regards, Erik

[zwerge]

Some Canadian made ones for comparison....Pete.

[Erik in NJ]

Thank you Pete for sharing these!

[TonyE]

Attached is a picture of a series of experimental blanks which were developed in an attempt to find a British made blank to replace the L10A1 from FN. The round on the left is very similar to the eventually adopted L10A2 blank.

Also attached are details of my two .303 books as requested by EriK in NJ.

REgards
TonyE