Headstamp

A headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber: if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added.

The headstamp is punched into the base of the cartridge during manufacture. A resource for identifying where the ammunition originated can be found at Cartridge Collectors.

Albania

The government-operated arsenal K.M. Polican marks number "3" at the 6 o'clock position, and the last two digits of the year at 12 o'clock.

Argentina

Military cartridges have the manufacturer's head stamp at 12 o’clock, and can include a two or four digit year. The following list of manufacturer initials is taken verbatim from:

FMMAP S.F. Fabrica Militar de Cartuchos y Armas Portatiles de San Francisco ("Military Cartridge & Small Arms Factory - San Francisco") (1948-1954) FMCSF ("Military Cartridge Factory - San Francisco") (1954-1972) F.M. S.F. Fabrica Militar -San Francisco ("Military Factory - San Francisco") (1972-?)

F.M.M.A.P. Fabrica Militar de Municiones y Armas Portatiles ("Military Munitions & Small Arms Factory") (1939–44). F.M.M.A.P. B Fabrica Militar de Municiones y Armas Portatiles — Borghi ("Military Munitions & Small Arms Factory at Borghi") (1944–50) FMC SL Fabrica Militar de Cartuchos de San Lorenzo (1950–55). F.M. S.L. Fabrica Militar - San Lorenzo ("Military Factory at San Lorenzo") (1955–61); FLB Fray Luis Beltran ("Friar Luis Beltran") (post 1958-1961). F.M. FLB Fabrica Militar - Fray Luis Beltran ("Military Factory - Friar Luis Beltran") (1961–75)

I.M.P.A. Industria Metalurgica y Plastica Argentina ("Industrial Metallurgy & Plastics - Argentina") - Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Resellers There are companies that do not manufacture or assemble cartridges of their own but import or contract them from another manufacturer.La Porteña ("the young lady from the port town") on business addresses is a nickname for Buenos Aires.

Armeria Carlos Rasetti (1857–1967) - Buenos Aires, Argentina. Imported and sold firearms wholesale. Had an ammunition factory in Paris, France (Armeria de Paris) from 1906 to the 1930s that repackaged German-made ammo from DWM and other makers. Armería La Porteña, Casa Cañedo (Juan Canedo & Cia) (1857–1973) - Buenos Aires, Argentina. Imported and sold firearms and bladed weapons to gentlemen from a storefront. They are known by collectors for their cased pistol sets. Its clientele were among the upper levels of society, the military and the government.Was a sales agent for the P.Webley & Sons arms company, the exclusive seller in Argentina for their revolvers and shotguns from 1888 to 1912 and 1946?-1973. Also imported ammunition from Europe under their own label, beginning in the 1890s?.Originally it was founded by French gunsmiths Bertonnet and Gaubert to sell their wares. In 1878 it was taken over by merchant Juan Lopez, who began selling cutlery alongside imported firearms. In 1888 it was taken over by Juan Canedo, one of Lopez's clerks, who renamed the store Casa Cañedo. After Cañedo retired or died in 1912, the store was taken over by the local wholesale merchant firm of Gottling & Busch (Alfredo Gottling and ? Busch). They kept the storefront's name as Casa Canedo but prominently added theirs to the packaging and seals. Imported firearms were now marked Armeria ("the Armory") rather than Casa Canedo. Cornelio Paats, Gottling's son-in-law, took over the business in 1946 after Busch's death. He introduced a Hunting and Fishing department to expand their sales, as Argentina now had restrictions on arms imports and there were few native gun brands.

Australia BB Bertram Bullet Co. Pty. Ltd. (1986–present) – Seymour, Melbourne, Victoria. Bruce Bertram bought Super Cartridge Co.'s machinery and moved it to Seymour, where he began manufacturing brass cases for handloaders. The "BB" is at 12 o'clock and small kangaroos are positioned counter-clockwise at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock. Brass is sold in lots of 20-case cartons and can be made to customer's specifications with personalized headstamps. ICI-ANZ Imperial Chemical Industries – Australia / New Zealand (1940s–1980s) – Deer Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Manufactured cartridges and shotshells from the 1940s until the late 1970s. They also made brass cases for filling and loading by their parent company in the United Kingdom and produced Australian-gauge shotshells for the local market. The factory now makes commercial explosives under the ORICA brand. RBA or RIVERBRAND Riverbrand Ammunition Company, (1945? – early 1980s) – Hendon, South Australia, Australia.RIVERBRAND Syd Churches, owner of the Taipan Bullet Company, bought out the defunct Small Arms Ammunition Factories No. 3 & 4 at Hendon after the war. Initial production just remanufactured old military-surplus brass cases with new RWS-made non-corrosive Berdan primers. They then mated them with Taipan-manufactured bullets to make cheap .303 Imperial and 7.62mm NATO ammo. "UPDATE 30/11/2020. The above information is totally incorrect. Sid Churches owner operator of Taipan Projectiles Pty Ltd (1946–1980) did not own Riverbrand Ammunition (RBA) at any time. RBA was owned and operated by Ron Holmes. It is true that SOME RBA ammunition was loaded with Taipan Projectiles, including 303 British, 303/270, 303/25 and later 308. ALL Taipan Projectiles supplied to RBA featured a knurled cannellure. No knurled cannelure, not a genuine Taipan Projectile. RBA also used other Projectiles including ICIANZ and CIL, yet claimed the use through advertising as Taipan Projectiles due to that companies high reputation at that time (1950's through to 1970). This continual advertising of RBA ammunition with Taipan Projectiles was a bone of contention with Sid Churches and eventually all supplies of Taipans to RBA ceased in about 1963. A Taipan Projectiles History website has been launched in April 2020. End Update. Early new production (marked "RBA") used Berdan primed brass cases. Full production (marked "RIVERBRAND") used newly manufactured Boxer-primed cases in a variety of service pistol and "wildcat" sporting rifle cartridges, as well as new brass for handloaders. They also made ammo for Sportco in Adelaide under the SPORTCO headstamp. Riverbrand was always a small-scale endeavor, as there was too much competition from Super Cartridge Company (their only domestic manufacturing rival) and foreign ammunition manufacturers. SUPER Super Cartridge Co. (? – 1985) – Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Victoria. Manufacturer of cartridges, shotshells, and bullets and brass cases for handloading. They originally sold sporting cartridges made from reloaded Australian-made .303 Imperial brass and sold "wildcat" cartridges made from the base .303 cartridge. (These usually had the original Small Arms Ammunition Factory headstamp on them). They also made proprietary "wildcat" ammunition for the MYRA Sports Store in Broken Hill, New South Wales. They were sued for copyright infringement in the early 1980s by Olin-Winchester for their similar one-piece polymer shotshell design. They were barred from making the shells, gave up manufacturing shotshells altogether, and later went out of business in the mid-1980s. TAIPAN Bullets (late 1980s-2017) – Gympie, Wide Bay–Burnett, Queensland. After Churches' death in the late 1970s, RIVERBRAND's bullet-making machinery was sold and moved to facilities in Queensland, where it was set up as TAIPAN Bullets.TAIPAN Bullets Owner Malcolm Bone manufactured bullets in small lots for hand loaders. The company's major toolmaker and die-setter died a few years ago. Bone announced in 2017 he was ceasing new production and selling off the remaining stock. UPDATE 30/11/2020. Above information is partly incorrect. Sid Churches owner operator of Taipan Projectiles 1946–1980 DID NOT OWN Riverbrand Ammunition. Sid Churches died in May 1987, not late 1970's as stated above. Taipan Projectiles manufacturing plant was sold to a NSW consortium in 1981 called SAC (Small Arms Company). That company folded in about 1985 and was on sold to a Queensland Operator.

Austria

HP, H or P – Hirtenberger Patronen-, Zündhütchen-und Metallwarenfabrik A.-G., Hirtenberg, Austria

Bangladesh

A common head stamp is BOF (Bangladesh Ordnance Factory). Sometimes a two-digit year and/or a caliber may be included.

Belgium

Cartridges made by Fabrique Nationale may be marked FN, FNH, FNB, or H. Cartridges made from the 1800s to the mid-twentieth century by Anciens Establissements Pieper Hertsal may be marked AEP or A.E.P. Cartridges made by Van Bruaene Rik may be narked VBR-B at 6 o’clock with the caliber at 12 o’clock.

Brazil CBC Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos S.A. (1926–Present) – It owns the Magtech Ammunition brand, which is its exported commercial and law-enforcement ammunition division. Currently CBC Group also controls MEN (Metallwerk Elisenhütte Nassau) (2007) and Sellier & Bellot (2009).

Burkina Faso

Cartridges made by Industrial Society Burkina Arms and Ammunition (SIBAM) may be marked SIBAM or CV (Cartoucherie Voltaique (CARVOLT)).

Canada

Arsenals C-I-L or CIL Canadian Industries Ltd. (1955–1976). A corporation formed in 1910 from a merger of five Canadian explosives companies and their assets. It ran the Defence Industries Ltd. munitions plants from 1940 to 1946. It owned the Dominion, Imperial and Canuck commercial ammunition brands. It used the CIL headstamp on its cartridges from 1955(?) until 1976, when IVI bought out its commercial ammunition production.

Civilian contractors RR Co Ross Rifle Co. (1914–1919) – Verdun, Quebec; Canada.Cartridge Headstamps Canada

Commercial manufacturers DCCO, Dominion Dominion Cartridge Co. Ltd. (1886–1955) – Brownsburg, Quebec, Canada. A division of Dominion Arsenal that produced ammunition for the civilian market. It was made part of the Canadian Explosives Company (CXC) in 1911, which became Canadian Industries Ltd. (CIL) in 1928. During World War II it made military ammunition for CIL under the DCCO headstamp. It changed its headstamp to Dominion in 1947 and to CIL in 1955, but was still sold under the Dominion brand. It was sold to IVI in 1966. Eatons Eaton's Department Store (1924–1950s?) – A line of commercial cartridges made by Dominion Cartridge Co. for the Eaton's Department Store chain. F.W.L & Co F.W Lamplough & Co (1903–1917) – Montreal, Quebec. A wholesale hardware and cutlery company (1902-@1936). They assembled their own cartridges from components made by ammo manufacturers but under their own headstamp. Gévelot Canada Gévelot of Canada (1961–1973)IAA Forums: Gevelot made in Canada catalogue – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The short-lived Canadian branch of the French sporting ammunition firm Gévelot (1823–1997?). They assembled complete cartridges from imported French-made components. HSA Hingston Smith Arms Co. Ltd. (1879–1920s?) – Winnipeg. A general store that sold firearms, ammunition, hunting and camping gear, taxidermy supplies, and police equipment. Imperial A commercial brand of ammunition manufactured by Canadian Industries Ltd. (CIL); it later used the headstamp CIL-Imperial from 1954 to 1976. It was bought out by IVI Inc. in 1976, restarted production in 1977, and ceased production in 1991(?).

Colombia