CAVIM questions (.308)

[USMC03]

I got a good deal on some CAVIM .308 a couple of years ago and sold the rifle that I bought it for. I just purchased a DSA SA58 and want to be cautious about what I feed it.

Can anyone give me any info on this ammo? Is it corrosive? Is it good, is it bad, should I fire it?

I was packaged in green cardboard boxes with 20 rounds per box, 5 boxes packaged in a plastic sleeve. The headstamp reads CAVIM 91.

Any info would be appriciated

[ August 17, 2001: Message edited by: USMC03 ]

[ August 29, 2001: Message edited by: EMDII ]

[cadillac]

I'm not the expert, but I think it's 1991 production from Venezuela. I've not used it but have heard good things.

[falup]

Good clean reliable.
Not very accurate though.Many people for a couple of years,i've been around,have had same results.Never saw a negative post,except accuracy.

[Bruce Allen]

Wasn't it CAVIM that was not supposed to be shot in H&K 91's under any circumstances due to fouling and jamming the action??

I have not seen any on the market here in the South for over a year.

I have had and fired several K of the stuff and it was OK but did seem a little dirter than most.
The best cheap ammo I ever had was Argentinean (is that spelled right).
Century had a sale several years ago 1K per $100. I wish I had bought a ton of the stuff.

[Gecko]

I tried some of this stuff about a year ago. I tried it in my FAL and an AR10. In both guns I could not fire more than 25-30 rounds without having to clean the chamber. It simply would not extract! Come to find out CAVIM is heavly lacqured and as soon as the chamber heats up it melts the lacquer and starts to gum up things. I had nothing but problems with it in both guns.

[BUFF]

Yes, CAVIM will stop an H&K 91. I imagine it will stop a CETME as well.

The CAVIM was intended to be shot in Venezuela's FALs, so it should be fine in them.

CAVIM has all been Boxer primed, that I have seen, but I understand it is not terribly precise in manufacture and dimensions. Probably be good blasting ammo.

[Southern Raider]

I have shot plenty of CAVIM through HK type weapons without any problems. CAVIM is an acronym that stands for "Anonymous Military Industries of Venezuela", so I suppose that it is really a group of companies putting out ammo under the same label.

Since some people have complaints with respect to HK weapons, I suspect that one of the anonymous companies which prefers to remain that way is the root of the problem.

All in all, it is more like a grab bag of ammo with unknown manufacturers. I got the same good deal years ago, but today you can buy far better ammo for the same price.

[gumby]

This makes sense to me. I've fired several thousand rounds of Cavim and have not noticed any worst accuracy than say Radway. Maybe my batch is different.


gabe

[SteveS]

My 91 headstamped CAVIM is both dirty and inaccurate. It gummed up the action in a Heavy Barrel FAL after just 15-20 rounds and failed to function. It typically gives me groups that are more than twice as large when compared to Portugese, Radway Green, and South African. The only reason I haven't gotten rid of it is because it does function in my M1A and it's boxer primed. I hope that when it's resurrected as reloaded ammo it performs better.

Steve

[gumby]

I've fired several hundred rounds of 91 stamped Cavim during a session without any malfunctions. Nevertheless, I only have about 3 or 4K left and will probably look for another brand thereafter. BTW, it will NOT cycle my HK91.

gabe

[idsubgun]

Has anyone reloaded CAVIM brass? I'm sitting on two 5 gal. buckets of CAVIM brass and was planning on reloading it.
It's all once fired and looks very good.

[rMac71]

I have reloaded CAVIM. It is pretty thick stuff. It is also pretty dirty inside after shooting, so run it in the tumbler for a while or better yet if you have an ultrasonic, throw it in there for a while. I though the neck wall thickness was excessive, so I turned some off. You will probably have to back off on your data some because of the brass thickness. Primer's have a crimp, so you have to take that out. Outside of that it works ok. I use AA2230C on a 148gr FN FMJ. CCI mag rifle primer (they are a little harder).
good luck
Randy

[Gun Slinging Redneck]

I have had bad luck with it. I havent had split cases, but it has failed to eject sometimes, and when I go to clean it, the barrel is very dirty. I would not recommend it.

[idsubgun]

Originally posted by rMac71:
<STRONG>I have reloaded CAVIM. It is pretty thick stuff. It is also pretty dirty inside after shooting, so run it in the tumbler for a while or better yet if you have an ultrasonic, throw it in there for a while. I though the neck wall thickness was excessive, so I turned some off. You will probably have to back off on your data some because of the brass thickness. Primer's have a crimp, so you have to take that out. Outside of that it works ok. I use AA2230C on a 148gr FN FMJ. CCI mag rifle primer (they are a little harder).
good luck
Randy</STRONG>

Thanks for the info. A friend with a 1919 shot all this and gave it to me. I had planned on running through a tumbler, standard operating procedure for me. Also I have my Dillon set up with one of their .308 carbide dies, so I make sure that there is NO grit involved. I deprime with an universal deprimer after tumbling and then re-tumble again after that, to clean primer pockets. Then the primer pockets get swaged, then resized, then trimmed, then reloaded. I do it this way on the brass I haven't ever reloaded before.
Have you had any case splitting problems, probably not with the thicker brass?
I bought a case of the 2230C awhile back. How's it performing for you? I haven't tried it yet. What load are you using?

[Deltaten]

idsub:
I've reloaded several hundred CAVIM cases. ALL were off-spec for length, waaay too long! Could be why I was having trouble w/extraction at first, Sized,trimmed,swaged and de-crimped/beveled...= lots 'o work for ammo that costs 129/k :( . The reloads worked just fine, but why bother?
Best,
Paul

[idsubgun]

Originally posted by Deltaten:
<STRONG>idsub:
I've reloaded several hundred CAVIM cases. ALL were off-spec for length, waaay too long! Could be why I was having trouble w/extraction at first, Sized,trimmed,swaged and de-crimped/beveled...= lots 'o work for ammo that costs 129/k :( . The reloads worked just fine, but why bother?
Best,
Paul</STRONG>

Hey, what else are you going to do with two 5 gal. buckets of brass, 32 lbs. of powder, 7000 147 FMJ bullets?
I buy a lot of MilSurp stuff for plinking ammo and generally use my reloads for SHTF ammo.
Besides, I run it through a Dillon 650 press, so it knocks a lot of the time down.
The trimming and primer pocket swaging aren't my favorite activities, but what are you going to do? I use a power trimmer and Dillon swager, so that helps.

[rMac71]

IDSUBGUN, I use 41gr of AA230 with the FN 148gr fmj (I bought a bunch of these from Weidner's a while back.) Out of my Chrony they are running about 2650 - 2675, standard length barrel and fake FH ooops, I mean muzzle brake. I use a cci magnum cci LR primer (250 I think). Accuracy is fair, around 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards. I got a bunch of the empty cases for free and mainly I just use it for blasting, occasionally a coyote or two. I don't bother picking it up. The best brass I have come across was the IMI match stuff, I save that for special occasions. If you want a nifty load for the FAL. Try the Hornady 150gr SST with cannelure. I use it to hunt with, makes a heck of a mess on a coyote. I use the same powder and charge for it.
Randy

[idsubgun]

rMac71,

Thanks, I'll have to try that load. I've got the same bullets, FN FMJ's from Widener's.

Bill