Originally posted by Meia Gisborn:
Interesting. I did not know South Africa supplied munitions to the
SAF.
The next time you get an opportunity to do so, take a look at the
base of a 5.56mm cartridge. If you see the letters [b]PMP
stamped there, it means the cartridge was manufactured by Pretoria
Metal Pressings in South Africa. PMP is a division of Denel, South
Africa's largest munitions manufacturer. I occasionally come across
spent PMP 5.56mm cases at the range here, and have even reloaded a
few.
Commercial ammo prices here have skyrocketed in recent years due to
the increasing prices of metals on the commodities markets. You
do save a lot of money by
reloading, particularly in the larger calibers. You also benefit
from the ability to customize rounds for individual firearms and/or
applications. To give an example, a 50-round box of Winchester 40
S&W 165 gr. range/target ammunition typically goes for around
$12. I am able to reload 50 rounds of 40 S&W ammunition, using
cleaner-burning powder and with better attention to quality
control, for a little under $5 in raw component costs, broken down
as follows:
Projectiles: $3.40
Powder: $0.65
Primers: $0.85
Cases: FREE! (Range pick-ups)
Total: $4.90
I haven't come across any pistol cases that are annealed, but that
doesn't mean it's not done. 
[/b]
Sorry for digging up old posts. But yeah, south africa do supply
saf with 5.56mm balls round. But only recently like in the past 2
year. As for recycling of spent rounds, saf usually do not reload.
The empty brass cart are sold off for money ( now u know why when
returning ammo, the weight of RAI returned must be almost 90% of
total RAI), and all rounds are brand new. For saf, the rounds
usually have a life span of 10 years. If any info is wrong, kindly
address it. Hope this clear some doubts.
