# Federal Ammo Manufacture Dates



## d'Artagnan (Jan 13, 2007)

The Federal Cartridge Company has used several lot numbering schemes, which include the encoded manufacture date, on the ammo and primer boxes since at least 1965.
I. 2004-present (2009)
The format is ###L###, where # is a digit and L is a letter. The letter is the year:
H = 2004
Y = 2005
R = 2006
V = 2007
W = 2008
Z = 2009
The digits following the letter are the Julian day plus 400. In the Julian system (a one-up numbering of days 1 thru 365/366) 1 January is day 1, 31 January is day 31, 2 February is day 32, 31 December is day 365, or 366 in a leap year.
The very first number probably is the work shift, numbered 1 thru 3. Occasionally a letter is found in this position, I don't know what it equates to. The next two digits are the production line:
10 = 38 Special
11 = 40 S&W
13 = 44 Magnum
16 =357 Magnum
17 = 38 Special
22 = 9mm Luger
23 = 9mm Luger
24 = 9mm Luger
25 = 45 Auto
26 = 45 Auto
28 = 45 Auto/380 Auto
38 = 45 Auto
39 = Auto
42 = 40 S&W
43 = 9mm Luger
45 = 40 S&W
46 = 45 Auto
47 = 223 Remington
48 = 40 S&W
Examples:
1 42H527 = 1st shift, 40 S&W line 42, 2004, day 127 (6 May)
3 24Y694 = 3rd shift, 45 Auto line 25, 2005, day 294 (21 Oct)
123R756 = 1st shift, 9mm Luger line 23, 2006, day 356 (22 Dec)
246V431 = 2nd shift, 45 Auto line 46, 2007, day 31 (31 Jan)
U43W689 = U=unknown, 9mm Luger line 43, 2008, day 289 (15 Oct)
117Z429 = 1st shift, 38 Special line 17, 2009, day 29 (29 Jan)
II. 2002-2003
###L### format same as 2004-2009, shift and production line numbers the same, Year N probably = 2002, J = 2003; Julian days without adding 400. Examples:
117J064 = 1st shift, 38 Special line 17, 2003, day 64 (5 Mar)
146N213 = 1st shift, 45 Auto line 46, probably 2002, day 213 (1 Aug)
III. 1994-2001
######L### format, except where letter = X where it is #####L###. Letter is year:
H = 1994
Y = 1995
R = 1996
I speculate V = 1997, based on V = 2007 in 2004-2009.
W = possibly 1998
Z = 1999
T = possibly 2000
X = possibly 2001
The three digits following the letter are the Julian day without adding 400. The very first two digits are the production line, same as 2004-2009. The next four digits, or 3 in the case of letter=X, I don't know. Examples:
281623H242 = 380 Auto line 28, 1623=unknown, 1994, day 242 (30 Aug)
095018Y326 = 380 Auto line 09, 5018=unknown, 1995, day 326 (22 Nov)
094992Z105 = 380 Auto line 09, 4992=unknown, 1999, day 105 (15 Apr)
IV. 1992
Similar to 1994-2001 except the year, in the 7th position, is a 2 not a letter and 400 has been added to the Julian day. Examples:
2240352720 = 9mm Luger line 22, 4035=unknown, 1992, day 320 (15 Nov)
3846522530 = 45 Auto line 38, 4652=unknown, 1992, day 130 (9 May)
V. 1984-1989
#L-####, ##L-####, or ##-L#### format. First digit or first two digits probably are the production line; line numbers are probably not the same as 1992-2009. Letter is always A or B, probably for 1st and 2nd shifts. First digit after the hyphen is the last digit of the year: 4 = 1984, 9 = 1989. Last three digits are Julian day plus 400. Examples:
5A-4592 = 5=unknown line, 1st shift, 1984, day 192 (10 Jul)
22A-7682 = 9mm Luger line 22, 1st shift, 1987, day 292 (19 Oct)
22-B9469 = 9mm Luger line 22, 2nd shift, 1989, day 69 (10 Mar)
VI. 1975-1982
Same as 1984-1989 except 400 is not added to Julian day.
VII. 1965
My one example from 1965 appears to have the same numbering scheme as 1984-1989.


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