mmmmmmmmmmmmm… never seen it before. You will have to ask your Grandfather were and when he got it. It is 0.50 Cal for sure
I did, he can’t remember[:(]
That’s not US manufactured cartridge. It looks like a .50 Cal manufactured in outside of the U.S. Most of U.S. military cartridges for U.S. military /were are manufactured by Lake City, Utah Arsenal, Winchester and Remington. None of these companies’ head stamp matches to what you have there.
Maybe I should have said this earlier, I believe he got it when he was in Greece in WWII, so it is possible that it is a Greek 50 cal?
Doesn’t look Canadian either… when was the regular stamping introduced? It should at least say the calibre [%-)]
Maybe it’s too old…
Just saw this post [:P]
I don’t think that cartridge was ever filled with powder… it’s solid under where the primer would had been, and the holes are a giveaway of a drill purpose cartridge.
I don’t think the Greeks ever produced 0.50 Cal ammo during WWII. I would say that regular stamping system wasn’t the same back then…
The “I” may stand for incendiary. I’ve googled a couple of different sites that list headstamp codes but nothing that corresponds to A, I, 4 or and combination.
So now we got a mystery 50 cal lol…
I’m positive… no hole for the primer to reach the anvil and set the charge off to propell the bullet[;)] Has to be a training round or inspection one.
It probably is manufactured by the Greek manufacturer. I have 30-06 manufactured in Greece from 1960’s as well. I don’t think “I” in head stamp stands for incendiary since most of type of ammo markings are color coded on the tip of the bullet rather than on the casing.
50Cal rounds are identified by varying colors painted on their tips. Below are three types of rounds. L-R – Sabot without jacket, Sabot with jacket (tracer sabot has red plastic jacket), Armor piercing incendiary (silver tip), and Armor piercing incendiary tracer (silver/red tip). These are hollowed out duds but still make interesting paper weights. 
I never knew of the sabot type… do you have a pic of the full round???
Interesting info [tup]
Here are a couple of pics of the SLAP (Sabot Light Armor Penetrator) rounds as they come in the can. As you can see the red plastic jackets which indicate tracer rounds. They are rare, the only times I have received SLAP rounds were on my two trips to Iraq, even then we only got one or two boxes per vehicle. These rounds slice through anything, but do not leave the tale-tale flash on impact, making it near impossible to “walk” the rounds on target. So I created “Belts of Evil” by linking SLAP rounds for every couple API/APIT rounds. Very effective! 
Nice [^]
It’s an M2 Drill Cartridge, caliber .50 Browning
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/50.htm
I would say a .50 cal , I have one as a momento , on the base it has L C 8 4 , each letter/number evenly spaced on the bottom. It is " ball " ammunition, not trace , or anything else . I tend to think it is of British origion . Since most Canadian small arms ammo ,has IVI , stamped on the bottom. And 25 MM, and above generally has CA on the side of the catridge case , along with the LOT #
Frank
" PERSEVERANCE "
P.S. I like automatic weapons , why " Waltz " , when you can " Rock and Roll ."
-LC84= Lake City Army Ammuniton Plant, 1984
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/aap-lakecity.htm
Cartridge headstamps, US issue WW2/Postwar;
Thankyou for the info Banshee . Much appreciated . We had the Americans train here in Wainwright before , it was Great working with them.
Frank
" PERSEVERANCE "
" Hatched !? , I wasn’t born from an egg. But I have been hit in the head by an AFV hatch , several times " , LOL.