Yeah, so have I. And unsurprisingly predictably enough for me, I have something to show you:

Yup, that there is a thousand of something. Well, a thousand things in a box. What, you wanted to see the thousand things themselves? Well, in all honesty, you are SOL on that count. However, I will take the time to explain what the thousand things actually are (for those who have not yet caught on).

So that answers that question... I went and raided MidwayUSA for a few little pieces of brass. Thankfully, their prices were decent, especially in this quantity, and a new rifle (only one more day, damned Kalifornistan politicians) is not particularly useful without those little pieces of metal. Such is life. Anywise, pop open the box, and you are confronted with this:

Five sealed plastic bags, each with ten twenty-round boxes contained within. The twenty rounds are cross-stacked, like one would expect, though I have to confess that the glue holding the cartridge boxes together is a little... weak. More than a few boxes had already failed in their bags, and while their contents had not actually escaped all over the place, they were desperately trying. Just bear that in mind when you are unpacking. The rounds themselves are, interestingly enough, colored like military rounds - not shiny. For civilianized rounds, manufacturers often go to great extents to make the cartridges shiny... I guess it looks better, or something. (Also something to bear in mind with that idiot Iraqi woman who claimed her house was "shot" by Coalition forces.) In this particular case, I think it was simply a cost-saving feature.

Glory shot:

Conveniently enough, all 1000 rounds of this stuff fits inside of the two surplus .50-caliber ammunition boxes I purchased at the same time, in their cartridge boxes, no less. In fact, if you want to keep the rounds in their boxes, you could stuff 1120 rounds of 7.62 NATO rounds in two .50-caliber boxes... no clue how much if you just stuffed them in loose. The third storage box I have is now packed with 800 rounds of 9mm ammo, which seems about its capacity (of course, the ammo is in 50-round Winchester boxes, complete with trays, so if you went the loose route, you could probably fit a lot more).

So why Prvi Partizan? In a word, I am cheap. That, and the Serbians have been shooting the hell out of each other for about as long as mankind has figured out firearms... with a history like that, they must know how to make bullets. I have not yet had a chance to send any of it downrange (again, damned Kalifornistan politicians), but I will let you all know when I do. Sadly, it is not likely to be this week... or the next... or even the next. I pick up the M1A tomorrow (hopefully... the store was taking a Labor Day vacation, but said I could come by late tomorrow), but then I am headed out of town for a spell. You will just have to wait around and see how things turn out.

Me, I find it a little odd that I now have three .50-caliber ammunition boxes full of... ammunition. But, hell, they work damned well for that purpose, after all.