Bought some old Sierra bullets the other day

[gamestalker]

Cool, I came across some old Sierra bullets. These bullets were manufactured in California, but the specific city is too faded to make out. I suspect they were probably made some where in the 1960's, but not totally sure of that time frame. One box has a part number on it and looks a bit newer. But the other box, which appears a bit older judging by the graphics, does not have a part#, and only has a description of the projectile. Both are in the cardboard box with the metal corner supports. But the older looking one has Santa Fe Sp--- can't make the rest out, too faded.

Just kind of cool to have stumbled on these oldies.

GS

 

[X-Rap]

Santa Fe Springs is where they were prior to moving to MO. pre 1990's.

 

[Kachok]

I love running across old bullets, a friend of mine picked up several thousand bullets from an old man who was hanging up his press, several boxes of old 180gr RN interlocks in there, for nostalgia sake I loaded them up with 57gr of Hunter in my 06 and went pig hunting, got a clean 80 yard shot on a smallish boar and absolutely bang flopped him. Some of those old bullets still work every bit as well as anything today, in fact that is now my go to bullet for the old 742.

 

[orpington]

Bullets should perform identically, regardless of age. They are inert and would not change over time.

 

[rskent]

^^^ But the technology behind them supposedly does.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The old plant was on Painter Ave., in Santa Fe Springs. I toured the plant in 1978, while I was rangemaster for our department. I've still got some of the samples the plant manager gave me of the various steps in making cup and core bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[witchhunter]

I miss those old bullet boxes, as well as the old powder cans. I wish I would have saved some of the old Alcan powder cans and the Hercules stuff. I still have a few of those old Sierra boxes, full of good bullets though. They used to give you 101 in each box!

 

[Potatohead]

I loaded them up with 57gr of Hunter in my 06 and went pig hunting, got a clean 80 yard shot on a smallish boar and absolutely bang flopped him

"Bang flopped him". Never heard that, I like it!

 

[X-Rap]

Anyone know the circumstances of the move? I never paid attention at the time other than knowing they moved to MO.
Was it a political thing, economical, transfer of ownership?
Just got to wondering with the recent exodus of gun related companies from states that have shown themselves to be anti gun. If this is the reason they should be applauded for their pioneering actions.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Sierra and Starline owners are related. They still share the same booth at the SHOT Show every year. Starline was making brass in Missouri and the political climate in Calif. was going the wrong way, and in addition, Sierra needed to either expand their plant, or build a newer, bigger facility.

They closed down the Santa Fe Springs/Whittier operation and built a newer facility in Missouri, and never looked back. They were located in the industrial section of Santa Fe Springs, near Pico Rivera and Bell Gardens, and the neighborhood was going downhill (gangs, graffiti, etc.), so the timing was right for them to move.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Kachok]

Bullets should perform identically, regardless of age. They are inert and would not change over time.

Not entirely accurate, there is such a thing as age annealing in lead core bullets, if you don't keep them climate controlled the lead can get softer with changing temps over time, that said this is only a slight effect at best and I personally never lost a seconds worth of sleep over it keeping my bullets in the reloading shed.

 

[GaryL]

^^^ But the technology behind them supposedly does.

Not always for the better. I've been in engineering for nearly 30 yrs, and have seen a lot of changes, both for the better and plenty not. Too many changes are made for economics and/or politics, and not for sound engineering reasons.

I'll give you one example: ROHS. Great idea in principle - reduced lead in the environment and removing it from the waste stream. (We'll forget about where it comes from in the first place, for sake of argument). But with proper handling and disposal, it's fairly easy to recover.

So what's wrong with ROHS? I contend they went too far with it, going from 40% lead to 0%. 2-3% lead would provide most of the benefits, and would have allowed time to investigate alternative technologies. Lead makes a fantastic solder. A lot of old electronics still work just fine, but the newer ones are more prone to premature failure. Do a search on tin whiskers, and you will find that most alternatives are prone to developing metal whiskers by a process that is still not well understood. I figure it was a built in obsolescence law to ensure a revenue stream for all interested parties - including the tax man.

Anyway, back to the OP, good find!
I was given some old bullets by an old fart who quit reloading, just one of a couple boxes things he threw in when I bought some old primers. Unfortunately it's a collection of odds and ends, meaning no more than a dozen that match each other out of a box of 50 or so. They were obviously left-overs and the odd-ball rescued from the floor tossed into a box on the bench. Not sure they are even useful for blasting - not enough of any one type.

 

[joustin]

Off topic but tin whiskers have knocked out satellites before

 

[gamestalker]

Witchhunter, ya, I remember the 101 count boxes of old days, so I counted one of those boxes, sure enough 101.

As for quality, I think some of the older stuff was possibly better.

GS

 

[Potatohead]

One of my boxes of new bullets had 101 in it the other day. Pretty sure it was Hornady 55gr 224s.


GS, you guys that have been doing this forever would get a kick out of one of my LGSs. Lots of older nicknacks strewn about.

 

[41 Mag]

Yep I like the older bullets and boxes myself. I got several boxes and a couple of partial boxes of the older Partitions which have the machine cut cannalure on them I think are pretty cool.

I also managed to pick up some from a giveaway of sorts which I split up with another fellow on another forum. There is a pick or two of them below.

I also got several boxes of the older Sierra's like you mentioned in there as well. I plan on shooting those up through my 14" .223 AI Contender barrel since that is the only center fire I own in a .22 caliber. I figure they should work just fine for small critters or target practicing.