Old ammo, but how old?

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grilledcheese

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Hi all, first time poster, long time lurker, great to be here, please move this post if it's in the wrong place, etc.

I was cleaning out our barn this weekend and found a box full of ammo that I'm guessing came from my grandparent's place when it was sold many years ago. Of interest (to me anyway) was a box of 12 gauge Remington shotshells and a couple of boxes of Remington 30-30. All of the boxes look fairly old, and the shotshells are cardboard-cased, but of course their isn't a date stamped anywhere on anything.
I'm guessing this stuff is serviceable, as I remember my dad using similar shotshells fifteeen years ago that he'd found at my grandparent's farm.
I'm just wondering if anybody here might know about how old this stuff is from the pics below. I did find read somewhere that the Remington-UMC headstamp was used at least into the fifties, and that Remington was the first company to produce plastic cased shotshells in 1960.
I realize I may have already answered my own question, but I'd be grateful for any additional info.

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Jeffrey
 
I recognize the name "Kleanbore" and "DuPont"

DuPont got out of the firearms and propellant business in the 1970s. Before, they were perhaps the single company in the US that had all monopolies and control over the manufacturing of black gunpowder. The DuPont name has faded from most ammunition boxes over the years.

I estimate that that box was probably produced during the 1940s or 50s.
 
It almost has to be the 40s or 50s. DuPont bought Remington in 1934 and the shotshell box lacks the statement "Keep Out of Reach of Children" that was required in 1961.

Zip codes weren't introduced until 1963 and even then they weren't made mandatory for a few years.

JT

P.S. - edited to add: DuPont didn't sell Remington until 1993.

"After increasing its share in Remington during the 1970s, DuPont purchased the company outright in 1980. Remington continued to perform well over the next decade, but DuPont bolstered its chemical products base and increasingly focused on biomaterials research rather than explosives. As a result, DuPont sold Remington’s assets to RACI Acquisitions in 1993."
 
Looks like there is a date code stamped on the box in the 1st pic.

I'd say earily to mid 50s by the boxs.
 
Notice the "non-corrosive primers" on the boxes.
I have some of these that my father bought. Late 1940s early 1950s vintage.
 
These were stored in a barn in Louisiana? How long were they in the barn?

Anyone else wondering if there might be some powder or primer degradation from temperature variations or humidity?
 
Don't shoot them! SELL them on EBAY. They are quite collectable and you can use the proceeds from the sale to go out and buy a lot of new ammo. Just make sure you say that you are selling the `box only' and no loaded ammo so as not to offend the Ebay police. Does anyone know if all of the ads for vintage ammo are actually just for the box only for real or are people really just saying that and then shipping box and contents?
 
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