LocoGringo
Member
I inherited 2 boxes of 7.65 Mauser that has 10/64 written on the Hodgdon's box along with a price of $3.80 and other handwritten load info. They seem to be custom loaded boxes of ammo by Hodgdon's back in the mid-60s.
What's the oldest (by date of manufacture) ammo you've fired or own?
- Thread starter WVGunman
- Start date
Shanvanvocht
Member
Probably some M2 Ball with TW43 headstamp
Ignition Override
Member
1943.
43 was on the head of some .303 Brit, and this mixed-origin .303 looked pretty old. Some was actual English, other head stamps possibly Aussie etc.
Glad I didn’t buy more because if it was cordite powder, it reportedly burned at a very high temperature.
Remember the former SAMCO near Miami (seen in Shotgun News) , with phone calls answered by the Cuban lady with the thick accent?
Less than a week after I bought this strange batch, their website then had only P.O.F. .303….No Thanks!
43 was on the head of some .303 Brit, and this mixed-origin .303 looked pretty old. Some was actual English, other head stamps possibly Aussie etc.
Glad I didn’t buy more because if it was cordite powder, it reportedly burned at a very high temperature.
Remember the former SAMCO near Miami (seen in Shotgun News) , with phone calls answered by the Cuban lady with the thick accent?
Less than a week after I bought this strange batch, their website then had only P.O.F. .303….No Thanks!
doubleh
Member
I still have some 44 mag from the '70's. Someone else will have to shoot it as my wrist can't take the strain anymore. That is the reason it's still here.
22250Rem
Member
Still have some 7mm Mauser around here with 1937 headstamps that was made by Kynoch in the U.K. that, as of last fall, still shot good with no misfires. It came out of a sealed spam can about 20 years ago and still looks pretty new. Some of it got fired in my 7x57 chambered 1908 Brazilian Mauser when I was helping a guy set up his new Lab Radar chronograph and he needed someone to fire a few rounds to test it out. They all went bang and were all in the 2700 FPS range, which is what I get when that ammo is fired out of that same Mauser over my own chronograph.
..
. There's some other older ammo around here, but only a few and nothing that I would consider shooting.
..
. There's some other older ammo around here, but only a few and nothing that I would consider shooting.
.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
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- 7,372
I have some balloon-head .45 Colt rounds (UMC) loaded with blackpowder. Fired a few, a while back, and they all functioned perfectly - and were faster than modern smokeless rounds. The box is in tatters, with no legible date stamp. I'm guessing 1910s or 20s.
I also have a box of .38 S&W from the 30s. I fired six rounds (in a correctly chambered gun) and all six cases were badly split, so the rest of the box is purely decorative.
I got deeply involved with the .228 Ackley after my grandfather passed his original gun to me in his will. He also included all his notes, correspondence with P.O. Ackley, tools, cases, and loaded rounds. About half the loaded rounds (from the late 1940s) had neck splits, and those that didn't certainly did after I fired them! Sadly, all of the rounds and cases ended up being trash, but they remain the oldest handloads I have used.
I also have a box of .38 S&W from the 30s. I fired six rounds (in a correctly chambered gun) and all six cases were badly split, so the rest of the box is purely decorative.
I got deeply involved with the .228 Ackley after my grandfather passed his original gun to me in his will. He also included all his notes, correspondence with P.O. Ackley, tools, cases, and loaded rounds. About half the loaded rounds (from the late 1940s) had neck splits, and those that didn't certainly did after I fired them! Sadly, all of the rounds and cases ended up being trash, but they remain the oldest handloads I have used.
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