old/antique .45 ammo

[JustJason]

Hey guys. I aquired this from my grandfathers estate many years ago. (15)
I've been trying on and off to get an idea of it's age, story, and value. I have 4 boxes of the stuff. Picture says 1000 words so here it is.

Best I can find so far is that it's pre-war. Late 20's early 30's. I can't say if the tape is original or not. Best I could find is some Frankford (or Frankfort) arsenal of similar vintage. Some i've found had tape some did not. A few websites I found selling empty boxes for 2 hundred, full boxes for 6 to 7 hundred. Anybody have a line or expertise on this stuff?
I looked at winchesters website and couldn't find a contact email. Anyone have a clue?
Best,
Jason

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

the 1911 .45 was used buy the us military from 1911 to (the last one I saw on active duty was in 1989) the early 1990's for some national guard units.

Now as a former army eod tech I would reccomend properly disposing of any ammo of that vintage as it is dangerous if anyone were to try and use it. (ie pop no kick short round gets stuck in the barrell and the next round through sends peices of the weapon all over your face at moderate velocity.)

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

That is an unusual box. Most ball ammo for the 45 acp came in boxes that contained 50 rounds..... and that is 20 ? I would not shoot it due to it's age and it is a collectors item. Look it up on GunBroker.com for current prices......

The real key is the word Winchester That alone makes it worth much more.

 

[JustJason]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

I wouldn't shoot it either. Not because i'm afraid of squibs.... Because I don't own a .45
I did pull the tape off 1 of the boxes. The brass is in excellent shape.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

That is an unusual box. Most ball ammo for the 45 acp came in boxes that contained 50 rounds..... and that is 20 ? I would not shoot it due to it's age and it is a collectors item. Look it up on GunBroker.com for current prices......

The real key is the word Winchester That alone makes it worth much more.

well I guess I was misunderstood again. as it is against the law to mail that ammo you would be limited to a local sale. and although some people are stupid enough to collect outdated ammo it is not a smart thing to do and not if but when something goes wrong with a persons vintage ammo collection it is not just your life that is in danger but also the professional emergency responders that must come and take care of your bad descision. as you
say in your signature just because you found it that way.........

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

well I guess I was misunderstood again. as it is against the law to mail that ammo you would be limited to a local sale. and although some people are stupid enough to collect outdated ammo it is not a smart thing to do and not if but when something goes wrong with a persons vintage ammo collection it is not just your life that is in danger but also the professional emergency responders that must come and take care of your bad descision. as you
say in your signature just because you found it that way.........

UPS or Fed-X both transport and deliver small arms rounds, when properly packaged and labeled.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

As long as the UPS or Fed Ex is marked with the blue label ORM-D (Other Regulated Material- Domestic)and you declare they are small arms cartridges they are okay to ship.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

As long as the UPS or Fed Ex is marked with the blue label ORM-D (Other Regulated Material- Domestic)and you declare they are small arms cartridges they are okay to ship.

tell them they are way past the manufacturers expiration date and have not been retested and see if they are still willing to ship.

 

[JustJason]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

tell them they are way past the manufacturers expiration date and have not been retested and see if they are still willing to ship.

Whats the big deal. You can throw bullets against the wall all day long and they are not going to go off. There is no manufacturer experation date on the box, but even if there was. All that would mean is the powder is losing it's punch. It doesn't get any more volatile with age. All this would mean its safer to ship. I'm not exactly looking to ship 50 year old sticks of real TNT.

have not been retested

How exactly do you retest a cartridge?

 

[JustJason]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Most ball ammo for the 45 acp came in boxes that contained 50 rounds..... and that is 20

Yes it is 20 rounds. I've been doing some research and From what I hear the standard was 20 untill sometime in the mid 1930's when it went to 50.

I am actually a gun guy, own quite a few and have for years. Taken hunter saftey and NRA pistol classes. Got my concealed carry in Massachusettes. My curiousity is the age and value of these. If I can get quite a bit of money for it, then they will be sold. I was just curious to see if we had any collecters or historians on here that could shed a light.
Best,
JJ

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Whats the big deal. You can throw bullets against the wall all day long and they are not going to go off. There is no manufacturer experation date on the box, but even if there was. All that would mean is the powder is losing it's punch. It doesn't get any more volatile with age. All this would mean its safer to ship. I'm not exactly looking to ship 50 year old sticks of real TNT.

all explosives become less stable as they age you cannot see what is inside of that shiny cartridge. I am not saying that is as dangerous as an unexploded high explosive round but having out dated ammo of any kind is a bad idea.

If you had the larger case that those little boxes came in it would have a test date on it.

How exactly do you retest a cartridge?

they are retested by randomly removing several boxes from the lot and test firing.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Yea back when that stuff was made they used differant stuff in the gun powder and even if you were to shoot several rounds it would eat up the barrel and give off toxic fumes...Needs to be destroyed .

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Yea back when that stuff was made they used differant stuff in the gun powder and even if you were to shoot several rounds it would eat up the barrel and give off toxic fumes...Needs to be destroyed .

I'm only a retired explosive ordinance disposal technician what could I possibly know about this stuff

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Jason do you have the gun and the ammo...do you have the orignal packing for all of it

 

[JustJason]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

just the ammo in the paper box as pictured. I have 4 or 5 boxes of the stuff.
Just so every knows i'm not looking to sell it as shootable ammo. Just as collecter stuff to someone who may be interested in this sort of stuff.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

I have quite a few friends who were EOD..... I have a tremendous respect for thier jobs......

 

[rolmops]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

all explosives become less stable as they age you cannot see what is inside of that shiny cartridge. I am not saying that is as dangerous as an unexploded high explosive round but having out dated ammo of any kind is a bad idea.

If you had the larger case that those little boxes came in it would have a test date on it.




they are retested by randomly removing several boxes from the lot and test firing.

You wish...
If halfway possible that old ammo is sold to some third world country by arms dealers.
Ever wonder how the Afghans ended up with all the derelict Chinese AK 47 ammo from Albania?
Do you remember the 21 year old "private contractor" who won the bid from the Pentagon to supply the Afghans with above mentioned Ammo?
Arms dealing takes place in a strange world.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

Jason.........The ammo is pre WW II vintage. It is in the lot number. 2/21/29 = 22129 or Feb. 21, 1929. The values you found are pretty accurate. I agree with you that selling this stuff as useable probably wouldn't be the smartest idea.

The U.S. Navy phased out the MK1911A Colt .45 in 1991. We were slated to go to 9mm in Feb. 1992.

 

[slasmith1]

Re: old/antique .45 ammo

You wish...
If halfway possible that old ammo is sold to some third world country by arms dealers.
Ever wonder how the Afghans ended up with all the derelict Chinese AK 47 ammo from Albania?
Do you remember the 21 year old "private contractor" who won the bid from the Pentagon to supply the Afghans with above mentioned Ammo?
Arms dealing takes place in a strange world.

we are talking about ammo that is 80 years old not 20 and as the military never allowed anyone (soldiers) permissiion to abscond with issue ammo it is therefore stolen us goverment property and illegal to own in any capacity. there are many more dangerous objects out there but that doesn't make it smart to collect old ammo.