Joined
·
4,065 Posts
... as opposed to a blast! 🙂
The neighbor gave me an old box of 45 Colt ammo a couple weeks ago. Found it cheap at a flea market. Box was falling apart and the lead bullets were oxidized. No real collector value so I took them to the range to see if they still went bang. Ran a full cylinder through my SA clone and they all were without pop.
Took them apart today just for fun and found that the folded head cases were loaded with 6.5 grains of what looks like Bullseye, though ever so slightly larger grain size than my modern stock. Bullets were 250 grain lead with a shallow hollow base.
Can anyone give me a manufacture age from the box lid?
A quick check on a 1950s era copy of a Lyman loaders guide ( don't know what edition cause the front cover is missing ) shows that 6.5 grains of Bullseye is a near max load for that bullet weight. There is also a listing for a "#6" that falls in the 5.5 to 7 grain range but I am clueless of that powder.
There were 38 rounds in the box and I dismantled all but 5. Figure I'll put new primers in them and reload the pulled bullets with a light load of Bullseye, say 5 grains. The old powder flared up nicely, BTW.
I've noticed during this recent ammo shortage that old ammo seems to be coming out of the woodwork, but most of it is in pretty poor condition. But if those 5 saved cases turn out to be worth anything I'll be shooting myself in the foot with them!
John
The neighbor gave me an old box of 45 Colt ammo a couple weeks ago. Found it cheap at a flea market. Box was falling apart and the lead bullets were oxidized. No real collector value so I took them to the range to see if they still went bang. Ran a full cylinder through my SA clone and they all were without pop.
Took them apart today just for fun and found that the folded head cases were loaded with 6.5 grains of what looks like Bullseye, though ever so slightly larger grain size than my modern stock. Bullets were 250 grain lead with a shallow hollow base.
Can anyone give me a manufacture age from the box lid?
A quick check on a 1950s era copy of a Lyman loaders guide ( don't know what edition cause the front cover is missing ) shows that 6.5 grains of Bullseye is a near max load for that bullet weight. There is also a listing for a "#6" that falls in the 5.5 to 7 grain range but I am clueless of that powder.
There were 38 rounds in the box and I dismantled all but 5. Figure I'll put new primers in them and reload the pulled bullets with a light load of Bullseye, say 5 grains. The old powder flared up nicely, BTW.
I've noticed during this recent ammo shortage that old ammo seems to be coming out of the woodwork, but most of it is in pretty poor condition. But if those 5 saved cases turn out to be worth anything I'll be shooting myself in the foot with them!
John