Grumble… Went digging through drawers looking for one of the little Victorinox pocket knives, but it was nowhere to be found…
But, I did find a few other things I ‘thought’ were somewhere else!
And it’s full of .22s!!!
And a high vis Bianchi speed strip loaded with .357 magnums (I have no idea how old that speed strip is, but I don’t think they’ve made the high vis version in a LONG time)
And then there was this box… sigh…
They date to the 1970s, but still shot well, even if they did smell ‘funny’ compared to the newer powders when I shot them on Monday…
Mark IV Super Match – those are a bit old, aren’t they. I may still have a box or two tucked somewhere’s back.
I don’t recall ever seeing the high visibility Speed Strip but I probably wasn’t paying attention. Interesting loading pattern (two of same, one of other design then repeat) – was that coincidence or for a reason ?
Good point and it doesn’t seem like the two different types are random.
Old ammo often works just fine. A few months back we had a WWII reenactor who played the German side show up at the range in full uniform complete with a Stahlhelm. His firearm was, of course, a 98K Mauser and he had some 1939 vintage Turkish ammo to shoot in it. It all went “bang!” just fine.
Ooooo…SEVEN rounds of .357! I’ve only owned the 5-shot snubbies (in .38 special, that is) and 6 shot revolvers (two Dan Wesson and two Uberti Cowboy Action Mod 1873).
Shoot someone seven times with a .357, and they will most likely reconsider their intent.
My recent archaeological dig in my reloading shed did NOT produce anything that nice. I did find some functional ammo, buty I found what MUST be my first attempts to reload .38 Special with 148 grain wad cutters. I have some doubt that they would even chamber.
Well, that’s what practice is for, right?
At one time, at one of the places I worked at, some guy was selling old boxes of .22LR.
He seemed miffed that I was looking to actually shoot the ammo, rather than buy them as collector’s items (apparently, like everything else, there are people who collect full boxes of old ammo for the box art and such. Okay, I can see keeping the boxes, but ammo is for shooting and hoarding, not for ‘collecting.’)
Since the current Covidiocracy and the Summer of UnLove, I have strategic piles of reloads scattered hither and yon in my tiny apartment. Woe be unto any intruder as they watch me utilize my mad skillz at cartridge jammin, yo!
Reminds me I ought to do an updated ammo inventory before too long. Don’t think I’ve got any that old, but there are some interesting old cartridge boxes at the David Marshall “Carbine” Williams workshop at the NC Museum of History in Raleigh. When he died, he bequeathed his workshop to the state, and they catalogued, disassembled, shipped and then accurately reassembled the shop inside the museum. Some of his prototypes are pretty cool.
I don’t think I have any Bianchi Speed Strips any longer – they oxidized and became brittle a while back, so I bought Tuff strips as replacements. Having a seven shot strip is nice even for a 5-shot gun, since you can leave a gap between pairs which makes loading them into the cylinder a bit easier.
I need to find some good .38 wadcutters – work well even as defensive ammo in a snubbie, where the short barrel means velocities are lowered enough to impede expansion of JHP ammo. But will also look at some of the newer JHP made especially for snubbies.
jrg/John- That was back when I was trying to decide on a new load to carry. If I remember correctly, I was shooting a hog carcass and looking at expansion between the different rounds.
Jim- The oldest I ever shot was 1890s black powder. They went off, and the bullet made it out of the barrel… LOL
Pat- That it is! I have some .38 wadcutter I loaded in the early 70s, it still shoots fine!
Beans- LOL, I’ve got ammo scattered everywhere, I NEED to go clean out the garage, I’m betting I’ve probably got 3000 rounds of various calibers out there… sigh
Tom- Federal still makes .38 Wadcutter ammo… Just sayin… 😉
Only 3000 rounds? You’ve got enough guns, you should have a lot more than that! Just sayin’!
And yes, I just need to get off my butt and order some snubbie ammo – headed to the Rogers Memorial Revolver Roundup down in Dallas in November, will have to have a bunch by then!
Maybe it was toxic or something but I miss the older hoppes smell with the banana odor. The new stuff just smells like soap.
+1