Chopper28 Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 I have two sealed spam cans of USGI .45 ACP ammo also known as "Russian Repack" that was imported back in the 1990's. Each can has 756 rounds in 18 cardboard boxes of 42 rounds each. The Head stamps are R {Remington} WCC{ Western Cartridge Co.} WRA {Winchester} FA {Frankford Arsenal}.Rounds are dated 42 and 43. I shot many thousands of rounds of it back in the day with no malfunctions at all. Great for shooting or collecting. I will be at the Louisville Gun Show{Show of Shows} Sept. 14 & 15. Will be set up with Mike Hensley if anyone is interested in it. Asking $450 per can. Cans are exactly like the pics but are unopened. Thanks, Chopper28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted August 29 Report Share Posted August 29 Considering the age of the universe, those things are brand new! Love it. I’m shooting Russian canned 7.62x25 from 1952 and it shoots perfect. Maybe I should try some of my basement Spam from 1981! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 Bought many cans of Russian repacked M1911 ball ammo from Paragon Sales. It was $60 per can (7.9 cents per round) delivered to my front door. I never had a misfire or hard primer. All of it has been dated 1942. If you bought two cans, you got a "free" can opener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper28 Posted August 30 Author Report Share Posted August 30 I used to buy it from Centerfire System's in the 1990's. Had the same results . No misfires, no duds , no failures to feed or extract. Really repacked well. Those were the good old days for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoscoeTurner Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 1 hour ago, TSMGguy said: Bought many cans of Russian repacked M1911 ball ammo from Paragon Sales. It was $60 per can (7.9 cents per round) delivered to my front door. I never had a misfire or hard primer. All of it has been dated 1942. If you bought two cans, you got a "free" can opener. I miss Paragon, ordered a lot of stuff from them in the 80s. One lot of mixed 45 ACP contained a number of Chinese produced 45 which I keep out since you do not see it often. Paragon was a good company to order from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First Sergeant Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 Was Paragon Sales out of Kentucky? Many years ago I bought the "last" 3 spam cans of Russian Repack .45ACP identical to those pictured on the OP's post. Just can't recall (CRS) the Company I bought from. Opened one can and mixed head-stamps as well. A bit smokey, but shot well and no failures to fire. Still have two sealed cans. Stealing a phrase from TD 'Good Stuff.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoscoeTurner Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 8 hours ago, First Sergeant said: Was Paragon Sales out of Kentucky? Many years ago I bought the "last" 3 spam cans of Russian Repack .45ACP identical to those pictured on the OP's post. Just can't recall (CRS) the Company I bought from. Opened one can and mixed head-stamps as well. A bit smokey, but shot well and no failures to fire. Still have two sealed cans. Stealing a phrase from TD 'Good Stuff.' The Paragon I am familiar with was located in Illinois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chopper28 Posted August 31 Author Report Share Posted August 31 Centerfire Systems is in Kentucky. Used to stop by there and buy this stuff on the way to Knob Creek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 (edited) 13 hours ago, First Sergeant said: Was Paragon Sales out of Kentucky? Many years ago I bought the "last" 3 spam cans of Russian Repack .45ACP identical to those pictured on the OP's post. Just can't recall (CRS) the Company I bought from. Opened one can and mixed head-stamps as well. A bit smokey, but shot well and no failures to fire. Still have two sealed cans. Stealing a phrase from TD 'Good Stuff.' I remember reading where the Japanese used smokeless powder in their small arms, but the US didn't, at least not in the early days of WWII. Newsreel combat footage from the period of the Solomon Islands campaigns bears this out. All of the '42 dated Russian repack M1911 that I've fired also bears out the contention. It's slightly smoky, but otherwise burns pretty cleanly. All of the '43 and '44 EC head stamped steel case ammo I've fired was extremely smoky and left behind a lot of thick black sludge. Still, it was reliable. EC ammo from the early 1950's burns cleanly. Edited August 31 by TSMGguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 So in my many years of buying military surplus (which is what I'll call this stuff) i have found it to be more than excellent. Old? Yes, but no misfires, good looking ammo and packed perfect. Remember, subguns fire open bolt, so hard primers are desired to preclude any premature ignition. In semi's, that might be an issue, but for FA.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappy Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 (edited) Help me out. Our subguns run 10, 20 0r $30,000. I do shoot milsurp ammo from the 60s and 70s in my BAR and will stop doing it once several thusands of rounds are gone. Why would I expose my gun to damage whenI can use 85 cent S@B 30-06? I don't want to damage my rifle with old ammo because it is les expensive. So why is it a good idea to shoot 89 year old corrosive ammo in our expensive and irreplaceable guns? When I was in my early 20s, I had a primer explode (pre ignite) in my Thomson and destroyed the bolt and threw a ton of "crap" back into my face (left handed). Why is it a good idea to spend .59 for 80 Y/O surplus ammo when I can use 38 cent new/safe range ammo? Am I missing something here? Chappy Edited August 31 by Chappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 40 minutes ago, Chappy said: Help me out. Our subguns run 10, 20 0r $30,000. I do shoot milsurp ammo from the 60s and 70s in my BAR and will stop doing it once several thusands of rounds are gone. Why would I expose my gun to damage whenI can use 85 cent S@B 30-06? I don't want to damage my rifle with old ammo because it is les expensive. So why is it a good idea to shoot 89 year old corrosive ammo in our expensive and irreplaceable guns? When I was in my early 20s, I had a primer explode (pre ignite) in my Thomson and destroyed the bolt and threw a ton of "crap" back into my face (left handed). Why is it a good idea to spend .59 for 80 Y/O surplus ammo when I can use 38 cent new/safe range ammo? Am I missing something here? Chappy Hey Chappy, you do what you think best for your gun. Consider this however, and let's use Lake City as an example. They are the largest supplier of small arms ammo to the US military, and make hundreds of millions of rounds (Foreign countries have similar manufacturers). The ammo they produce is designed for war time use, dirt, mud, wet, cold and heat. Most importantly, it is designed for long term storage. In my 11 years in the Army, running ranges in Europe and shooting plenty in the US, I never experienced nor witnessed a malfunction due to the ammo. Many times we were shooting Surplus WW2 ammo (this was in the 80's). Compare that to commercial S&B, while good stuff costs many times more and functions none the better. My spam cans of 7.62 x 39, .30-06, 7.62 x 51, 9mm, 7.62 x 25 have all exceeded my expectations for a great value AND, you're getting the real-deal military stuff. Heck, my 7.62 x 51 sat at the bottom of a shallow lake for weeks, but was packed well and came out like new. Other than the dirty shooting part, (mostly) I don't think you run any risk at all. Now if you can get new for $0.38 / per, and surplus is $0.59 / per, then of course you shoot the new stuff. But... I got sooooooooooooo much that I'll be long gone, dead and fired up before I need to purchase any new ammo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted August 31 Report Share Posted August 31 Over five billion rounds of M1911 ball ammo were produced during WWII. I'm glad some of it has found its way home. I have no reservations about shooting it because its quality is uniformly excellent. It was designed for long term storage and those Soviets took excellent care of it. I sure do miss Portuguese M80 7.62x51 ball ammo, though. It's dried up on the market, and I'm running low! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 16 hours ago, TSMGguy said: Over five billion rounds of M1911 ball ammo were produced during WWII. I'm glad some of it has found its way home. I have no reservations about shooting it because its quality is uniformly excellent. It was designed for long term storage and those Soviets took excellent care of it. I sure do miss Portuguese M80 7.62x51 ball ammo, though. It's dried up on the market, and I'm running low! So long time ago I ordered (from whom I cannot remember) a case of Portuguese M80 and then about two years later got a recall notice. I ignored it and shot the stuff. Zero issues. Almost all my 7.62 x 51 ball is now German NATO, with a nice can of LC Sniper, and about 800 rounds of tracer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 I've still got a couple cans and it runs perfectly. Chrono'ed some of mine several years ago, all 20 or so measured out at about 885-890 fps, so a bit on the warm side, but open bolt Subguns like ammo hit so that's all good. Pulled a few bullets to check them out and did notice some oxidation of the exposed lead at the rear of the copper jacketed tip....that white powder might be what some see as "smoke" ....so you might not want to do any heavy breathing inside those clouds .... I only shoot it if a breeze is at my back, and it runs great! Primers are corrosive, but Thompsons are so easy to clean - that's a moot point. And these 1942 brass-cased rounds have never left any black gooey residue in my gun, although as noted some of the steel cased .45 does that. Nice brass for reloading too ... HOWEVER, the WCC ALL HAVE FLASH HOLES ON THE SMALL SIDE....they will drive a guy nuts as they pull your recapping pin out if the due a bit more than occasionally! I separated all the WCC after decapping and ran a slightly larger drill bit through that hole in each for easier decapping next time. That only takes a few seconds each. If it's cheap, shoot it. FYI, if I could still get Wolf .45 cheap I'd be shooting that all the time (not the lacquered stuff as it gummed up the chamber, but the polymer coated ran clean) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgeport28A1 Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 (edited) Just remember to clean your firearm soon after shooting so you don't end up with rust and pitting. The ammunition has corrosive primers. Edited September 1 by Bridgeport28A1 Spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68coupe Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 55 minutes ago, Bridgeport28A1 said: Just remember to clean your forearm soon after shooting so you don't end up with rust and pitting. The ammunition has corrosive primers. This is the reason so many antique-ish gun barrels are shot out, or very nearly so. Wartime firearms, while usually fairly well taken care of, may have gone days, sometimes weeks, without cleaning after firing, due to battle conditions. Most warriors are extremely conscientious of their weapons, as their very lives depend on them. My humble two cents, Karl, 68coupe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted September 1 Report Share Posted September 1 US GI non-corrosive primers: Non-Corrosive Primer Dates.PDF (odcmp.org) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted September 2 Report Share Posted September 2 I made the mistake years ago of shooting my SKS with corrosive ammo, and for some reason decided to not clean it. Several month later... what a mess. Took quite a bit of time to get that gun back in "as new" condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted September 2 Report Share Posted September 2 I must have 10 cases of this stuff in the basement. 7.62x 39. 1971 production. Note that the bullet and primer are sealed. All of it on stripper clips. Think I paid about $265 per case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron_brock Posted September 2 Report Share Posted September 2 Guys, This had gotten way off topic. OP wants to sell ammo. All the dialogue about what you do and don’t shoot, etc needs to be in a new topic. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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