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Picture Page

February 2010


Two 7.63 DWM Mauser cartridges....

Here are a couple of variations of 7.63 Mauser pistol cartridges produced by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionfabrik (DWM). The 403 in the headstamp is the case number; these case numbers were used by DWM to differentiate the different cartridges that they produced from 1896 until they went out of business in 1972. However, around 1935, they began phasing out the case numbers from their headstamps.

The two cartridges here probably represent different periods in the production of the 7.63 Mauser cartridge; the headstamp on the left with small letters with serifs is the older of the two. The cartridge on the right has a copper primer, and the bullets of both have plated steel jackets.  The base of the lead core of each bullet has a raised 203, which I assume is the DWM bullet number for the round nose full metal jacketed bullet of this caliber and weight.  

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 Marketing those USAC plastic-cased .38 Specials....

Most of us who were even remotely interested in cartridges and shooting remember the brief appearance of the white plastic cased .38 Special cartridges made by the U. S. Ammunition Company, Inc of Tacoma, Washington. The pretty little red, white and blue 6 round sample boxes of these cartridges made their debut around 1983, after which not much else was heard from the company or their products.

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In addition to these boxes, which most gun and ammo dealers seemed to have in ample supply, the company also provided dealers with an assortment of promotional materials.

Here's a dealer's sample box of USAC cartridges, counter-top displays and advertising galore that I picked up recently. It originally held 10 of the 6 round sample packs shown above, plus all of the brochures, posters and other advertising items shown below.

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I had thought that this box of sample cartridges and advertising would have been provided free to any ammunition dealer who wanted one, but as shown in the poster below, the box was apparently a part of the USAC Dealer Starter Program, which was available at the hefty price of $430. Its the white box with the 'dealer notice' sticker on the front that is sitting behind the display of 6 round sample boxes. I suppose if the pistol in the lower left of the picture was included as a part of 'All this for $430', it might be reasonable price.  Unfortunately, there was a small note that indicates in no uncertain terms that the 'All this' that they were talking about included everything except the pistol. 

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I was never quite sure why the folks at USAC thought there would be a market for their plastic cased cartridges. Had there been a shortage of conventional .38 Special reloading components, perhaps they would have been onto something. The ability to easily reload the fired cases with the nifty little red plastic tool might be pointed out as a plus, but it certainly isn't an improvement over the simplicity, effectiveness and ease of an Ideal hand loading tool, and there's a lot to be said for the heft and ruggedness of cold, hard steel. It should be pointed out that the USAC cases could only be reloaded with bullets that had to be purchased - casting your own was not an option.

 

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The December 1, 1984 USAC retail price list is shown below. It should be pointed out that their price of $11.00 to $11.40 for a box of 50 cartridges was significantly less than Remington's retail price of around $17 for a box of their Remington brand 158 grain metal jacketed cartridges. However, the USAC bullets, rather than actually having a metal jacket in the conventional sense, were actually just copper plated lead. For the economy-minded shooter/reloader who was trying to stretch his dollars, Remington also produced their UMC brand of ammunition at the time, with a retail price of just over $9 on a 50 round box of 158 grain lead .38 Specials.  

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There is also the aesthetics perspective to consider with these plastic cases - with use, they tend to look pretty grungy. Those shown below were fired just once, and I suspect they won't improve much with a session in the tumbler like traditional brass and nickel plated cases do. Another color for the samples, such as gray or black, might have been a wiser choice. Several of the pictures above show red, blue and black cases, but I have never seen any of these and would have to assume they are much less common than the white cases.

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An unusual fired .45-55-405 case.......

Here's an interesting find, which was included in a small group of cartridges I recently purchased at our local gun show. This one appeared on first glance to be just another fired Benet-primed 45 Springfield case. The wide spaces between the ends of the grooves that hold the primer cup in place indicate that it is one of the early cases that were produced from the introduction of the cartridge until March of 1875. However, closer examination of the head in better lighting revealed that this case has the very uncommon raised U.S. CARBINE headstamp. Carbine and rifle cartridges were indistinguishable when removed from their boxes, as both used the same 405 grain bullet seated the same depth in the case. While the rifle cartridge had its bullet seated against the powder charge, the bullet for the carbine cartridge was seated on top of seven card wads that were needed to fill the empty space in the case resulting from the reduced powder charge. It was thought that marking the carbine cartridges in this way would be an effective means of preventing mix-ups. A trial of the headstamp was begun in July of 1874, but because of the added expense and/or the difficulties encountered with applying the headstamp, the trial was stopped after just one week.

This close-up of the head of the cartridge case shows what remains of the headstamp rather clearly. These headstamps were usually quite faint to start with, so considering that this cartridge has been fired, it is surprising that the headstamp is still legible. That the stresses of firing were severe is evident by how the copper was driven back with enough force to leave an imprint of the face of the breech block around the firing pin. The photo also reveals that the cartridge was not fired in a Springfield Trapdoor carbine as might be expected, but rather in a firearm with a dropping block action, such as a Sharps, a Ballard, or a Winchester Model 1885, which left marks across the surface of the head (from the center of the case out towards the 2 o'clock position) caused by the face of the breech block and the tip of the firing pin that had not properly retracted as the action was levered open. The cartridge case would have been oriented in the chamber of the firearm with the letter 'A' in 'CARBINE' at about the 12'oclock position in order to produce the marks where they are on the head. That odd circular imprint on the head of the case appears to have been made by a gun which had a bushing or collar screwed (perhaps a little too deeply) into the face of the breechblock, through which the tip of the firing pin passed. In addition, it would likely have had a spring retracted firing pin, rather than one that was mechanically retracted by the action of the lever.

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