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