[Tommycourt]

I was priming some rounds today and ran across 3 casings that have odd markings on the shell casings.

Casings marked: 45 AUTO on the bottom (at 6 o'clock position)
ACP markings (at 11.00 position)
55 marking (?) (at 1.00 position)

Normally I am very careful when I am priming always checking the head of the casing and the base for any type of cracking although I was a little careless of this casing. Using my Lyman hand primer I started the primer however it got stuck and had to be removed forcefully with pliers. Normally I always check the manufacturer also but overlooked these rounds. Could this be old military rounds from 1955? The 55 is very difficult to read and could possibly be 66?

Any help would be useful. I can't imagine anyone shooting ammo that old even from the 60's era although I know some old reloaders used to hoard old ammo. These were range rounds that I found sometime back within the last year. Could someone please enlighten me?

Tommy

 

[Oldhand]

Sure sound like military cases to me. Can't understand why you couldn't prime them if they were.

 

[phideaux]

I have found that military rounds , always have the primers staked in,

The primer pockets need to be reamed to resize, or near impossible to prime , even deprime.

Can't find anything with just those 3 markings, but pretty sure the 55 is the year stamp.


Jim

 

[SHOOTER13]

Correct...55 ( or 65 ) on a Military Case IS the year of manufacture.

I've shot USGI .45 ACP Ball that my Grandfather had stored with his guns when he passed...the box was already opened and cartridges were missing. It had been manufactured at the Frankford Arsenal in Sept 1937... stamped FA 37 on the case...LOT# providing the Month / Year... as seen on the well preserved unopened box pictured below:

Work Perfectly !!




There were a few unopened boxes that I've kept over the years as a memento...storing ammo properly is the key. His was in an GI ammo can.

His collection and my memories of him showing his guns to me at a young age started my fascination with firearms.

My Mother actually worked at the arsenal as a teenager...rode her bike there every morning. Two miles from where she grew up in Philadelphia ( Bridesburg neighborhood ).

Frankford Arsenal



Opened in 1816 on 20 acres on the Delaware River...it supplied ammunition and small arms to soldiers in the Civil War all the way up to the Viet Nam War...and was closed by President Carter in 1977. Many of it's historically preserved buildings now serve as offices in an industrial park setting.