Winchester 30 Army Full Patch

[reincarnated]

Boxes of Winchester .30-40 Krag and many other calibers (including .220 Swift) are found with labels that say "Loaded in France". These date from the 1920s and 1930s.

The Model 54 Winchester was made (a few thousand) in .30 WCF (.30-30). These were often re-chambered for .30-40 Krag and sometimes for things like the Ackley Improved Krag. I have an original in .30-30 and have given thought to a .30-40 conversion.

[Jeremy T Garner]

Jeremy- if most of them could talk, they would tell you that it is pretty boring being in the closet, attic or basement for years.

Haha, interesting analysis. I've never really thought of it that way. Quite true though. I guess I should have said a "time lapse" of the history of each of these rifles and different pieces of militaria to cut down on some of the more boring parts :)

[gnoahhh]

They look righteous to me. God only knows how many sealed boxful's of that stuff I blasted away as a kid in the late 60's. You could pick up 90's to 30's vintage .30-40 FMJ ammo at shows all day long for $2-3/box. One of the main reasons I got into bullet casting and reloading was I got tired of getting beat up shooting that stuff in my Krag carbine. That late (30's) vintage stuff was my favorite because I didn't have to be so fastidious in cleaning the bore afterward.

[Jeremy T Garner]

An auction on Gunbroker came up with the exact same label as my ammunition. The auction number is 564033933 on gunbroker. The photos seem to confirm that my ammo is original and unmodified as the cartridges look identical. Flat "silver colored" primers and a copper jacket with consistent tarnish on the cases like mine. Anyone gets a chance to look at it I would appreciate your thoughts. Cheers.

[JimmyK]

Your cartridges may be correct factory loads. I have a few boxes of the same Winchester ammo. One full but unsealed box holds copper full patch bullets and unplated (copper colored) domed primers. Another Winchester box of the same vintage, but full of old style blanks with paper bullets had flat nickeled primers. The blanks labeling was in red ink to set them apart from the regular ammo label printed in black. Further, it's my understanding that both domed and flat primers coexisted for a while and reloading tools of the era could be had with either cupped or flat primer seating rams.
Re: W marked bullets. I've never seen Winchester bullets marked with a stamped "W" but have observed "W" marked primers.