Went by my main LGS in Macon today. Nothing in Smiths or Colts. That's been the case a lot lately, and he averages one show a week. He had cleaned out his office. Hated to see that since it was full of neat stuff. . .a real museum. There was this table near the back stacked with things he hadn't decided on yet. He has a huge major personal collection. He let me buy this full box of Peters Krumble Ball 22 Shorts for $40 OTD. I was pretty happy since I've only seen one other big box this old in my life and it was over $100. The ammo dates 1934 according to my research. Maybe a year or two later. 83 years old give or take! I get it home and sleeve the box with acid-free board. Then, I refill the box and sleeve it with Mylar. My preservation techniques insure everything will survive another century or much more. Kept some rounds out to shoot in my house gun. Told my wife she probably wouldn't hear anything since 22 rimfire ammo approaching 100 years old doesn't have a reputation for still being shootable. Amazing! Shot a bunch of them without the first failure to fire. Uniform loud reports with ignition on first strike every time. Now I'm starting to worry about all you guys posting FTF statistics using "new" 22 rimfire ammunition. . .seen a lot of that on this forum lately. My statistics from this experiment is FTF equals 0%.

Attached Images

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Dr. B

Probably from the 1930s, maybe 1940s. They were made mainly for use in carnival shooting galleries, etc. There were enough of those that all manufacturers made frangible bullet .22s. Typically the bullets were made of powdered iron in a phenolic plastic matrix that would turn into powder upon impact with steel, and also throw off sparks.

The 1936 Peters catalog shows them as Item 2295 (50 round box) or Item 2204 (250 round box), with a 30 grain bullet and a list price of $4/M. They are not listed in the 1930 Peters catalog.

No reason they shouldn't shoot 100%.

Mine are 2204. That explains the condition of the bullets. Old lead oxidizes white. These iron and plastic bullets look nearly new. I shot them into the side of my concrete block pump house. They left little black smudges. Appeared to be accurate.

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Dr. B

I had a uncle that had a Arcade in a Amusement park in Canton
Ohio. In the late 60s the park was closed down and a subdivision
was built there. Uncle kept several of the old mechanical arcade
games, and all the Win Gallery guns, loading tubes, parts and
ammo. Being a tight old coot couldn't get a gun off him. He did
give me a couple cases of same Krumble Ball just like OPs. That
was 35 yrs ago. Have still got ammo left and it still fires, as new.
I've got bricks of ammo from 50s, still good. Ammo is only as
good as it is stored.

I'm beginning to think that ammo is a lot like drugs. . .specifically antibiotics. It will last forever. The same is true with good wine. A century is nothing.

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Dr. B

Back in the 1950s, both Remington and Peters sold the same frangible .22 Short ammunition in 28 round flat pack boxes on the consumer market as Remington "Rocket" and Peters (some name I don't remember). Unopened flat packs are tough to come by today. As I remember they sold for about 15 cents.

They had a "shooting gallery" on the Seaside Heights boardwalk when I was a kid. Rifles held 12 shots or 6 from a S&W 17 or 18, 25 cents. I always went for the handguns. Motorized metal ducks on a chain and such. The bullets were sort of "masonite" and very fast, like 1600 fps. In the evening the operator shoveled the mountain of "waste" into a wheelbarrow for disposal. Today in NJ they'd have a "jump squad" response over that. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I got a box about a yr ago, splatterless i think was the name. Brings back memories. I got my first hot brass down the sleeve shooting browning auto at the carnival.

Charlie

The same thing happened to me, hot brass from a Brn 22 went
down my sleeve at County Fair. I was 6 or 7, have never liked
Auto loaders since.

When i was shooting as a kid in the 60's we never had FTF with .22 ammo......ALL BRANDS.....Back then our Western Auto WAS our hdwe/gun/fishing store!......Their store brand ammunition was "Revelation"(made by Federal)........NOTHING ever FTF'd back then......

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S&W Accumulator

You've got a good memory. The Peters were marked "Thunderbolt". They came in a little flat box about the same size as a package of Chiclets and had a cellophane wrapper. I still have a couple of packs of them. Yeah, I'm old too.

That's good to hear. Cuz I have an 1966 French Bordeaux that I have yet to open. Given to me 25 years ago by a gun collector friend who died a few days after he gave it to me.

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760