I was recently reading up on 38 special high velocity ammo. I was not familiar with it. This was the ammo used to sight in Grampa’s R M. Then as if by fate I stumbled across some for sale on GB. Wasn’t even looking for it.

Well, I had to have it, and I’m pleased to say that after a brief bidding war, it’s mine. I think it’s an awesome addition to my RM package.

I know for a fact this gun hadn’t been loaded since 1993, and I am pretty darn sure it hasn’t been loaded or shot since 1949. The gun looks good loaded. I’m thinking about shooting his gun once, just once, on the anniversary of his death. Enjoy the pics.

Dave

Attached Images

	Cool RM 1.jpg (159.7 KB, 317 views)
	Cool RM 2.jpg (129.4 KB, 341 views)
	Cool RM 3.jpg (137.4 KB, 321 views)
	Cool RM 4.jpg (127.9 KB, 347 views)
	Cool RM 5.jpg (129.1 KB, 303 views)

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Posts like this enrich this forum beyond measure. Thank you so much for sharing this family treasure. It’s like a museum display.

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Possum—The other white meat!

--------and sighted in at 100 yards; that was a man who knew what it's all about!!

Ralph Tremaine

I would shoot it either on his birthday or the anniversary of his death. Not going to hurt it and it will make your memories of him happy.

A 5" RM is very cool. Shooting 38s at 100 yards is impressive.

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No life story has happy end.

You inherited a fabulous package!

The ammo you purchased was produced sometime after 1962. That's when the government required the child safety warning on ammunition boxes. The bidding war you got into wasn't because old high speed .38 Special ammo is hard to find, it's because of the metal piercing bullets. You vintage AP box is legal to own, but it's now illegal to manufacture and sell to the civilian market.

You may want to look for a box of period correct ammunition. Keep your eyes open for a Western box without the child warning. You want one marked "Western Cartridge Co" on the back, with no mention of Olin or Olin Mathieson. Other manufacturers also produced pre-war high speed .38 Special and .357 Magnum ammo.

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"I also cook."

What s&wchad said!!

Whe I started as a LEO Firearms Instructor in 1981, we had veteran officers still carrying this as a duty round from early post war. The most amazing thing to me was that most of them actually went boom!!

Thanks for sharing the wonderful package that you received from your Grandpa. Just out of interest, was it D.B. Wesson who signed the RM certificate? It looks like the last name started with a W and had VP under it.

Yes, it was Wesson who signed it. Whoever sighted it in and Grampa may be the only two who have shot it. And Kevin W, our expert on certificates, thinks it’s the only one sighted in with S&W special high velocity ammo, which is pretty awesome. Dave

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Illegitimi non carborundum

For Remington ammo, there is an index number (usually 4 digits) in the lower right hand corner. If there is a letter prefix R in front of the number, that means it is from pre-WWII. There was no letter prefix used after WWII.

There is nothing illegal about that .38 Special metal piercing ammo, then or now. The Winchester and Western MP rounds simply had a very thick pointed jacket over the nose. It is not considered armor piercing, just better at penetrating auto bodies than lead bullets. Remington also produced metal penetrating bullets, except they were made of a zinc die casting alloy and were lighter in weight and had a greater velocity.

What is perhaps more awesome---or at least weird, was my one and only nickel RM that lived here at one time---5", Humpback hammer, and 1 of 15 identical units (near as I recall) shipped to the Indianapolis P.D.----sighted in at 25 yards with .38 Special Wadcutters. Let's see now---.357 Magnums for use by LEO's sighted in with .38 Special wadcutters----makes perfect sense----to somebody----somewhere----sometime.

Ralph Tremaine

In the first picture. Is that a complete factory grip adapter? If so, that by itself is a rare and expensive find.
Grampa knew his stuff!

Back in the day, us old po-leese shot a lot more .38 specials out of our .357s than we did .357 magnum ammo.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!