U.S. Air Crew (Man) Ammo

[Col. F. Bina]

I have a 50 round box of 38 Spl. ammo in what appears to ridgid nylon cases. It is full ball ammo with a brass(?) head stamp of USAC. It is my understanding that this is possibly a very light load developed for the S&W 38cal. AirCrewMan revolver. Or, I my be completely wrong on this. Any thought would be most welcome.

 

[mckenney99]

I believe the USAC ammo came out in the commercial market in the mid to late 1980's. I don't believe it had anything to do with the US Air Crew revolver. There were numerous reports of issues with this ammo's poor performance (loose bullets being one of the biggest issues) and it was common to find the empty cases left lying around the range grounds, because the cases used a unique bullet base that "snapped" into the plastic case, hence the loose bullets.

 

[weatherby]

It's as stated above.
USAC= United States Ammunition Company.

 

[black1970]

Still have some with the loader. Shot fine. Had some bullets too. Easy to load.

 

[s&wchad]

Commercial brainchild from the 1980's.
Click here and read the thread: > http://smith-wessonforum.com/ammo/659255-usac-remember-these.html?highlight=USAC

 

[DWalt]

I still have a few rounds and some advertising material in my collection. It had zero to do with the military. The hook was that it was simple to reload with some inexpensive hand tools. But a special bullet design was required. The bullet and the case snapped together.

 

[Col. F. Bina]

Holy cow... where have I been! I may have been asleep in the 80's. Thanks for the information. I have a box of 50 of these. Guess I will go ahead and shoot them.

 

[stansdds]

Holy cow... where have I been! I may have been asleep in the 80's. Thanks for the information. I have a box of 50 of these. Guess I will go ahead and shoot them.

Welcome to the S&W Forum! I don't think that I would shoot them, they may have more collector value than value as plinking ammo.

 

[DWalt]

Welcome to the S&W Forum! I don't think that I would shoot them, they may have more collector value than value as plinking ammo.

I have no idea of their present value on the collector market, but I would recommend keeping the full box instead of shooting them. Even though they are not very old, the USAC ammo is not often seen.

 

[Llance]

If I remember correctly these only used the primer for shooting them and they were intended for shooting indoors (like in your basement) with low recoil, low report, and very reduced penetration. I had a box and foolishly shot up most of them. Seems to me I still have six loaded rounds and forty-four empties. Please don't hold my feet to the fire on that.

 

[6518John]

If I remember correctly these only used the primer for shooting them and they were intended for shooting indoors (like in your basement) with low recoil, low report, and very reduced penetration. I had a box and foolishly shot up most of them. Seems to me I still have six loaded rounds and forty-four empties. Please don't hold my feet to the fire on that.

148-158 grain bullets going from 700-900 FPS is no slouch round. I am not sure I would shoot that in the house unless at a robber!

 

[DWalt]

If I remember correctly these only used the primer for shooting them and they were intended for shooting indoors (like in your basement) with low recoil, low report, and very reduced penetration. I had a box and foolishly shot up most of them. Seems to me I still have six loaded rounds and forty-four empties. Please don't hold my feet to the fire on that.

Not so for USAC ammo. There were several makers (Winchester was one) of plastic cased indoor practice ammo which used primers only as the propellant. And those also used plastic snap-in reusable bullets. Those I have seen or used were in .38, and worked in any .38 or .357 revolver - including .38 S&W. The problem with them was that the plastic cases often split after a few shots.

 

[Alk8944]

Holy cow... where have I been! I may have been asleep in the 80's. Thanks for the information. I have a box of 50 of these. Guess I will go ahead and shoot them.

I Wouldn't shoot them, someday they will probably be as valuable as Gyro-Jet ammunition, or Dardick "Trounds". You do remember those, don't you????