box Peters Kleanbore priming 158 grain lead bullet index 3844

[TomAtl]

Peters "KLEANBORE" PRIMING 50 Cartridges made in U.S.A., leave flap reads PT2. Box end reads 38 SPECIAL Police Service 158 Grain Lead Bullet INDEX 3844. Remington Arms Company, Inc. Bridgeport Connecticut. DUPONT. firing pin head reads R - P top and 38 SPL bottom. I carried them to local gun shop and they nor the Police in the shop at the time knew anything about them. Smith and Wesson .38 S. & W. SPL. Original Case, all brand new.

My question would be are they even safe to shoot at a firing range ? What year would they have been manufactured ? What rounds should I purchase to replace them since obviously this is a specially produced as a match, reading all the words on the box, for each other. What are they worth, approximately ?

I know I do not need a dumdum bullet, as Dad described them to me; but, he was a Major in the USMC, a pistol and BAR, sharpshooter and stood guard outside President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's bedroom window with the Secret Service in WWII. After the Korean Conflict, he retired to Atlanta in 1957. I would guess these are from 1960.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Welcome to the forum. I think you will get a faster answer to your question if you start a new thread instead of bringing this one back from the Abyss... Sorry I can't answer your question other than to say if it's factory ammo it's most probably safe to shoot from a revolver that's in good operating condition.

 

[smith17]

Tom:
I have an early 60s Peters Ammo guide that still lists 3844 as an item number of one of their lead .38 Special loadings.
Ed

 

[BlackTalonJHP]

Green and red box?

 

[TomAtl]

Why did the upload of the .jpg fail ? I did them on BlackBerry and were 1961kb and 2113kb. Oh, only allows 293kb. Wow. How do you take a pic that small ?

This thread seems to be working fine, unless you prefer me to repeat the questions here of mine to a new thread, sir ?

I guess you're saying that I can still buy the same exact bullets ? Or the catalog from 1959 shows them still then ?

The box is Navy Blue with red dot Peters DuPont KLEANBORE priming 50 cartridges, brand new from about 1959, maybe year later.

Peters Center Fire Cartridges, on back, are manufactured to Peters rigid specifications for high quality. All components, including brass case, Kleanbore priming and bullet are precision built to assure extreme accuracy, maximum power and dependability.

Peters cartridges with Kleanbore priming are positively non-corrosive and will not cause rust or corrosion if used exclusively. Peters oil-tite process prevents seepage of oil into powder or primer. Peters cartridges in this package are adapted to and intended for use only in arms in good condition originally chambered and designed for this cartridge.

I wrote Remington Arms Company, Inc. as suggested above to, but have no response except standard boilerplate reply not related to questions such as what do I buy, what are these worth, and the great answer above that well they might be 1959 fifty-three years old, but they are still safe to use in Smith and Wesson .38 SPL. I think I would feel safer selling these to someone and buying new box and I think I do not need dumdum, as stated.

I have no idea how one takes .jpg of just 293kb.

 

[smith17]

Tom:
Does the box have the Child Warning on the top?
Ed

Here is a box from a wadcutter of .38 Special, item #3847.

 

[TomAtl]

Ed, yes sir. That's the box. It looks just exactly like that. Only mine are Index 3844. Warning Keep Out of Reach of Children. Wadcutter ? It doesn't have that word on the box. I've given every word on the box now. How did you take that picture for the forum discussion so that it would upload ? Anyway, that's the box exactly Ed.
1. What should I buy to replace now ?
2. Is this box worth anything ?

I guess I have heard Dad talk about wadcutters. I also heard him discuss with me dumdum bullets. Which are these ?

Your picture of the front of the box has 50 up in the top left where on mine it reads at the bottom 50 Cartridges, made in U.S.A. where on your pic it has the child warning. My child warning is underneath the words to the right of the red dot Peters and underneath the "KLEANBORE" PRIMING, and my child warning is actually inside a box, and under that box is the round DuPont logo.

 

[desi2358]

That is a 60's era box, someone looking to fill out a collection might be interested in it. Not as many people collect the later ones though and they often don't bring any significant premium. They should be fine to shoot but if it were me I'd put it back and just buy some new ammo to shoot

 

[smith17]

I agree with desi. The child warning was required on ammo boxes in 1962 and, according to my Peters booklet, there were 6 different loadings of their .38 Special (some were metal pointed, metal penetrating, lead and high velocity) including yours which is Index Number 3844. This number went back before WWII.
I also agree with desi in that the best use would probably be putting it back for old time's sake. As an occasional seller of old ammo at a few gun shows, it will not bring more than a new box of .38 Special unless someone has a collection and is missing that particular box.

Regarding the pic, I simply put the box on a scanner, saved it to a memory card, and, when putting up this post, went to Go Advanced and linked the scan on the card to the paperclip Attachment. It takes a minute to upload and will size it to fit.
Ed

 

[TomAtl]

Ok, I will buy new box bullets S&W .38 SPL

I still wish there was somebody in Atlanta who would take the old box, premuium or not.

 

[TomAtl]

Remington recommendations for S & W .38 SPL

Danny at Remington wrote me back : "Our Bridgeport plant was closed in 1964. We know they are at least that old and we could not recommend that they be used based on their age alone. Any standard 38 Special (not +P) should work in your firearm of this caliber."

So, we have it narrowed down that the cartridge box and contents are 50-years old.

 

[Texas Star]

Tom-

Disregard what your dad said. He doesn't sound like an expert. I also helped Secret Service guard a President, but that didn't make me a gun expert. One OSI agent that I worked with was barely able to qualify with his .38! He wore a holster that made it obvious that he had a gun under his coat.

Do you know the origin of the term, "Dum-Dum"? That was an arsenal in India during British colonial days there. Those guys were carrying .455's in the main; the MK III .455 round had a deep hollow point and wadcutter (flat point) profile. Soldiers there wanted it because the plain lead roundnose .455 would sometimes fail to stop a warrior sometimes doped up or in extreme (Muslim, usually) religious fervor.

Now, if they were having trouble stopping those fanatics with a .455, don't you think that if you have a .38 you might wish for a hollowpoint round? We have some really bad thugs here, too, and the old standard .38 Special load has a poor rep for stopping power, about 50% for one shot stops with solid body hits. Our military found the .38 Long Colt, close to your .38 Special, very inffective in the Moro wars in the Phillipines. That led the Army to adopt the .45 automatic.

Today, the term "dum-dum" is seldom used, but roughly means any expanding bullet. Modern police seldom use anything else here. They learned their lesson on the street. Take advantage of their experience. Don't learn the hard way that the one shot that you may be able to place in an aassailant before he can kill you was ineffective!

What sort is your .38? That may determine whether you can use Plus P (higher velocity) ammo in it. Some types recoil very little more than standard ammo like you have. Some bullets loaded in it work well.

I suspect that you are not really much of a shooter and just want to have a loaded gun at home for emergencies?

Your old ammo will probably fire okay if it has been stored well. But do you want to take that chance? And it may not be as uniform in velocity as when new. The cost of a new box of ammo isn't so high that it would be a major burden, unless you are on a fixed income and hurting financially. And some brands offer 20 round boxes, enough for your perceived emergency needs. Of course, it's best to practice, if you can.