I just received four boxes (280 +/- rounds) of 9mm ammo that is marked "MM 6 44". The boxes are brown, no markings what-so-ever. The ammo is clean, but I imagine it is corrosive primed. I was going to see if it even fired, but was a tad lazy and did not want to clean the pistol afterwards. I will try tomorrow, time given. I know it must be WWII ammo, but who is the manufacturer? I won't know if it is foreign or US made till I shoot it and look at the primer. Is it worth more to collectors? I got it just for plinking till I saw the date on it. What think ya'll?
Is it any good?
- Thread starter Igiveup
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jag312
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The headstamp should be 9 MM. The ammunition comes in a 64 round box; 64 rounds = two 32-round STEN magazines. The ammunition was made in Canada in the late 1950s. I forget the exact date. The "44" was to make the ammunition look like it was WW2 surplus ammunition. I have seen 42, 43, 44, and 45. There was also 8mm Mauser ammunition made. The ammunition was made for the CIA for a clandestine operation in Central America. I believe it was Honduras.
Canada had a warehouse full of STENs that the CIA were going to acquire. John Inglis still had the tooling for the BREN machineguns that he made during WW2. The BRENs made for Britain and the British Commonwealth were .303, but BRENs made for the Chinese government were 8mm Mauser to match the pre-WW2 German Mauser rifles that they bought. John Inglis dusted off the tooling and the 8mm BRENs that were made for this operation were totally sanitized. No markings of any kind. A friend of mine had one of the clandestine BRENs. The only marking on it was an IRS number that was placed on it when it was registered. My friend had been an employee of Interarms in the 1960s where he obtained it. He was a Class 3 dealer, and he hoped that he would never have to sell it. His son sold it after my friend passed away.
The ammunition that was not used in the operation was turned over to the Defense Department and turned up in Vietnam. Some ammunition was given to Interarms and was sold on the commercial market.
Canada had a warehouse full of STENs that the CIA were going to acquire. John Inglis still had the tooling for the BREN machineguns that he made during WW2. The BRENs made for Britain and the British Commonwealth were .303, but BRENs made for the Chinese government were 8mm Mauser to match the pre-WW2 German Mauser rifles that they bought. John Inglis dusted off the tooling and the 8mm BRENs that were made for this operation were totally sanitized. No markings of any kind. A friend of mine had one of the clandestine BRENs. The only marking on it was an IRS number that was placed on it when it was registered. My friend had been an employee of Interarms in the 1960s where he obtained it. He was a Class 3 dealer, and he hoped that he would never have to sell it. His son sold it after my friend passed away.
The ammunition that was not used in the operation was turned over to the Defense Department and turned up in Vietnam. Some ammunition was given to Interarms and was sold on the commercial market.
That is quite a story. I don't doubt it at all...........
OP
jag312, thank you for the information. I guess the mm 6 44 is really 9mm 44. I haven't counted the rounds in the boxes, but I guess your count is correct. Also, the boxes have no markings, what-so-ever, "sterilized". I wonder now if the ammo is worth more to collectors or should I just shoot it. I can take it to the Reno show next month, if the still have it.
