old Remington primer copper cases

[Lee Barner]

this box caught my eye and I don't know anything about copper cases. it is a full box of 50 primed copper cases. curious about age mostly. they will NOT be loaded, just sat on a shelf as a curiosity. anyone know the approximate age and if loaded and fired, could these cases be reloaded? thanks in advance. Lee

 

[stansdds]

All I can say is that's something you don't see every day!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I think the box in mid 60's.

Ivan

I just sold a similar box of unprimed 22 Hornet, They had become tarnished, so I wet tumbled them with SS pins for 8 hours. Didn't clean them at all. They had to be coated with something!

Ivan

 

[rockquarry]

I bought a number of boxes of new Remington .25-35 rifle brass in the same depicted boxes in 1987. .25-35 wasn't ever very popular, so this brass may have been on the shelves for a good while. I'd guess late 70s to early '80s production.

 

[Model19man]

Brass is a bit stronger but for a wimpy round like 38 S&W copper is likely overkill X 10.

The original black powder loads for most handgun cartridges available in the 1880's were copper cased. Eventually the industry moved to brass, so we are used to that.

 

[thadheth]

No zip code in the addresses suggests pre-1963. Not sure if the "Keep Out Of Reach Of Children" warning was required for primed cases (if so, they pre-date 1962).
The graphic design is similar to ammunition boxes from about 1960 or 1961, not much earlier.
I have some of these also, but have been unable to find a specific date reference to these ammunition component boxes.

 

[Alk8944]

I really doubt those cases are Copper! Much more likely copper washed brass! There was absolutely no reason for Remington to make cases from Copper. Regardless they are earlier than 1963 as thadheth said, but not earlier than mid 1950s.

I have several hundred odd cartridges in my collection, some of which are far older than those you have are, and there are none made after approximately 1900, including Remingtons, that are Copper except for some rim-fires.

 

[2152hq]

Do the flash holes in the cases look oversized?
A normal flash hole is around .080

Many different and special purpose blank, marker and tool loadings were made for many years on the 38S&W.
Most all of those used the Blank Load case which has an over size flash hole (approx 1/8" dia).

Military, industrial, theatrical and other uses.
There was a large supply of 38S&W empty unfired brass available some years back. It supposedly was MilSurp and was mfg'd to be loaded as a blank and used as a primer in some sort of launcher/morter(?).
True or not,,it was great brass! and copper as well.

The copper case was a common use for these specialty loads but they were also used in some earlier turn of the century loadings as well. Though these pictured are likely 60's vintage IMO.

Remington did set up an ammunition mfg plant in Mexico it seems at some point and then the entire opperation was Nationalized by Mexico or otherwise taken over by someone there other than Remington.
I was told it was there that the copper 38S&W cases were made in volume for these purposes and that some were also sold as new-primed cases with the Rem headstamp.
True or not,,I don't know. Supposedly the same opperation made the 41RF and 32Rf ammo that imported into the US in the 70's by Navy Arms.

Yes, they really made them of copper!

 

[Model19man]

this box caught my eye and I don't know anything about copper cases. it is a full box of 50 primed copper cases. curious about age mostly. they will NOT be loaded, just sat on a shelf as a curiosity. anyone know the approximate age and if loaded and fired, could these cases be reloaded? thanks in advance. Lee[/QUO

Styrofoam was invented in 1947. It was probably easy to find by the mid 1950's. I would bet the cases you own are no earlier than 1957 and no later than 1965.

 

[DWalt]

I have seen identical boxes of .38 S&W primed cases on several occasions. I would also expect they could be copper-washed brass. There is no reason they could not be loaded and fired. I also agree they are probably from sometime in the 1960s, certainly not very long before then. The rear label reference to plastic shot wads reinforces that. They weren't commonly used until the mid 1960s.

 

[Ruger 13]

I just loaded 2 boxes of 38 wcf about a week ago!

 

[mikld]

I know very little about firearms case history, but the box states "Copper", so why wouldn't the cases be copper?

 

[Paul in Nevada]

Touch one with a magnet. I bet it's copper washed steel. Probably a foreign contract overrun.

 

[2152hq]

I have seen identical boxes of .38 S&W primed cases on several occasions. I would also expect they could be copper-washed brass. There is no reason they could not be loaded and fired. I also agree they are probably from sometime in the 1960s, certainly not very long before then. The rear label reference to plastic shot wads reinforces that. They weren't commonly used until the mid 1960s.

I didn't see that 'Power Piston' wad notation till you mentioned the plastic wads.
Those P/Piston wads came out in '64 in the Target loads.
65 in the Express loads. '66 in the Remington ShurShot shells.

Right on Target!

 

[DWalt]

I remember buying both Winchester and Federal shells in the mid-60s that still used felt wads. The Winchester shells used a plastic seal over powder wad and a protective sheet plastic wrapper around the shot column. I remover buying one piece plastic wads for reloading later in the 1960s, using a manual 12 ga Lee Loader. Very slow. Paper cases were still being used then.