Smith and Wesson branded ammunition

[Vic2]

Smith and Wesson branded ammunition
I have several boxes of various caliber Smith and Wesson ammunition and was wondering if it has any collector value .
Also, who actually produced this ammunition and boxed it and distributed it for Smith and Wesson?

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I recall S&W-branded ammo back in the 1970's and 1980's. At that time it was produced by Fiocchi and the cases were headstamped S&W.

I don't recall the ammo being anything particularly exciting, just good reliable stuff. Those were the days of the new +P rated ammo, and jacketed hollow points were becoming the new standard for handgun ammo. Demand was high, so I assume that S&W was capitalizing on name-brand recognition to carve out a chunk of the marketplace.

 

[thadheth]

It shows up at auctions occasionally (online and on sight) and does not seem to bring much more than run-of-the-mill current ammunition. They had rifle cartridges, pistol cartridges, and shotshells. If the boxes are in mint condition, they might bring a slight premium - some folks like them for display or photo props with contemporary firearms.

 

[Skeet 028]

Actually S&W and Fiocchi bought out the old Alcan brand. Much of the Alcan stuff was made by Fiocchi for them. Fiocchi was in the business with S&W for a few months only. S&w continued to sell the Alcan brands for quite a while with their name also of course. S&W continued in the ammo business as well as some reloading supplies until they realized, I think, that they just couldn't take a major part of the market away from the big three. They did have some new great ideas especially in the shotshell market such as Sabot slugs. No they didn't invent them but they were the first kinda major ammo maker that had sabot loads. Other mkers followed suit. I have many different items S&W sold including some of the S&W-F marked ammo and boxes from their short time together with Fiocchi. I just got a 1000 Alcan/S&W 220 Maxfire primers in a batch of stuff at a gun show. They were made by Fiocchi and are essentially the same as the current Fiocchi 616 shotshell primers. In the attached(hopefully) pictures are some S&W 357 mag ammo in a strip loader with 90 gr round nosed jacketed bullets. Odd looking indeed for 357 factory ammo.

 

[elpac3]

If I remember correctly S&W ammo came out with the Nyclad bullets which Federal Cartridge purchased the process for back in the mid 80's

 

[Kp321]

Back in the day, S&W could sell every revolver they produced. They had deals with their distributors that they could only get revolvers if they bought so much ammo, long guns and knives. The distributors would then dump those items for cost to move them out. There were some real bargains to be had. Still have some primers I picked up then for rediculous prices.
Some of the ammo was head stamped S&W f to denote it was produced by Fiocchi.

 

[Vic2]

Thanks for the information fellas. I don't have a lot of it so I guess I'll just hold onto it. I purchased a few boxes of various calabers back in the 80s.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Nothing really special about S&W stamped ammo from what I've read. You might want to keep it for staging with S&W guns in pictures if you do that. If not just shoot it or trade it 1 for 1 to someone who does want it.

Sorry that it's not collectable.

 

[glenwolde]

If I remember correctly S&W ammo came out with the Nyclad bullets which Federal Cartridge purchased the process for back in the mid 80's

Nyclad was the thing. Sold to LEO agencies for use in indoor ranges on the basis of reduced lead exposure. A different process but sort of the 70's version of today's coated lead bullets. The Nyclad 158gr SWCHP in .38 Spl was well regarded at the time.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I had some Smith &Wesson rifle ammo back in the late 70s, purchased at a very good price (about $4 per 20 as I recall). My buddy and I bought a pretty good batch of it in .243 (his) and .270 (mine). I never shot a critter with any that I had, but while we were hunting together one day, he shot a nice Alabama 8-point buck with the 100 grain .243 stuff, and had to shoot the deer an unbelievable 8 times to get him killed. All, including the first round fired, should have been DRT. When we dressed the buck we found the bullets were apparently very frangible and were blowing up with minimal penetration. We used the rest of that ammo for range practice and a source of brass.

I still have some Smith & Wesson .357 brass in 50-round boxes.

 

[Nevada Ed]

As mentioned, a Blue & White box of S&W ammo in a picture
with your favorite weapon would be frosting on the cake...........

and nice to have if you are a collector of S&W stuff.

I don't collect and have tossed out lots of old stuff and ammo boxes over the years.

My biggest regret, was a GI metal gas can with hinged spout, that I gave away.

 

[SWFan27]

I still have a 50 round box of 110 grain SJHP 357 Mag in the old school blue and white Smith & Wesson box. I will have to take some pictures and post them. I bought them from someone online and have been thinking about using them at the range for target ammo since they are so old. Part of me wants to hang on to them for the historical value and they could still work in a life saving pinch. I had also bought a box of Remington 158 grain lead round nose ammo which I blew through on my last trip to the range and they all fired. Their accuracy was kind of all over the place and lead splatter was hitting other targets I had near them. I started wondering if my revolvers needed their sights adjusted a bit.

Then I shot some new Remington UMC 357 Mag SJHP rounds and they were extremely accurate as always. Since 357 Mag is still overpriced, I am thinking about using the old S&W stuff at the range this weekend. But there is more frustration than fun shooting ammo which may choose to go in a dirrection other than where I am aiming, and where's the fun in that? Might just hang onto the stuff as memorabilia. I guess I will decide when I pack up next for the range. I have 48 rounds left so it is not a full box. The couple rounds I shot when I got the stuff went bang just fine.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The OPs question was asking and answered. There doesn't seem to be anything necessary to be added so I'm closing this thread because previously the last post was 3 years ago...