Vintage early Western .44 Magnum ammo

[JRB416]

A very early box of Western Super X 44 Magnum ammo in excellent condition. I have found these early 44 magnum ammo boxes with original ammo as hard to find as early four and five screw 44 magnums in excellent condition.

Do other members enjoy looking for vintage ammo to go with period firearms in their collection? Some of the vintage graphics are pretty neat and I think art in their own right.

Still looking for a nice first or second year Peters 44 Magnum box.

 

[.455_Hunter]

Are those gas checked?

Seems like I have seen similar vintage Remington with gas checks.

It would be nice if a factory full-performance, gas-checked, swagged SWC loading was offered again.

 

[JRB416]

Are those gas checked?

Seems like I have seen similar vintage Remington with gas checks.

It would be nice if a factory full-performance, gas-checked, swagged SWC loading was offered again.

I have read that the early Western Lubaloy 44 Magnum bullets were gas checked but I'm not positive. I've never pulled one to verify this. The box does not indicate they are gas checked. Hopefully someone will be along to confirm.

Yes, the first Remington and Peters loads were gas checked and are listed so on the boxes.

I agree, a factory gas checked swagged SWC load would be nice. I've shot a lot of Hornady, Sierra, and Nosler jacketed bullets and have my favorites for different calibers. But for me a lead SWC Keith style bullet has performed very well in any sporting purpose I've used it for.

Call me old fashioned, but loading six SWC cartridges (five for a single action) in a vintage revolver just feels right.

 

[RDub]

Hi
Every 44 Mag round I've ever examined from this time period were gas checked. The alloy used with these SWC bullets were relatively soft, so a gas check was a necessity. As it was, as I recall, the ammunition leaded barrels, but it would have been much worse without a gas check. Back in the day it was just something we lived with.
I agree this round is a classic and should be brought back for those that wish to use them..

 

[waelkhntr]

JRB416,
Yes, I do look for them daily sometime several times a day. I'm still looking for the 1956 Peters box and the Western Super X box to complete my NT-430 display. It took me years to find a Quality birth year gun with all the goodies. The one I finely found is only 19 days from being a birthday gun.
It's expensive and time consuming to gather all the original magazine articles, advertisement etc. The "buffalo head" patch and the "Another First" patch were painfully expansive.

Terry

I may do a write up on the revolvers on its ship date next month.

 

[JRB416]

waelkhntr,

I hope you do a write-up, I will watch for it next month. I like the early patches, advertising, and articles on the 44 Magnum as well. And you are right, it is an expensive and time consuming hobby but one I enjoy immensely.

I was lucky enough to find a 1958 four inch high condition 44 that shipped only 14 days before my birthday.

It sounds like you and I have traveled a similar path in pursuit of this hobby.

Experts on this Forum and books written by experts on this Forum have been invaluable in collecting these fine revolvers.

Below is my birth year and month four screw.

 

[waelkhntr]

JRB,
what an outstanding example. Mine is 6 1/2 model. I would like to see your collection of brassards and memorabilia.

Terry

 

[JRB416]

JRB,
what and outstanding example. Mine is 6 1/2 model. I would like to see your collection of brassards and memorabilia.

Terry

I will work on taking and posting some photos. If you would share some pics of your collection it would be appreciated.

 

[waelkhntr]

I will do that. It has a mid-February ship date. My photo skills are somewhat limited.

Terry

 

[Model19man]

It is interesting. I bought a box of W-W 41 Long Colt that had the same red stuff on the primers. As it turned out the red Loctite was not applied to boxes of factory ammunition but the Loctite was used on primed cases.

Question: Were early 44 Magnum cases equipped with Loctite on the primers, and if so was the ammunition equipped that way too?

 

[JRB416]

It is interesting. I bought a box of W-W 41 Long Colt that had the same red stuff on the primers. As it turned out the red Loctite was not applied to boxes of factory ammunition but the Loctite was used on primed cases.

Question: Were early 44 Magnum cases equipped with Loctite on the primers, and if so was the ammunition equipped that way too?

Interesting question. I have seen a lot of Western 44 Magnum cartridges from the 60's with primer sealant but do not know when Western Cartridge Company started using it. I do believe the cartridges in this box are factory original and date to 1957.

Some of the early Remington 44 Magnum ammo I've looked at did not have primer sealant, but the number of examples I've seen are limited.

Hopefully an expert on the Forum can definitively answer this question.

 

[DWalt]

Loctite as a primer sealer? Never heard of that being used. The normal primer sealer is a thin colored lacquer. Not used much today.

 

[Kinman]

I don't go out of my way looking for vintage ammo but when opportunity presents itself I grab what I can. One of the benefits of hanging out at the gun club is guys walk in and make club donations quite often. Older members no longer interested in shooting, or family members dropping off supplies on a family members request to where it should go. Just early this week a guy walked in with two eight pound jugs of Titegroup, dropped them off for club donation. I asked the RO what he thought a fair price would be, he said "Oh $35 a jug should do it." I handed him a gypsy credit card (100 dollar bill) and packed the box of two jugs out to my car. When I came back in he actually asked me if I wanted change...I just laughed. One of my friends got wind of my good luck and offered me $100 for one of the jugs, I told him "Not right now." My directive to my wife is that all my reloading stuff goes to the club, I'm not alone. It makes it real easy on a wife or surviving kin to just box the stuff up and drop it off, it all goes to a good home and the club makes a few bucks in the donation box. Ive got to the club in the morning when a pickup was parked outside, full of everything a good friend of ours owned from bullets to molds, lead pots, it was thousands of dollars worth of stuff, it was fun to watch everyone like kids at Christmas, no fist fights broke out, a few sharp elbows came close. The pile took a week or more to finally winnow down to the point the RO dumped some of the stuff in the dumpster. Hazardous stuff has to go to the incinerator and proper drop off.

 

[Kinman]

Interesting question. I have seen a lot of Western 44 Magnum cartridges from the 60's with primer sealant but do not know when Western Cartridge Company started using it. I do believe the cartridges in this box are factory original and date to 1957.

Some of the early Remington 44 Magnum ammo I've looked at did not have primer sealant, but the number of examples I've seen are limited.

Hopefully an expert on the Forum can definitively answer this question.

I have some early Winchester 200gr. 44-40 that does not have a sealant. Early green box Remington does not show sealant either.