WW 2 vintage 45 caliber ammo

[Toyman]

I bought this box of WW 2 vintage 45 caliber RIMMED ammunition. I was not aware of military issued 45 ACP ammunition ? The box says COLT but would work in S&W 1917 models.
Can anyone comment about thios ammo ?

 

[sceva]

That is Canadian ammo; I believe it is for the New Service Colt chambered for .45 Colt (45 Long Colt to some) I am pretty sure it will NOT work in a 1917 S&W or Colt chambered for a .45 ACP. They should work fine in a Mod 25-5 S&W though.

 

[s&wchad]

Is that .45 Colt ammunition or .45 Auto Rim? The RCMP used .45 Colt and their Navy may have too. How about a side view of a cartridge.

 

[Toyman]

I had not opened the box so after first reply I did and it is 45 Long Colt. After Dunkirk England bought all sorts of firearms from US so I guess I am not suprised to see this ammo.

 

[Muley Gil]

The RCMP used Colt New Service revolvers in .45 Colt.

This is probably intended for their use.

 

[S&WIowegan]

I have ....

a Colt New Service chambered in .45 Colt that letters shipped to the Royal NorthWest Mounted Police in late 1919. The backstrap was subsequently stamped RCMP after the two units merged.

 

[Toyman]

I thought military due to the date and info on box. RCMP would be good choice. I posted on Colt forum and was advised made by Dominion Cartridge.

 

[Muley Gil]

"I thought military due to the date and info on box."

There probably wasn't much commercial ammo being made in 1944.

 

[wraco]

a Colt New Service chambered in .45 Colt that letters shipped to the Royal NorthWest Mounted Police in late 1919. The backstrap was subsequently stamped RCMP after the two units merged.

I have one believed to have been shipped in 1919 as well, but only stamped MP (mounted police) on the butt, in 45 Colt.

On the ammo topic; some of the WW II ammo, I've been told, has corrosive primers. I have two pkgs. of WW II US issue 45 acp, one opened and one not, and I've wondered about the corrosive factor. . I did shoot off a heap of WW II 45 acp machine gun ammo, with the steel casings, and that definetly had corrosive primers. .

Rod

 

[Muley Gil]

IIRC, the only WW II ammo that used non-corrosive primers was the .30 caliber M1 carbine. The US military didn't change over to non-corrosive primers for all of it's ammo until the 1950s.

 

[brucek]

The ammo that you have is Canadian military issue, the navy had a few hundred 45 long colt new services that they aquired in 1940, i have one of he guns, you ammo is for those guns and is made by the Dominion cartridge company, later to become CIL and IVI.

 

[The Wizard]

Brucek is correct in that the ammunition was for the Canadian Navy for their .45 Colt New Service revolvers.

 

[Texas Star]

Brucek is correct in that the ammunition was for the Canadian Navy for their .45 Colt New Service revolvers.

I agree that this is for Royal Canadian Navy use. Skeeter Skelton once pictured one of those 1940-purchased .45 New Service guns in, "Shooting Times."

The ammo is collectible and worth far more than it is for shooting.

Ian Fleming had a .45 New Service and was shown with it in a profile on hm in, "Life." He mentioned James Bond using a "long-barrelled .45 Colt" as his car gun when he had the .25 Beretta on his person. Bond supposedly had that .45 while doing Secret Service ops in WWII. I think it reflected what Fleming saw being used then, whiie a Naval Intelligence agent. Some of those guns may well have been from that 1940 order for Canada, or from similar British purchases.

Because .45 Colt was not a standard British military caliber, many of tbose guns were probably diverted for special uses.

Also, Colt autos in .455 (auto) were eventually diverted to RAF Coastal Command, to keep all the odd caliber ammo in one command. That would make sense for .45 Colt guns, too. Just a historical thought.

Anyway, don't shoot that ammo. It is part of history, and hard to find today.

May we see a side view of a cartridge? These seem to be FMJ bullets, as required by the Hague Accords for formal warfare.

NOTE: those 12-round boxes reflect the normal ammo issue for a revolver in Brit WW II service. Just one load and one reload! Special ops (SOE) men had more ammo, and I think paratroopers and Commandos did, including SAS, etc. They made more extensive use of handguns than did most troops.

 

[Toyman]

Photo requested by TEXAS STAR

 

[Texas Star]

Photo requested by TEXAS STAR

Thanks! The bullets look to be seated a bit deeper on these than on US loads. Hmmm.. I wonder if they used .45 ACP bullets?!

Dominion loaded .45 Colt in peacetime, I think, but this may have been a wartime exigency, and they usually used lead bullets for that round, too. I don't think commercial or RCMP ammo was jacketed.

Any Canadians here know?

 

[Hondo44]

The NWMP became the RNWMP (Royal NWMP) in 1904 and merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to become the RCMP.

They did a long and mutually successful business with Colt starting in 1904 with their 1st order for 700 of the Colt New Service in 455 Eley Caliber. After several additional orders, and following WW I they began ordering the New Service in 45 Colt which continued until the last shipment in 1942.

After 1932 with their arsenals filled with a mix of 455s and 45 Colts, they solved the ammo distribution problem by keeping all those chambered in 45 Colt in Eastern Canada and shipped all the 455 Eleys west of Lakehead (Thunder Bay) in Northwest Ontario.

Dominion 45 Colt hardball ammo could have been destined for anywhere including eastern Canada until the love affair with the 45 New Service ended in 1954 when they switched to Smith & Wesson .38 M&Ps.