head stamp on .45 auto ???

dearslayer

dearslayer

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Fairly new to the pistol area of shooting and only recently acquired a Remington R1 .45 so hope this isn’t too dumb of a question. Awhile back a friend of mine gave me a container ( about 500 rounds ) of .45 ammo ( I didn’t have a .45 at that time but figured it would be a great incentive to get one ) that he acquired through the sister of a friend of his who had passed away. Seems he doesn’t have any pistols he gave me the ammo. I was going through the container last night before leaving for my night shift and noticed that most have “ federal .45 auto “ on the head stamp but there are also quite a few that have WCC 88 and also a few with the word “ match “ on the head stamp. Is this considered .45 cal but just a different grade?? All else seems to be the same size as far as case size etc. I might also mention that these are all Semi wad Cutter and don’t look to be factory loads just from the fact that the cases seems to be marked up and not new. I just want to be sure it’s the correct ammo for the gun!
 

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Western Cartridge Company. Division of Winchester which makes military ammo. Looks like 80 to me which is year of manufacture.

https ://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=441540

http ://cartridgecollectors.org/?page=headstampcodes#W
 
Actually Winchester Cart. Co., not "western".
Yes, looks like you have all .45 ACP, which should be correct for your pistol. However............it is all reloads, and many shooters, including myself, won't shoot unknown reloads. You never know what the original reloader was thinking, their level of proficiency, what they were drinking at the time, etc.
 
jonnyc said:
Actually Winchester Cart. Co., not "western".
Yes, looks like you have all .45 ACP, which should be correct for your pistol. However............it is all reloads, and many shooters, including myself, won't shoot unknown reloads. You never know what the original reloader was thinking, their level of proficiency, what they were drinking at the time, etc.
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Makes sense I guess under the circumstances. It sure does suck to have 500 rounds and not be able to use it. Unfortunately I didn't know the original owner of this stuff so I'd have no idea if he reloaded it or it came from another source.
 
500 rounds isn't that much. I'd hang onto it and if you get a 45 and start reloading, pull the bullets and reload with known powder. I agree with the rest saying don't shoot it.
Kristian
 
SigWig said:
I wouldn't shoot it. Ammo is cheap, your face isn't.
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I don't know a darn thing about reloading but would someone knowing how to reload and going through the trouble do such a bad job as to have it blow up in my face ?? Sorry I'm just trying to learn and understand why it would do that. Too much powder/ wrong primer/ etc?????
 
dearslayer said:
I don't know a darn thing about reloading but would someone knowing how to reload and going through the trouble do such a bad job as to have it blow up in my face ?? Sorry I'm just trying to learn and understand why it would do that. Too much powder/ wrong primer/ etc?????
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Could also be not enough or no powder. This would be what is known as a "squib" round. The primer itself may be enough to send the bullet part way only into your barrel. The danger is you don't notice this and a subsequent round is somehow chambered and fired. This could likely ruin the barrel at best and possibly damage the gun and your face at worst.

Get a bullet puller. Pull the bullets and reload .
 
I have a half dozen Norinco (cheap) 45ACPs. And a Colt (not so cheap) and some other 45s.

If I had those 500 rounds, I would shoot them in a Norinco. I would keep shooting the ammo until it was all gone or until I found a squib or double charge.

A double charge will split the barrel open, inside the slide. Don't ask how I know this.... A new barrel cost me $45 USD.
 
dearslayer said:
I don't know a darn thing about reloading but would someone knowing how to reload and going through the trouble do such a bad job as to have it blow up in my face ?? Sorry I'm just trying to learn and understand why it would do that. Too much powder/ wrong primer/ etc?????
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Friend of mine bought some 45 Colt reloads at a gun show a few years back. You would think someone selling at a gun show would know what they were doing. Friend fired off a few rounds that were OK and then BOOM!! Blew the top strap off his Colt SAA. Yes, even experienced reloaders make mistakes and you don't want to pay for them with your eyes, fingers or expensive handgun. Strip them and reload them to your standards, not someone else's.
 
I would call myself a fairly experienced reloader. I frequently load 14 different calibers totaling approx 30,000 rounds per year. My advice would be to pull those bullets and never shoot someone else's reloads. In my 11 years of reloading I have encountered two bad rounds. First one was when i started reloading and used the wrong wads when loading some shotshells. While this was not dangerous, it caused some erratic behavior as it was not building a consistent pressure from round to round. My second issue was I accidentally loaded some 500sw with non magnum primers and Winchester 296 which caused a poor burn and a squib load. Ammo manufactures also have produced some dangerous ammo from time to time. Mistakes happen but when your a home re-loader is not forced to rigorous QC checks like a factory is, the probability for errors is much higher. I have ran into some very piss poor reloaders at the range before. Some of the stuff i have heard people say or do makes me swear by the rule of never shooting others reloads.
 
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