Imperial/CIL ammo/bullets, age?

G

gyppo

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I was hoping someone could tell me when this stuff was made. I was surprised to find bullets for the .455 webley off the shelf. Should try to load a few for my Webley revolver, or keep these??

CIL bullets, 50 in a box with plastic tray. .455 caliber 265 grain lead hollow base. I have yet to weigh them as I'm not at home right now.

I got the shotshells because the boxes looked cool, and I've never seen a paper hull shotshell.

-box of Imperial brand "special long range load" 16ga shotshells, paper hulls, says "waterproofed - finished in "duco" "
7 1/2 shot, also says "pressure sealed crimp".
Bottom of the box says "made in Canada by CANADIAN INDUSTRIES LIMITED ammunition division MONTREAL, CANADA.
The .455 bullets have the same words on the bottom of the box.

I can post some pictures if anyone is interested.

Thanks!

B
 
I just finished loading up some .256 CIL bullets last week that I have had for decades. A lot of it was made in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I think the ammo division was bought up by ValCartier Industries back in the 70's. Those of us who were reloading in the 60s and 70s grew up with CIL components. Lots of times they were all that was available. Good quality items, I still have and use some of their primers and those 16ga shells you have will still work well, just keep them dry as they tend to swell up a bit if damp and can be difficult to chamber and extract. You may as well shootem cause they don't generate a lot of collector interest.
 
I remember shotgun qualification with our 870's in Toronto. Standard issue was Imperial 2 3/4" magnum Special SSG. You made a real attempt to get one with a recoil pad off the rack. Some of the guys/gals were not shooters and took a beating with those loads. That was a lot of fun. 30 years ago....
Darryl
 
CIL made Canuck, Dominion and Imperial brand ammo......probably others. Whiz Bang .22's were also made by them and the common 'D' mark found on lots of old rimfire ammo was the Dominion mark. Made in Canada ammo; wouldn't that be nice today.
The early primers came in little wooden trays in a cardboard sleeve and then they changed to plastic trays sometime in the 60's I believe......usually in Red / Green /White boxes. The good ole days when .224 bullets were 3$ and change for a hundred and primers were under 10$ for a carton.
 
I still have some of those Imperial "extra long range" SSG in my duty bag. Saving them for a special occasion. Fantastic buckshot. Their 7/8 oz slugs hit hard too.
 
i had the good fortune to pick up some.22 cil ammo at a gun show still all boxed in those neat plastic dispensing trays . i bought lots . i agree with sascop about the quality of of those imperial shotgun shells . the only drawback is i hate to use it up as i may not find more .
 
When I worked part time at P&D there was always stuff coming into the shop that was going to go straight to the auction in Clyde, Phil gave me a sweet deal on a couple of bricks of CIL Imperial Target 22 rimfire. Then on another deal I found some of those reloading componant bullets in 75gr 6mm and some 224 bullets and some primers called 1 1/2. FS
 
They made great ammo that is for sure. I have some shotgun and 22 in the stash but only one box of rifle a 30/30 and a 303
I remember it well. Here is a shot of the 77 cat Cheers
 
I still have some CIL components that I save for "special" occasions, lol.

.303 , 215 grain KKSP bullets, .284, 160 grain KKSP. .377, 255 grain SP [38-55]
CIL # 8½ LR Primers and # 8½M LR Mag primers.

Also believe I have 8 rounds of 30-06, 180 grain CPE ammo in my stash. [Copper Point Expanding]

The ammo built by C.I.L. originally [Before Valcartier industries bought them out] was superb, and was available in many chamberings that have since become hard to source. [eg 6.5x54 M-S]

Regards, Dave.
 
3MAX1 great poster. o.p. I still have paper canuck/maxium and imperial paper shells as well as their plastic shells. There is NOTHING like the smell of a freshly fired paper C.I.L. ON A CRISP FALL MORNING in the woods or a duck blind. I still shoot a couple every year. reminds me of BACK IN THE DAY. Quality second to none!!!!!!!
shot gun/rimfire or center fire. Mabe one day they will return, the south shall rise again and all of us with r.p.a.l.s will get our concealed carry permits in the mail FREE from the feds. We can only hope.
 
This about a quarter of what I have. Mine go back to the Dominion Cartridge Co. Its was in 1905 or 1915 that Dominion Cartridge Co along with several other smaller companies formed Canadian Industries Limited (CIL). Notice the 24 gauge a little lower than the middle of the picture, they were made by Eley-Kynoch and imported by CIL to fulfil a low demand. Most of them are full. Sorry for the quality of the picture.







 
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Good old Dominion ammo. I have quite a selection of Dominion rifle ammo, as well a good supply of Canuck and Imperial shotgun ammo, along with a smattering of Whiz-Bang, Super-Clean, and Maxim.

Sadly, I have no sense of smell anymore, so I can't savour the delicious aroma of a fired paper hulled Imperial. My old Dad only ever used Imperial Special Long Range 12's in his old Tobin. I saved every hull when I was a kid.

I can still hear him digging in the box for a couple of shells, then closing the old Tobin, and "BOOM!".
 
I was given several boxes of unfired Dominion brass for my 7x57.

Reloaded some of it two or three times already.
 
I bought 2 cases of the IVI 22lr target in or about 1980. Down to the last few 50 count boxes.
With the increasing scarcity of ammunition these days, I thought it would be nice to see if we could get some Canadian manufactured "stuff".
I noticed that an American supplier that emails me with offers every now and then happened to be offering IVI stamped 5.56 primed brass. Huh? IVI? So I went on a 'net search. I found that General Dynamics had acquired IVI some while back, just after I bought those cases of 22lr.
I contacted a person in charge of small arms ammo production and inquired of him whether GD would be making 22 rimfire ammunition. His reply was, "Thank you for your Inquiry. Unfortunately, chances of GD OTS Canada producing any rimfire cartridges are very slim. The company decided to concentrate only on centerfire cartridges in the late ‘80’s and no longer possesses the equipment and tooling for this type of cartridge. Going back would involve million dollar investments, something GD OTS Canada will not consider at this time" Although I was not entirely pleased with his response, I did note that he didn't say never.
 
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