What ever happened to Imperial??

dave_t73

dave_t73

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I inherited lots of *old* yet unused hunting and shooting stuff from my father and grandfather not long ago. Of the many boxes of shells I was given, Imperial seems to have been their preference and I'm starting to like them.

But I haven't seen Imperial anything in stores. I'm assuming they're out of business. What happened? Some of the Imperial shells I've been using are probably 25-30 years old but are damn fine quality. So that makes me wonder...:confused:
 
All I know is that Canadian Tire use to carry Imperial/CIL Ammo , but I don't think it's made for civies any more. It's all made for the Military called IVI ammo now, does somebody else know different?
 
imperial

C.I.L /Dominion cartridge/Imperial is no more. They made a resurgence about 5 years ago selling shotshells (No bullets). Imperial was the choice of most Canadian hunters in the 60's, 70's and 80's.Made in Quebec. If your looking for Imperial shells you can still find the occasional box floating aroud . I myself just bought a box of 308 sabre-tips in pristine condition. Show some pics of the stuff you got. There is a store in Alberta that sells alot of vintage Imperial stuff but I cant remember there name research imperial bullets/alberta/store in a web engine and it should come up.
 
What I have left isn't much: A box of 12ga 2.75" 1-1/4 oz #2's (any use for lead #2's these days?), some CIL Canuck 16ga 2.75" 1oz #6 and a box of 20ga 2.75" #6. I also have some random .308 soft point hunting rounds.

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They shoot very nicely in all my guns and generally seem to be of high quality. The crimps are all nice and tight, too. Too bad they're no more. :(

I'm unsure what year they're from, but in case you were wondering, the price for the 12ga was $5.25 and the 16ga was $4.89. *sigh*
 
i had 6 2L ice cream pails of those 2.75 number 4 half brass 12 g shells given to me when my grandfather died. I still haven't found anything that could compare to those shells. They are long gone now but i wish I saved the shucks for reloading.
 
Imperial ammo

I have some 215 grain KKSP Imperial ammo for my No4Mk1 and sure wish I had a lot more as it shoots very well and is accurate too.:) But I picked up some 216 grain Norma bullets for reloading so I guess they will have to do for now.:eek:
 
CIL or Industrie Val Cartier Industries which was the official name of the manufacturer of the ammo you mention went out of business in 1989 for the civilian market. They still manufacture ammo for the military. In the last days of production, some of the ammo was overloaded and I had some people come to me with jammed shut shotguns and rifles. The ammunition was loaded just stiff enough to jam but not enough to damage the firearms. I can't remember what was the specific loading in the shotshells but the rifle ammo was IVI 300 savage with 180 grain pointed soft point bullets. That was in the early 1990s and marked with the IVI headstamp.
 
Their poly-core 12ga slugs were the best. I still have some. Anyone know the reason they stoped selling to civies? It seems to me like buisness for them was good. Everybody used/loved them.
 
C.I.L. sold their ammunition devision to IVI ( Valcartier Industries) in the early 70's.
My father , as Shooting Sports Development manager, had lots of oppurtunity to
pick up stuff!
One day he was on the loading dock withh Barney Hartman C.I.L.'s pro skeet guy, when a fella comes by with a hand truck loaded with 12 gauge trap loads.
" Uh, son, where are going going with those ?" the guy was asked.
"To the ammo dump, Sir" was answer.
Well, it turns out all it took was a receipt and the "ammo dump" turned out to be
a chevy station wagon!!

Valcartier was mainly interested in the Military contracts, and the Civillian ammo went to hell in a Handcart after that.
I suspect a lot of the tool and die makers and millwrights form the old factory were pentioned off or pqackaged out and such, so the machines were maybe not set up the same way, and quality control was maybe different for the civillian stuff.

I also have 5 of every cartridge that C.I.L. made, in envelopes- dummy rounds , of course!
They were extras from the museum at Brownsburg where tha factory was.
They have been kicking around the garage for years and i was thinking of putting theem on the exchange ( hint!:D ).

Andrew at higginson powders useually has 180 sabertips in 100 lots, but he may be out now.
I have given several hundred .222, 6mm, and 30 cal PSP and HP bullets to freinds ove the years and the outcome is always the same.
"Jeepers, can I get some more, they are fantasticlly accurate!!"

C.I.L. made the finest ammo in the World at one time, especially .22 match ammo.
By the 60's, they were in business with Eley, Franchi, Savage/Anschutz, and Later on Boito and CBC.

It was a very sad day for me when they packed it in.
I didn't know whhat it was like to have to buy components or rifles till I was out on my own at 16!:eek: ( thought everyone had an Anschutz .222 in the corner and a Franchi Falconet for birds!! ( spoiled? oh, ya!!):D
Cat
 
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My brother bought a pair of shotguns and a huge box of reloading stuff of the father of a fellow I work with. With the load came about 20 boxes of Imperials, mostly 5's 4's and 2's. He blessed me with everything bigger than the 5's, and kept the rest. I've got goose shells for the forseeable future.....
 
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