Old .30-40 Krag ammo

[DxieLandMan]

I recently got this in a trade with a member here. The 4 on the left are all cupro-nickle round nose. It is too old for me to fire but I like the old stuff. Does anyone know what the "P" on the primer means? Is it like a trademark? Enjoy!

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Since the "P" appears on the two RA cartridges (Remington Arms) I would assume that it stands for Peters. Remington purchased the Peters Company, and they probably made the primers.

[DxieLandMan]

Thank you. I did not know about that. Any idea how old the Peter's round is? It's the one on the far right

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I think that is likely to be right, although I suppose "pyro" might be another candidate. The only time I have seen it was on a .303 Savage, and that was also a Remington-Peters round.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Hmmm...well, as such things go, not all that old I would think. Too bad it doesn't have a box, because one might date it by the lot number printed on the flap. Remington Peters ammo was pretty common even in the 1960s and 70s. Once in awhile Remington still uses the Peters name, and I have several boxes of flat nosed .22 LR ammo from the late 1990s. My first box of high powered center fire ammo was Peters in a blue and yellow box, .303 British, but that was in the late 1950s. So all I can do is guess....25 to 75 years old!

[desi23]

Thank you. I did not know about that. Any idea how old the Peter's round is? It's the one on the far right

From sources I have read the practice of marking primers with a letter seemed to fade out of US production sometime in the 1930's. In US practice it first appeared as a way to distinguish different loads in house. I would have to do some digging in the bookcase but if my memory is right it was first used to identify use of different priming compounds (especially during the changeover from black to smokeless powders) and possibly continued during the development of newer non-corrosive primers as well.