Odd headstamp on .38

[beezapilot]

Good yardsale last weekend, got a significant quantity of .38 special brass- nice old gentleman said he was a bullseye shooter back in the day. So the tumbler has been buzzing as I sort brass. The Sako and Markell are interesting, but I've never seen a "special tool" nor that Speer.


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The MDPD is Miami Dade Police Department, (Paging Mr.) Harrington.... StarLine used to (and perhaps still does) made vanity brass.

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[Winger Ed.]

The WRA is for Winchester Repeating Arms, but I've never seen one marked like that either.

The factory load was a Lead SWC. If you want an unfired original one---
one of the cartridge collector sites has one in stock for $12.oo.

[Nueces]

I remember when Speer cases were sold. I wonder if that WRA SPL TOOL case was a tool actuating blank?

Ah, so it is. Found an ad for Greener Light Model Harpoon Gun blank rounds marked WRA SPL TOOL.

[beezapilot]

Harpoon gun.... hmmmmm.... sounds like more fun than gaffin' gators....

Markell was a San Francisco area gun shop that sold reloads, apparently they got big enough in the day to have their own brass made up.

In the lot that I bought there were a bunch of boxes of brass from the Maszk Workshop. There is a J. B. Maszk Hall of Fame skeet shoot in Polk County, don't know that they had custom brass - but certainly left a mark on the shooting community here in the swamp.
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[pworley1]

Very interesting yard sale find. Congratulations.

[218bee]

Markell sold boolits for reloading. In Ken Waters "Pet Loads" he often references them in his load charts for handgun boolits.

[Char-Gar]

Markell sold boolits for reloading. In Ken Waters "Pet Loads" he often references them in his load charts for handgun boolits.

IIRC Markell was the only commercial cast bullets that could be ordered nationwide. They had a line of copper washed cast bullets they called "Golden Arrow" bullets. I used quite a few of their .357 SWC HPs in my Colt New Frontier SA in 357 Mag. I loaded 13.5/2400 under them and they did quite well. That would be about 1964.

[RKJ]

I've got one of those Tool marked 38 cases. I don't recall the manufacturer, but thought it was for a hammer gun. I've got it set aside as I've never seen one before either.