What to do with 1918 and 1943 .45ACP Factory Ammo?

[Liberty1776]

A friend inherited some random .45ACP ammo. Asked me to evaluate it.

The 45ACP is really old: 1918 head stamp on some, 1943 head stamp on other.

Some is steel case with "ECS" (Chrysler Evanston WWII production) head stamp.

I understand pre-1950 government ball .45 use corrosive priming, so I'm not likely to load it up and fire it.

It seems a part of history.

Some is reloaded -- semiwadcutters and scratched cases. Most is pristine, but a bit corroded from age.

Some has really shiny lead RN bullets in it, but looks factory -- or the most perfect reloads I've ever seen. I can't get over how shiny the lead is-- like it just came out of a bullet mold.

Anyone know if the government ever produced .45ACP ball with lead round nose bullets, or has it always been FMJ, even during WWI.

I'm thinking the steel case and possibly even lead bullets were for WWII training, not combat, but not sure.

I sorted each type by headstamp and date into freezer bags.

Not sure what to do with it except label it and store it for future generations, or a nice wall display.

[frkelly74]

I have a couple of 18 dated 45 ammo rounds that I found at a range that had not fired due to old primers. I could not leave them lay. I pulled the bullets , they were cupro-nickle jacketed FMJ rounds and the powder was dry. So I re primed them and loaded them right back up with the same powder and bullets. I mention the cupro-nickle jackets in response to the shiny lead factory loads mentioned above. They could be cupro-nickle jackets. Some day I will shoot these rounds that are more than 100 years old when I have something special to shoot.

[BK7saum]

Yes, I am betting the "lead" round nose are cupri nickel jacketed.

[Liberty1776]

"Cupro Nickel." Wow. Never heard of such a jacket.

But I'm betting you are correct. Those are the prettiest bullets I've ever seen.

I'd have said "silver bullet" but silver would have tarnished to black long ago.

Thanks. Very interesting.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd hang onto the original loaded stuff just for the novelty of them.

[Outpost75]

The EC43 and ECS43 is common, not worth much to collectors , but is good training and practice ammo if you clean with military issue bore cleaner or hot soapy water followed by an oil-water emulsion such as automotive water pump lubricant. The steel cases reload OK if decapped, hot water washed and the primer pockets swaged on the Dillon 600 so that you can reprime with modern primers in the smaller .206" primer pocket. A cow magnet on cord makes range pickup of firoed cases easy. I'v reloaded tens of thousands of rounds if these for use in M1A1 Thompsons and M3 greasegun.

[Liberty1776]

I've got thousands of brass .45ACP. No need to bother with reloading steel cases.

Some of these are clearly reloaded -- scratches from the sizer die very visible; and the semiwadcutter cast boolit is a dead giveaway. :-o

The corrosive priming is just not worth the effort.

But thanks for the input.

I knew you guys would know what I had.

[metricmonkeywrench]

They are a bit of a collector item at this point. All GI issue ammo was ball. Lead would have been from a reload.


Look us a book called Bullets by the Billions. It tells the story of the Evansville plant and the WWII story of production of steel cased ammo. It’s a fun read

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/book-review-bullets-by-the-billion/