A hand loaders time capsule

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Hey all,
Ever wonder what a handloader was working with way back when? Some of you were there, others weren't a twinkle in the eye when Y2K came, here are some pictures i thought may be appreciated. A tool dealer i use was clearing out his childhood home after his mothers death and came across a box of his dads reloading components. He is a shooter but wanted no part of anything in this box, so he gave it to me. His dad reportedly died some time in the 50's, but im not sure if some of this stuff is newer?
The only 4 calibers in the mix were 45-70, 30-06, 32-20 and 22lr. Some appear to be factory loaded, others are most certainly some home brewed interesting looking creations. Components - gas checks (30 caliber) , primers, some cardboard circles (overshot cards or some kind of patches?, i dont know), projectiles, ect. , and brass.
I pulled all the rounds that were clearly reloaded or otherwise funky. Mostly 30-06, a few 45-70s, i did record charge weights and bullet type and weight if anyones curious. Just so there was no chance of anyone trying to fire them in the future. Heres what was in there-
20190505_093127.jpg 20190505_092339.jpg 20190505_092646.jpg 20190505_092735.jpg
 
70 years ago he was reloading for his Garand. Yep, that’s a time capsule. Ask your buddy where’s the Garand?
 
70 years ago he was reloading for his Garand. Yep, that’s a time capsule. Ask your buddy where’s the Garand?
He has his dads winchester 1886 in 45-70, you can see there are a few garand clips in there too. No clue, he may have the Garand. I know he hasnt shot tge 1886 since the 70s, he feels like its too valuable to shoot although ive tried to convince him otherwise
 
That ain’t y2k stuff. That’s really old boxes of primers you have there.

Way before the 90’s.
 
That ain’t y2k stuff. That’s really old boxes of primers you have there.

Way before the 90’s.
Well yeah, i was refering to the members on this forum- some were loading when these supplies were the norm, others weren't born until after 2000.
Really seems to be a great mix of members on THR compared to other forums ive participated with, and i value the knowledge i've gained here .
 
Those primers are almost certainly corrosive- was factory ammo of the era also loaded with the corrosive primers- that I don't know as I wasn't around, but I don't think anything with mercury primers is safe to fire.

That crack by the cartridge head looks like a photo from ABCs of reloading that was used to illustrate mercury primer corrosion.
 
Those primers are almost certainly corrosive- was factory ammo of the era also loaded with the corrosive primers- that I don't know as I wasn't around, but I don't think anything with mercury primers is safe to fire.

That crack by the cartridge head looks like a photo from ABCs of reloading that was used to illustrate mercury primer corrosion.

The primers in the picture are NON-mercuric. Meaning NO mercury.
 
That crack by the cartridge head looks like a photo from ABCs of reloading that was used to illustrate mercury primer corrosion.

I assumed the round was unfired. Only the OP knows if it was or not, but mercuric primers were a real problem for reloaders.
 
Thats some serious corrosion, i havent seen that before.

And you are not going to see that in the popular press. The study of Agnotology :the study of culturally induced ignorance or doubt" is an interesting one. A good question is, why don't you know what you don't know? I am going to tell you that the popular in print press is primarily an advertising medium, and no one makes profit teaching you what not to buy. What is presented is material educating you on what to buy, and therefore issues like the shelf life of gunpowder and ammunition are just not presented. Or, if they are, what is presented is hogwash to make you feel better. That way you will unquestioning buy anything off the shelf without quibbling about the age of the stuff. If you want to learn more, Google "Insensitive Munitions" and independently tease out information about munitions and age.

Or, look at some of what I have written:

Corroded cases in old (20 years) rifle reloads ?? Why ??
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...years-rifle-reloads-why.838647/#post-10874936
 
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