Can I get some old ammo ID help?

[bigfatdave]

Was at a LGS on a 9mm ammo hunt (I can barely scrounge enough to make a range trip and subsequent cleaning worth the trouble for 9mm).
Owner pulled one box off the shelf, and this was hiding behind it in the shadow, out of view for anyone behind the counter unless they crouched down.

Owner had no idea how long this had been hiding there, but he blew the dust off of it and there was a price, I figured I'd take a gamble on $8 seeing as I'd also found a 100 pack of WWB and some Gold Dots to add to the hoard (hoard is now at 35 rounds of defense ammo, I'm such a greedy hoarder!)

Anyone know how old this stuff is? One side of the box was printed with "14-6-44", this can't be from 1944, can it? I hope I didn't open up a collector's item. Cartridges and box are marked with "VPT" (although the "V" isn't quite normal). No info on bullet weight, velocity, or much specifics beyond "9mm Parabellum" was printed.
The ammunition seems to be in good shape, and appears to be sealed at the case mouth and primer cup. I don't know if this is even safe to shoot, any information would be helpful.

 

[Dark Skies]

VPT - Valtion Patruunatehdas. It's Finnish and could easily be that old.

 

[bigfatdave]

Thanks DarkSkies ... anyone know if this stuff is good to go downrange, or worth anything due to age?

My current impulse is to stash it along with the stuff that some of my pistols don't feed well, as "last resort" ammo.

 

[Dark Skies]

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to shoot it if you wanted. It looks to be in good nick. I've shot some Finnish stuff in my Nagant from 1948 (as I recall) and that was perfectly fine.

 

[rcmodel]

.

The ammo is almost certainly corrosive primed, so clean accordingly.

WWII surplus sold by Interarms.
They were an importer, distributor & world arms dealer located in Alexandria, VA, from 1953-1999 until the owner, Sam Cummings death.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/polo/polo1286.htm

rc

 

[bigfatdave]

corrosive primed

I had intended to treat it as such, even though the package claims otherwise. "non-corrosive" in 1944 may mean something different than "non-corrosive" in 2009.

But it looks like this stuff goes in the Zombie Box for now, I'm not about to damage my pistols for 25 rounds of range time.