What do I have here?

[UpTheIrons]

I was originally going to post this in the Reloading forum, then I decided to roll three items into one, so I guess I'm hijacking myself...

Over the weekend, I got a pile of assorted loaded rounds at the range where I pick up brass. These are OLD rounds, some of which laid outside for indeterminate amounts of time, some of which were obviously immersed in water for a while, and some plain old obscure calibers: .32-20 (and .32 WCF), .257 Roberts (which I only know by it's name), .38 Long, .35 Remington, and a few more 'normal' rounds. I say that these are obscure simply because they aren't in widespread use these days.

Anyhow, Question #1: What is this rimfire round? Anyone know? It has a "U" on the headstamp, and is I-don't-know how old. It is obviously a .22 caliber rimfire of some sort, but I'll be hanged if I can find it anywhere. Compared to a .22 LR, it measures thusly:
.22 LR Unknown
Bullet: .224 .224
Case: .224 .250 (at rim), .244 (at 'cannelure')
Rim: .272 .312
OAL: .974 .911





It was in the mix with this batch of 'stuff'. Was there ever a military rifle chambered in .257 Roberts? If not, why the stripper clip and 'web belt' that is full of them? Or was that just handy storage?



Question #2: As I pull the bullets on these and sprinkle the powder on the plants, how should I render the primers inert? Water? Hammer? Oil? Magic? The brass will be recycled, but I'm not putting live primers in the recycle bucket.

Question #3: The guy I get the brass from has a few hundred of these boxes, both .38 SPL and .357 Magnum. They all have fired brass in them, none are empty, and none are filled with loaded rounds, just the original boxes with the fired brass that used to be loaded in them. Is there a market for boxes with fired brass, or is the value in the boxes only, or in the boxes filled with loaded rounds?



As usual, I appreciate any light y'all can shed on these things.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

Looks like .22 Winchester Automatic manufactured by Remington.

[puma guy]

could also be .22 Rem ington automatic. The dimensions are close but different. Measure the rim diameter. Win .310 in, Rem .290 in

[mr surveyor]

could that round be for the 1903 Winchester (forerunner to the Model 63)?

we have one "in the family". When my Dad acquired it, the gun was easily on 95% condition, and he got a case of ammo with it. I shot most of it up when I was 13-14 years old. Dad gave it to my sister (of all things, now hanging on the wall in their study - collecting dust) since it was the only gun she ever would shoot.


surv

[puma guy]

could that round be for the 1903 Winchester (forerunner to the Model 63)?

we have one "in the family". When my Dad acquired it, the gun was easily on 95% condition, and he got a case of ammo with it. I shot most of it up when I was 13-14 years old. Dad gave it to my sister (of all things, now hanging on the wall in their study - collecting dust) since it was the only gun she ever would shoot.


surv

Yep. The only gun made chambered for the .22 Win Auto I'm pretty sure. I had some of the ammo when I was a youngster among my Dad's stuff. I knew it was different than regular .22 rimfire. Never did ask him about the gun that shot it but he didn't have it. I just did some research and found it was to keep black powder rounds from being used in an auto and 'gumming up the works'.

[hirundo82]

The dimensions seem to correspond most closely with the .22 Winchester Auto, a caliber I'd never heard of until I started looking through the list of rimfire cartridges on Wikipedia.

[The Annoyed Man]

Interesting. I've never heard of this cartridge before.

[mr surveyor]

the '03 Winchester was (is) an amazingly simple, elegent design and very accurate shooters.

[davidtx]

.257 Roberts (which I only know by it's name)

Do you want to get rid of the .257 Roberts ammunition? If its in good enough shape to fire-form for .257 AI, then I'd be interested.

[UpTheIrons]

Thanks for the info on the .22 Win Auto - that's a round I'd never heard of, and couldn't find, since so many of the Wiki articles don't have photos. It certainly looks like it is a Win Auto round. I was a bit generous on the rim measurement. It is likely .310, and not as small as .290.

Also, thanks for the link to Ward's - I'll poke around there and see what I can see. Looks like the boxes should be either full of loaded rounds or empty for the best value.

Any recommendations on deactivating the primers from that pile of rounds?

[UpTheIrons]

.257 Roberts (which I only know by it's name)

Do you want to get rid of the .257 Roberts ammunition? If its in good enough shape to fire-form for .257 AI, then I'd be interested.

Lemme look it over more closely. I'll likely PM you an up-close photo tonight so you can make the call, but some of it has some pretty serious corrosion on it. I doubt that I'd use any of this brass for reloading - even though there's a nice handful of .45 Colt and .45 ACP in the mix.

[puma guy]

Thanks for the info on the .22 Win Auto - that's a round I'd never heard of, and couldn't find, since so many of the Wiki articles don't have photos. It certainly looks like it is a Win Auto round. I was a bit generous on the rim measurement. It is likely .310, and not as small as .290.

Also, thanks for the link to Ward's - I'll poke around there and see what I can see. Looks like the boxes should be either full of loaded rounds or empty for the best value.

Any recommendations on deactivating the primers from that pile of rounds?

If the cases are empty or you pull the bullets and dump the powder I think soaking in oil is a common method. Water will dry out making the primer compound active again.