Ammunition Loading Questions 1945-1964

I am writing something about the period 1945-1964. As part of my research, I am trying to get loading information (MV, bullet weight, cartridge weight, grains of powder, etc) for some pistol, rifle, and shotgun calibers. I am looking for the most common commercial loadings available in the United States at that time, as well as any special police or military surplus loads. I see lots of figures quoted here and there, but I can only use the numbers specific to the loads that were around in the period I am writing about. If anyone could direct me to a good, reliable source for this information I would be very grateful.

The rounds are:
.22 Long Rifle
.25 ACP
7.63mm Mauser
.32 ACP
.32 S&W Long/Colt New Police
.380 ACP
.38 S&W
.38 Special
.38/44 S&W Heavy Duty
.38 Super ACP
.41 Long Colt
.45 ACP (including SMG loads)
.455 Eley
.30 US Carbine
.351 Winchester SLR
.30-06
12 Gauge Shotgun

Thanks a lot.

 

I would try to get hold of a Shooter's Bible from that era. I just checked ebay and they are plentiful and cheap. The ones I have from the seventies and eighties all have loading tables in the back. Not sure if the earlier ones do but I would think so

Here is an example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-SHOOTERS-BIBLE-1940-EDITION-STOEGERS-CATALOG-HANDBOOK-ARMS-AMMUNITION-/141572492638?pt=Vintage_Hunting&hash=item20f660cd5e

 

Dave's suggestion is good, also any reloading book from the period (Speer, Lyman, Hornady) would work. People just throw them away because all that info is online now. But, with all the new powders and components you'd need one from the period.

 

Thanks both of you. I may invest in a book, but is there a web page that would have what I am looking for? There are of course a lot of sites with contemporary loads, but those aren't what I need. I did get a little information from an old Gun Digest collection.

 

I don't think so, but with all that new data online those old books are just about free. I would think anything pre1990 would have what you want. It's only in the last 25 years that the new powders have come along. The data for the old powders has never changed.

 

If you can find this book, it will give you everything you need and far more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLuoQoG1IC8

 

Just noticed you have the .351 SLR listed there. That's an obscure one. I think it lent some genes to my favorite, the .30 carbine.

 

Dave, the .30 Carbine round was based on the .32 Win SLR, which Winchester developed for one of their self-loading rifles. The .351 was used in the M1907 Winchester self-loader, and was a good deal more powerful and effective. The M1907 remained a favorite police weapon in the US for a long time. It's a pity the US Army didn't base its carbine round on the .351 instead of the .32.

 

I found the mother lode (load?) of all historical U.S. cartridge information. Here it is, for those of you who are as obsessed with this stuff as I am: http://cartridgecollectors.org/ammunition-catalogs

 

Might also want to check Cartridges of the World, especially for military loadings

 

A well know gun writer located in Montana recently mentoned he felt the .351 would have been a better cartridge for the M1 carbine also

 

Relying on my 75 year old memory, I use to memorize ballistic tables, I seem to remember the 351 at 180 grains at about 1800 fps and the M1 Carbine at 110 gr. at about 1910 or maybe that was 1990....umm . Noticeably more punch. Better as a combat round but was the Carbine really designed as a true front line combat weapon or as an easy to carry device in place of a pistol. Super handy.. But many seemed to have gotten into combat, "The Bulge", etc. I would still think the average soldier could handle the 351 version. then there is the M2. I have shot the M1 and M2 and found them rather comfortable and I was rather short and light at 20. The M2 did climb a bit but trigger control is the solution ( No 3 shoot burst triggers at that time were they ?) I still think the 351 would be manageable and if not just shoot it semi-auto .

There were a few 351 Winchesters floating around in my youth , out police department had a few, but not any used for deer that I was aware of....The few deer killed in Alabama back then went to buckshot or 30-30/32 WCF's. 30-06 were plentiful but overkill. After WW2 the cops and Sheriff giot surplus Carbines. unlike today the bad guys were poorly armed for the most part.

Given my size I would have preferred a 30 M1.

 

The Winchester M1907 was a very popular police weapon for decades; indeed, if the company had kept on making it into the 1960's and 70's then it might have found the police markets taken by the M16 and Mini 14. As for the carbine--well, like all military weapons it was designed for combat. Controversy continues but from what I can tell the .30 carbine round was OK within the short ranges it was intended for, and it was certainly a much better option than a pistol. A .351 would have been still better.