30 carbine ammo

[greyhunter]

Hope this is place for this question. Just inherited a full 30 cal carbine bandolier marked US 30 cal ball ammo, also box with at least ten more full stripper clips and rest of box full of loose ammo. Am pretty sure it is orig. US WW2 issued ammo. Any idea as to value or interest in purchasing? Don't have a 30 carbine, yet. Thanks GH

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[rondog]

Should be a date on the cartridge headstamps. And there should NOT be a name, such as Winchester or Federal, only abbreviations. Not the whole name, something like WRA 43 or similar.

[conductor]

Just as a matter of caution: There is a lot of Chinese made .30 carbine ammunition floating around. It is headstamped LC 52, and is as corrosive as battery acid. It will RUIN your carbine.

[greyhunter]

This ammo is marked LC 54 and has US gov red primer seal, I found out it is made by Lake City ammunition depot in Missouri. my son-in law was at the plant while serving in USMC. He emphatically states it is not Chinese ammo. That's all I can tell you, make your own decision as to it's authenticity. You don't need to buy this from me, I'm not begging or trying to pull a fast one. GH

[Tired Retired]

Greyhunter, I have sufficient supply and also reload so I am not in the market.... BUT... if you are giving away free samples.....

Seriously, I would think that it is worth somewhere between $18 to $25 per box of 50 ( about 36 to 50 cents a round) based on what ammo is running in your area. I do not collect ammo, but I do not think what you have is especially collectorable - but it is shootable. One issue to drive down the value may be how it is has been packaged and stored. It is not in spam cans or air tight containers. It is not in the original boxes. Being stored in a cloth bandolier and an open box exposed to air and moisture for 50 years is not the best way to keep it serviceable.

You may want to try and shoot some of it yourself to see if it actually goes bang. If it doesn't, you may be able to sell it to a reloader for the compoent prices. The brass is worth about 11 cents each and the pulled bullets about another 10 cents each.

There are some guys on here that know the prices of collectable ammo more than I do - I just make and shoot the stuff. (I love it when it goes "BANG"!!)

Hope that helps.

[greyhunter]

Thanks for the info, my gun club friend has many M1 carbines, (he won't sell me one either)told me at the local gun shows a full bandolier is going for 70 bucks, ind rds 55 cents. This lot I have is 88 ind rds 9 full stripper clips and a full bandolier. I'm sure if I have had a particularly bad day he will let me run a few clips thru one of his boys and relieve the stress. They won't be wasted.

[stickhauler]

I've got a bandoleer of LC 54 as well, bought it special because that's what year I was born. I won't shoot it, not because I fear it went bad or something, I bought it to collect.

I found this site:

Collectable Ammuntion Catalog, antique reloading tools, bullet molds moulds, cartridge collectors, small arms ammunition, bandoleers cartridge sets

15281 .30 CARBINE BALL M1- SEALED SPAM CAN OF 800 ROUNDS - Lot LC 12910, with headstamp LC 45 packed in 50 round boxes (total 16 boxes). A great item for display with your carbine collection, or open it up and sell off the boxes individually. This is bright clean non-corrosive U.S. military ammo, vacuum packed since 1945.. $750.00

But if you're willing to part with the full bandoleer for $70.00, PM me, I'll happily take it off your hand for around that price.

[greyhunter]

Thanks Stickhauler, (do you haul logs for a living?) I have a pic posted in the photo gallery. Will contact you if no one buys em locally. Thanks again. GH

[stickhauler]

I used to haul lumber back up from down South, many years ago. When I first started hauling it, I was maybe a little more cautious than some thought i needed to be. I was tying down a load, throwing (in their opinion anyway) more tie-down straps than they thought I should, and several drivers were giving me a pretty rough time of it. An old driver came over and told me:"Stickhauler, you throw as many straps on that load as you feel you need to for you to haul it safely. You can haul a load of lumber a thousand times safely, and nobody will offer you a word of praise. Load one wrong and lose it just once, and nobody will let you forget it." The name stuck.

Let me know on that ammo, I'll gladly pay you a fair price and cover shipping.