Kings Mill WW II .30 Carbine ammo: Anybody ever shoot this stuff?

I have 5 boxes of WW II vintage Kings Mill (Peters Cartridge) .30 carbine ammo that I picked up. I only want to hang on to two boxes for my Iwo Jima display with my dad's stuff. Have any of you shot this old WW II ammo in you carbines? Is it as accurate as modern factory ammo?

I have about 1,300 rounds of RP and WCC factory ammo, and the components for reloading about 1,000 more. With only one carbine, I don't really need it for shooting ammo, though it might be a kick to shoot it in the old Winchester. While I realize it was loaded warmer than todays's factory ammo, I wouldn't want to "depend on it" as defense ammo with it being that old.

I have thought of selling it to collector types, but not being a collector, I really don't know if it is desirable. One box for sale on Gunbroker is at $40. Do you collectors out there think it is worth putting in classifieds or gunbroker? I hate to just blast it plinking if there is a legitimate market for it.

The market value is about what a new box of ammo goes for. What they ask for on the auctions sights is over priced and most of the time it doesn't sell. The ammo itself is excellent shooting and accurate. The newly made ammo in general is loaded to the same specs as the military WW2 ammo was. A good soft point or hollow point that feeds well in your carbine is a better defensive round then military FMJ.

I've got some Kings Mills that I paid $15/box for about 5 years ago. My local Walmart is now selling RP FMJ for nearly $31 - so I wouldn't sell it for any less than that. I think it would shoot just fine. I've read that the bullet shape on the WWII vintage ammo is not quite as accurate as later issue, but I can't tell any difference in the "plinking" that I've done with it. - Bob

Thanks. That's about what I was thinking. The Gunbroker one has two bids at $40 now with two days to go. My Winchester is dialed in with the RP factory and the copper plated 110s over 15 grains of 296 loads, so I probably won't bother with shooting it. I will probably just sell it as 3 boxes/$100 plus actually UPS shipping. Give someone else a chance to have it to go with their carbine. The boxes are actually pretty cool. They are steeply taperd from bottom to top, not symmetrical like more recent USGI Lake City boxes, etc.

In my area UPS won't ship ammo unless you're a dealer - don't know about where you are. - Bob

I have a UPS shipper account I have had for years (from when I was a dealer). They still let me ship. Recently when raising money for Alaska, I shipped several cases of 5.56 that was in the original cases. Didn't bother them a bit. You do have to go to the actual UPS depot location, NOT the UPS stores. They won't ship guns or ammo - even if you are a dealer!!!!

Found another box. Listed 4 boxes, @$30 each, in Milsurps secure Classifieds. I will list on Gunbroker if it doesn't sell there.

I haven't had any serious bites on the ammo. I think I will shoot up some of it in a couple weeks when I take the Winchester on a shooting outing in the So Cal desert with my son. Be cool to shoot some WW II vintage ammo in my un-messed with 1944 Winchester Carbine. Hmmm... Instead of the surroundings being like Iwo Jima where my dad carried a carbine, it will be more like North Africa where an distant uncle carried one in his half track.

As far as the upcoming watermelon demolition derby in So-Cal with my son and his fireman buddies, I better load a bunch of ammo for the Carbine. My son and his buddies all have fancy ARs, AKs, M1As, etc, all modern stuff. The 70 year old Carbine war horse is sure to be popular. Probably better load my cheap rounds... 115 Bear Creek lead with 2400 powder! I'll save the Kings Mills stuff for me and my sone to shoot, since we will appreciate the significance of shooting a carbine and ammo the same vintage my dad shot on Iwo Jima.

Did you ever get the problem figured out with the earlier batch of reloads, or did it turn out to be just with that one particular carbine? - Bob

I think it was bad primers. I switched to Wolf small rifle, and the reloads worked fine in both the Inland and Standard Products I sold, and the Winchester I have. I haven't had a problem since. I even had a problem in my retro AR build with the same lot of primers. Some were just WAAAAAYYYY too hard! I am really fond of the Wolf primers, as I have had excellent luck with them.

BTW, I will be sure to post some pictures of me blasting with the Winny, wearing my Beo Gam "duck hunter" early Viet Nam cammies.... Appropriate for both the Carbine and the retro 602 clone AR. I love the Beo Gams. By the time I was in the Army in the early to mid 70s, all I saw was OD, some ERDL and occasionally some tiger stripes on the SF types. In the late 70s when I was in the Air Force Reserve SP unit, we were switching to woodland cammo.

Yippee! As related in the other post I shot the Kings Mill 1943 ammo. It seemed very consistent, and very accurate. Everything I shot at at 50 to 100 yards registered a hit or VERY close miss (close enough to make a pop can jump). Aside from the one dead primer (deep crater, so it wasn't a light hit) all functioned flawlessly. I'll keep one box for my collection of my dad's WW II stuff, and shoot the other 250 rounds as plinking ammo for the reloading brass. My son really enjoyed shooting the original WW II ammo from the weapon like his grandpa carried. I have to admit, the ghosts of the past were swirling pretty close to the surface while I was shooting it. I really did "feel" the history. As an aside, my son was amazed how accurate the little carbine was. He said he shoots it off-hand better than his AR15 M4gery. I know I shoot it better than my GUU-5/P CAR-15 off-hand too.

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Originally Posted by imarangemaster

my son was amazed how accurate the little carbine was.

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There was never a problem with that part as far as I was concerned. They shot just fine. I have one here I finished for a friend and I proof shot it for zero and function. I'd forgotten how nice they were.