Vintage Russian Mil-surp Ammo Question

Have been going through my ammo "resources", thinning out some non-used items prior to an upcoming relocation. Ran across a sealed tin of Russian 7.62x54R that I bought many years ago & forgot I had, and probably need to find it a new home. Its dated 48 (1948) and completely intact & sealed, never opened, no rust, all original. I did a little research on ammo from that period and consensus was that if its still sealed, it should be as good as new inside. However, I can't make out much of the other writing on the can so I'm looking for some info from other Mosin fans.

I have no idea how many rounds are inside but it appears that most ammo from this period were packed in tins like this containing 300 rounds. Also, it looks like the ammo was packed with Russian stripper clips, 5-rounds per clip, 60 clips per tin. Was told that the clips, if original Russian mfg., could be worth more than the ammo itself!

My question is: 1) is it better to leave the tin container sealed and sell it that way, with no guarantee or verification of what's inside, or 2) should I open it up & examine the contents & verify what the contents are to whoever wants to buy it?

Thanks for any & all replies! --728shooter

Some Soviet WW2 sub sonic is very difficult to find but the really rare cartridges are those loaded the the pre 1908 round nose (210grs) on the earAttachment 115229ly stripper clip

Thanks for the reply, but the ammo tin I have is dated 1948 so its not anything pre-1908

I have some 7N1 sniper ammo, doubt if I would sell it for $40.00 to 50.00 per 20 round pack. Check head stamps you never know what you have.

I just saw a sealed tin like that go for about $500 on an auction site. Any and all ammo is at a premium right now so if you have a bunch of Mosins laying around the house, I would keep it. If you don't, I'm pretty sure you could sell it. Either way, you are a lucky person!!

Typically 440 rounds in a 7.62x54r spam can. If they are going for $500, I have one for sale. I won't hesitate selling one for that. I might even have two for sale. I think I have three of them. Thought I was buying x39 with the third one, oops.

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Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Typically 440 rounds in a 7.62x54r spam can. If they are going for $500, I have one for sale. I won't hesitate selling one for that. I might even have two for sale. I think I have three of them. Thought I was buying x39 with the third one, oops.

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I wish I had the $500 to give to you! Ammo prices are crazy and even the ammo prices on auction sites is super inflated.

Generally I'm not one for having a lot of ammo. I'm still not sure how I got three cans of this stuff. The only other can I have is Nagant revolver ammo. I have a case of Swiss ammo also but after that, it's mostly loose stuff.

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Originally Posted by 728shooter

My question is: 1) is it better to leave the tin container sealed and sell it that way, with no guarantee or verification of what's inside, or 2) should I open it up & examine the contents & verify what the contents are to whoever wants to buy it?

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IMHO if you are going to sell it, sell it intact unopened, and now is the time to sell. The ammo should be good, I have never run into a bad can of this ammo BUT and it's a big BUT, it depends on how it was stored. If you have Mosins I would recommend you keep it. This old ammo is getting harder and harder to come by.

I'm guessing you have the zinc plated (silver) can sealed with solder? which is even harder to come by. I have two green spam cans and should sell one, but just can't seem to pull the trigger.. I could get that new Bergara for my son if I do.

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Originally Posted by usabaker

IMHO if you are going to sell it, sell it intact unopened, and now is the time to sell. The ammo should be good, I have never run into a bad can of this ammo BUT and it's a big BUT, it depends on how it was stored. If you have Mosins I would recommend you keep it. This old ammo is getting harder and harder to come by.

I'm guessing you have the zinc plated (silver) can sealed with solder? which is even harder to come by. I have two green spam cans and should sell one, but just can't seem to pull the trigger.. I could get that new Bergara for my son if I do.

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Yes, you are correct, it is a soldered zinc-plated can and no signs of rust or having been opened. The metal does have a bit of white powder on it, understand its just zinc-oxide, rather common with these cans from what I'm told. I've only owned it for about 10-12 years, kept inside in conditioned space, but I have no idea how previous owner(s) kept it. I can only assume that the contents are still in the condition when they were placed there.

I'm still trying to verify if all of these cans from that era contained 300 rounds, and did they all come with original Russian stripper clips? I'm still tossing it around to open it up, see what's inside, keep a few packs of ammo for myself & sell the rest. But then again, I haven't fired any of my Mosins in about 8-10 years, so I may just need to sell it all. Decisions, decisions.....

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Originally Posted by 728shooter

Yes, you are correct, it is a soldered zinc-plated can and no signs of rust or having been opened. The metal does have a bit of white powder on it, understand its just zinc-oxide, rather common with these cans from what I'm told. I've only owned it for about 10-12 years, kept inside in conditioned space, but I have no idea how previous owner(s) kept it. I can only assume that the contents are still in the condition when they were placed there.

I'm still trying to verify if all of these cans from that era contained 300 rounds, and did they all come with original Russian stripper clips? I'm still tossing it around to open it up, see what's inside, keep a few packs of ammo for myself & sell the rest. But then again, I haven't fired any of my Mosins in about 8-10 years, so I may just need to sell it all. Decisions, decisions.....

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The zinc cans come in 250, 300, and. 440 it depends on origin. Can yo take pictures of the top answer pull tabs ? I might be interested in buying it as well I don’t have any of those cans in my collection. In my non collecting days I would open ans shoot them, back then they were cheap and every where.

Attachment 115311Attachment 115312Attachment 115313Took some pics of the can, hope I can attach them to this post....

Can anyone explain the Cryllic writing on this can, specifically, how many rounds are inside and what type?

Thanks in advance, --728shooter

Light ball, lead core, steel copper-washed cases, likely 300 rounds.

Check Russian Soviet 7.62x54r toward the bottom and I think you will see similar packaging.

Well, I finally decided that it probably would be best to open the can to see what's inside (curiosity had a bit to do with it too...) And a good thing I did. as it answered some of my questions. I originally thought that the can contained 300 rounds but was surprised to find it actually held 22 packs of 20-rounds each, for a total of 440 rounds. But the disappointment was that I was hoping the ammo was on stripper-clips, which it was not. However, upon inspecting some random rounds, the ammo is actually in pristine condition, looking exactly like it could have come out of the factory yesterday! Wish I knew what was printed on the cardboard cover when I first opened it (dang, can't read Cryllic...), hope it wasn't a curse for whoever read it .... Head-stamp on cartridges is "17" on one side, "49" on the other, which I can only guess that it was made in 1949.
Hope to take some of it to the range in the near future, and probably sell the rest. Have no doubt that it should shoot just fine!

Perfect, looks good too. Hope there's no issues either.