What is this box?

[sikhed]

I've had a lot of ammo tins over the decades, with a lot of different rounds from numerous different countries. The shape didn't look right to me for any 7.62x54R that I've owned. Similar to 7.62x25 but not quite either.

The thing that caught my eye on yours is the little wooden dowel on the pull wire. I looked around on line to confirm it, and found this:
View attachment 1421122

Not mine, found the photo on another forum. The shape and tin style look right, and it's got the same wooden dowel.
I'm pretty confident that you have a 900 round tin of Yugoslavian 8mm Mauser, early to mid 1950's. The 70's Yugo 8mm was better ammo, but I think it came in different packaging.

Yeah, the 70s Yugo 8mm ammunition looked just like the old Wolf ammunition:
Green lacquer steel case, copperwashed steel jacketed bullet, and red primer sealant applied generously.
Combustion smelled like cat pee, and fouling was sooty and soft.
But it was/is good ammo.

 

[CLT65]

Yeah, the 70s Yugo 8mm ammunition looked just like the old Wolf ammunition:
Green lacquer steel case, copperwashed steel jacketed bullet, and red primer sealant applied generously.
Combustion smelled like cat pee, and fouling was sooty and soft.
But it was/is good ammo.

Are you sure you're not thinking about Romanian 8mm? The 70's Yugo 8mm I've had was all brass case, but the Romanian 8mm I've shot was just as you describe.

 

[NobullSKS]

Open it….

 

[sikhed]

Are you sure you're not thinking about Romanian 8mm? The 70's Yugo 8mm I've had was all brass case, but the Romanian 8mm I've shot was just as you describe.

Oh crap, you're right. Sorry.
Just ignore my previous post or replace Yugo with Romanian.
Thank you for the correction.

 

[sikhed]

Got a case of each and don't remember which one is the Yugo, and which one is the Romanian. Both say "7.92" and both were manufactured in the 1970s.

 

[rob1516]

Got a case of each and don't remember which one is the Yugo, and which one is the Romanian. Both say "7.92" and both were manufactured in the 1970s.

View attachment 1421165

Romanian on left, Yugo on right.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Looks like about $400 to me.


Now , open it already.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Schrodinger's ammo....ammo you can use...or not...
Andy

 

[Kyrsen]

The mystery box

J.J. Abrams traces his love for the unseen mystery –- a passion that's evident in his films and TV shows, including Lost, Star Trek and the upcoming Star Wars VII -- back to its magical beginnings.

www.ted.com

 

[Wood Worker]

If opening it is not something your willing to do, I will throw this one out there.
It is a failed parachute design from a country that will remain unnamed to not offend anyone, and if you can find the harness, it could be a priceless relic .

 

[ferret427]

Picked it up and opened it. Yugoslavia 7.92x57 (8mm mauser) 900 rounds on shiny stripper clips. Will try to sell for him.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I was wrong.
Definitely more than $400

 

[Certaindeaf]

Sadly, we'll never know.

 

[CLT65]

Picked it up and opened it. Yugoslavia 7.92x57 (8mm mauser) 900 rounds on shiny stripper clips. Will try to sell for him.

View attachment 1423539 View attachment 1423542

Nice! '56 Yugo surplus 8mm. I've had a LOT of that stuff in the past. For the most part it's good ammo, with a couple of caveats.

The 50's Yugo ammo is known to have "hard primers". In some rifles you'll get a lot of misfires. I had one rifle especially that misfired terrible with it. I bought an extra-strength Wolff firing pin spring, and that solved the issue, no more misfires.

Also, some lots would tend to have brittle brass. I forget what years were most suspect, but occasionally you'd get little cracks near the base. It was disconcerting but didn't seem to hurt anything in a good bolt-action. I wouldn't fire them in a semi-auto. I don't think that '56 was a suspect year. The clips that the ammo is on are very good, worth decent money on their own.

I remember one time I bought a bunch of that same ammo from Century, for five cents per round, delivered. That was 15, maybe closer to 20 years ago. My wife rolled her eyes at me for spending $400 on ammo. I told her I should have bought a pallet, at that price.

I remember the good old days of cheap ammo, and a strong shoulder that didn't ache for a week after shooting a hundred rounds of full-power rifle rounds through an old bolt-action with a steel butt-plate...

 

[theduke]

Was .04 a round in the good old days.

Whats the new price.......I have a use for it.

 

[RagnarSignal]

Tuna?

Can't be old tuna. It's not swollen up!