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Hello Just curious as to when the transition occur going from “WRACo” to “WRA” on the head-stamps on ammunition. Thanks, Tim
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According to Daniel L. Shuey, in Volume I of his “W.R.A.Co. Headstamped Cartridges and Their Variatons”, the change from “W.R.A.Co.” to “WRA” occurred over a period spanning from 1929 well into the 1940s, with “W.R.A.Co.” not completely disappearing from headstamps until after WWII.
Jim
The book “History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition ” by Hackley et al, Volume 1 1880 to 1939 gives no indication of any headstamp other than W.R.A.CO. being used as a stamp, which suggests that this stamping was used at least until 1939. Does anyone out there have Volume 2. That book may have the answer.
mrcvs said
The book “History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition ” by Hackley et al, Volume 1 1880 to 1939 gives no indication of any headstamp other than W.R.A.CO. being used as a stamp, which suggests that this stamping was used at least until 1939. Does anyone out there have Volume 2. That book may have the answer.
All the references to “W.R.A.Co.” headstamps in “History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition” Volume I refer only to government contract ammunition, and – so far as I can tell – do not specifically detail any Winchester headstamps later than the 1920s. The change from “W.R.A.Co.” to “WRA” was gradual, beginning with the newly introduced .45 Auto Rim in 1929 and proceeding through the remaining cartridge lineup as headstamp bunters became worn or otherwise unusable, or changes were ordered to production lines, with two of the last known uses of the W.R.A.Co. headstamp coming in 1954 on 7.62 Russian ammunition and in 1955 on .401 Winchester Self-Loading ammunition – in spite of the fact that the last boxes for both of these had cartridge illustrations showing “WRA” headstamps.
There does not appear to have been a definite all-inclusive cut-off date for the transition. The more popular cartridges made the change early, while many of the older and less-popular cartridges were changed much later – if at all.
I have not been fortunate enough to lay my hands on Hackley etc.’s Volume II, which covers the period from 1940 to 1945. Those that I have seen for sale have been well beyond my budget.
Jim
Sources:
“One Hundred Years of Winchester Cartridge Boxes, 1856-1955” by Ray T. Giles & Daniel L. Shuey (2006);
“W.R.A.Co. Headstamped Cartridges and Their Variations – Volume I” by Daniel L. Shuey (1999); and
“History of Modern U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition, Volume I, 1880 – 1939, Revised” by F. W. Hackley, W. H. Woodin, and E. L. Scranton (1998)
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