Old 9mm ammo

[10-96]

My Dad just recently got into pistol shooting and I found out he's been shooting my uncle's bring back papered P38. OK, that don't bug me too much as the pistol is in very good shape. But before my Aunt passed on, she gave my Pa some old ammunition. When I finally got to take a peek at it- I found that it was headstamped "MM 6 43" and "MM 6 41". He does not have any of the original boxes, but I found out that it was made in Johannesburg, South Africa (MM). My question- How hard would it have been to get ahold of that ammo here in the States between 1945 and 1955?

 

[SDC]

Are you sure it's not "9 MM 41" and "9 MM 43"? There was a lot of surplus Canadian and British ammo headstamped that way sold on the civilian market after WW2, usually with a three-pointed primer crimp.

 

[James K]

SDC is correct. I have some of that ammo and it is Canadian, not South African. The 9 MM stands for "9 millimeter". It is standard 9mm Parabellum (9mm Luger) ammunition. It is non-corrosive, but the primers have gone dead on some of it.

Jim

 

[10-96]

No, it matches exactly the South African ammo headstamp pics I've found.

 

[James K]

I can't find anyone using "MM" as a maker's headstamp; I can find "MM Co" in Zimbabwe, but not "MM" alone.

Can you recall where you saw the ammo identified as South African? I have seen it in boxes clearly identifying it as Canadian.

Jim

 

[10-96]

http://www.igman.com/ammunition/codes/M/M_M-South_Africa.html

I may try to track down the ref. book the Igman sites refer to. The cases don't look like the Canadian crimp style- they're more of a full circle crimp.

 

[RJay]

South African ammunition was imported ( and still may be being imported ) by the Boat Load, both 9MM and .7.62 NATO. Nothing rare or scarce .

 

[10-96]

But were they between the years of 1946 and 1955? That's when my Aunt and Uncle last recalled getting any ammunition. I know there were a lot of 9mm firearm bring backs from the guys who served overseas- but my question mainly is: How hard was it to get 9mm ammo at a time when that ctg was all but unheard of on these shores?