Collecting military cartridges

[Adam Helmer]

I collect far too much stuff and one item is military cartridges. Over several decades I have collected many rounds, many not for any guns I owned, and an occasional charger clip of live ammo. I now have a .50 caliber ammo can full of cartridges that range from the French 11mm Gras, 6mm Lee and 8mm Kropatchek, to the .50 caliber.

I wear rubber gloves when I examine my shell collection to prevent "after corrosion" of the ammo. When I read the book, "Cartridges of the World", it is fun to go examine the ammo I just read about. From time to time, I have an occasion to pull a round from the collection so I can fire a vintage arm.

We all collect stuff. If you do not yet collect vintage military ammo and chargers, you may find it an interesting adjunct to collecting military arms.

Adam