I started my cartridge collection based on what cartridges i have shot. to date i have 43 different rifle, pistol and shotgun cartridges in it (soon to be 45). just curious, why did some of y'all start?

I started out with cartridges I have shot and making dummy rounds for reloading.

But I am about to expand my collection to ALL cartridges because it will help me ID different cartridges and the rifles they fit proper and fit not proper.

I started with the "things I wanted to shoot" thing, and various oddball cartridges that friends donated (Jap WW-2 AT case, inert 2.34 Bazooka round, etc). A few years back another collector decided to throw a box full of "inexpensive" cartridges my way, as his way of encourging me to get further into the hobby.

From there it took on a life of it's own.

I've paid it forward to a couple of other people that were getting into the hobby, by passing on things that I has spares of.

quote:

Originally posted by ddunn:
I started out with cartridges I have shot and making dummy rounds for reloading.

But I am about to expand my collection to ALL cartridges because it will help me ID different cartridges and the rifles they fit proper and fit not proper.

St Louis, MO in April of 2009, a show called the SLICS will blow your mind, I've seen cartridges ranging from the 2.34mm Swiss Mini RF to 250mm German WW-1 shell cases on up to 16" navel projectles, all in one room. You can find out more about the show at the cartridge collectors homepage at www.cartridgecolloctors.org

quote:

Originally posted by ddunn:I am about to expand my collection to ALL cartridges

dd

That is an ambitious goal, to say the least. Get a copy of COTW (Cartridges Of The World) and use it as a guide. You might be able to find every cartridge from the "Current American Rifles" section but the others may take a while.

Do as Tailgunner said. Go to the St Louis Show and you'll be amazed and duly impressed. You'll also get hooked, big time.

Ray

I figured I couldnt own the rifles in calibres I liked - but I could probably own a cartridge in that calibre....was I naive or what???

Cartridge collecting is addictive - you have been warned.....

hmm...i really don't know, i just like to have different cartridges.

and that's good enough for me.

I got hooked as an Army brat with military brass,but with all the moving ,I couldn't take all "my stuff" with me ....then in my mid twenties a neighbor?great friend, showed me some old shells he had (ie...25-25 Stevens etc)....then in my mid thirties,I seriously started just collecting the "everyday" shells....now I'm into stuff that most people have never heard of .....I got hooked on the evolution of cartridges that were brought on by the civil war ,and the ideas that caught on and or died ....now a single shell will cost me at least $10.00 dollars or more to collect with most over $20.00 each .....it's an expensive hobby,but one that will appreciate in value as I grow older ......
The best part is when a fellow friend/police officer of mine came over with 100 machine gun rounds he got from an arrested individual ,and nobody knew what they were.....one look at them and I stated ",oh,these ,they are 8mm French Lebel machine gun rounds " he looked at me and said "your serious" I said "yup" here let me get the book out for you ....he was surprised I was right on the money with a nano second glimpse....he gave them to me as the police were going to destroy them ...I sold em for $100.00 Robin Hood Arms,is a highly collectable Headstamp from a cartridge manufacturing company in Swanton Vt,that was bought then closed by Remington Arms in or around 1918 or 1919(I live 1/2 hour from Swanton,the building are still in use today ) ....they had one huge contract with the French to produce 8mm lebel rounds for the french machine gun/rifles....
Anyone who has any cartridges from Robin Hood Arms is sitting on cash....see ya BB34

As a boy, my grandfather owned a summer house within walking distance of a gun club that had an outdoor, 100-yard range. I used to find spent shells in the grass as well as occasional live rounds. This was the 1950s when rounds like the .348 Winchester, .250 Savage, .32 Special, etc were in wide use. Been collecting ever since. I'm a general collector.

Just starting myself, it all started with one 470 N.E. . I have had it on my fireplace mantle along with a lot of rounds and bullets recoverd from game. NOw im starting to "look " for them.

I started my collection for a love of design/cartridge design.

I wanted to have tangible cartridges in hand to compare and contrast dimensions both measured and visual.

And also to have cartridges I would like to have chambered in a rifle.

and imagining wildcat projects.

thats my reasons.

quote:

Originally posted by byf42:
I started my cartridge collection based on what cartridges i have shot. to date i have 43 different rifle, pistol and shotgun cartridges in it (soon to be 45). just curious, why did some of y'all start?

As a small child, I was fascinated with the variety; it never wore off.

I began with metal detecting for civil war relics. To date I have dug over 15,000 bullets including rounds that date to the American Revolution and cases cartridges used during the civil war. I have one unique bullet (French, .69 caliber) and one of 3 known .70 French sea service projectile. Although I have vintage cartridges, my focus remains civil war projectiles. LDK

LDK - I have heard it said that there are more Civil War-era projectiles around now than were ever issued in the actual war.

I know I have a handfull of differant projectiles that I picked up at gunshows in the US , but the list of variants is enormous.

I think the rarest early US cartridge I have is likely my Colt tinfoil cartridge , but my Ager MG chamber is kind of cool too , likewise the rimfire Gatling rounds...

I started when I was 12 and inherited a 30-40 Krag, a 45-70 and a 11.5x57Rmm Spanish Reformado from my grandfather.

Most of the ammo I got since then have been picked up at the range, from guns I own, or gifts. Just recently I have started buying ammo off the internet to round out my collection.