Smith and Wesson Ammo???

Mr. Josh,

I was wondering where you found that box of ammo when I saw it in your earlier post. I could certainly be wrong, but the last time I bought a box of S&W ammo was probably back in the late 70s or early 80s at most. I remember there was a period when S&W decided to offer a line of ammo, but I thought they had stopped manufacturing that line years ago. I still have a box or two identical in appearance to the one in your pic, but I know how old those rounds are now.

Remembering that I have a good friend who owns a gun store, I rarely go in a different gun store. All I can say is I have never seen any Smith ammo in my buddy's store. As many Smiths as he sells, I would expect him to carry the ammo too if he could get it.

I thought the Smith ammo I used worked fine, and would compare it favorably to any of the major manufacturers. I just felt like they decided they could not make much of a dent in the existing market, so they dropped the ammo line. I recall that about the same time they began to offer ammo, they also began to market holsters and leathergoods as well.

If you come across any Gould's and Goodrich (spelling from memory?), that is the name that the Smith leather eventually was changed to. So based on that I guess it is possible that they still make ammo, and have simply renamed it to a brand I do not recognize. For some reason Fiocchi comes to mind, but I could be wrong.

Unless you have an abundant supply of this ammo in a store, I would probably suggest you just stick with the Federal load. Of if not the Federal, another load you could find in a variety of stores more easily.

Again, now you have me wondering if the Smith ammo is still in production or not. So I am hoping someone has the correct answer Mr. Josh.

twoguns

S&W ammo is old enough that its becoming collectible as long as the boxes are in good shape.

The ballistics listed in the flier I found make me cringe unless they were taken in a rifle barrel. Hot stuff if the flier is to be believed.

Still good ammo if its in good shape. If half a box goes bang every time, I'd sort of trust the other half.

[ETA] Federal took over the Nyclad line from S&W, and has since dropped them. (Dangit)

They also dropped the LSWCHP loads they had. Nowadays the only option for those is Remchester.


Regards,

Pat

Hiya Josh,


In .38 special (no mention of +P but it seems like there are two levels of velocity) it shows the 158gr HP loads at 1060FPS and the 125gr loads at 1350FPS. Thats pretty hot. The 148gr wadcutters are at 800 which is believable.

In .357 it lists loads from 1500 to 2000FPS (!!). The 9mm seems more normal, at 1145 for 115gr loads and 1350 for 90gr.

This flyer came with the other paperwork and such included with a pistol made in the early to mid 1970's .

Hope this helps a little. Sure would be interesting to run them over a chrono.

Regards,

Pat