Age and Value of old 7.65mm Parabellum (Luger) Ammunition Boxes

[121Cobra]

Age of old 7.65mm Parabellum (Luger) Ammunition Boxes

I am new to The Firing Line and was directed by a friendly person on another forum site to try this site in order to help date and value some 7.65 mm Parabellum (Luger) ammunition I have. I know a little about a couple of these and practically nothing about the others. I believe the DWM Ammo was made between 1908 and 1912, and the Remington-UMC to have been made between 1911 and 1916. Also, I think the Western was made before 1944 and the Peters in the 1930's or 1940's To allow anyone interested in checking them out I have included photos for all five boxes showing the top, bottom, and one end of each. I haven’t figured out how to get 18 photos attached, so I will follow this opening thread with 5 “replies”, each containing 3 photos of one of the boxes. All the boxes are filled with 50 cartridges. Here is a list in the order they will appear in the following photographs:

1) DWM No. 471
2) Remington Arms – Union Metallic Cartridge Co.
3) Western Cartridges
4) Peters
5) GECO (?)
6) Winchester

I have photos of all sides of each, so if you need to see another side, please ask me.

William

First is a set of photos for the DWM box:

 

[121Cobra]

Next 3 photos for Remington Arms - UMC:

 

[121Cobra]

Next 3 photos for Western:

 

[121Cobra]

Next 3 photos for Peters:

 

[121Cobra]

Next 3 photos for GECO:

 

[kilimanjaro]

They're all in collectible condition, not minty, but worth acquiring by collectors and Luger owners. Around $20 to $50 each for the recent Swiss Geco back to the UMC box. Just my opinion. The first Karlsruhe box looks 1920's, the Geco is 1950's to 1970's.

Being full boxes with correct ammo is important, don't give any singles away.

Unless someone sees a rarity, about $150 or $200 for the lot, with $150 being fair.

I'm no expert, just a collector. Anytime I see a price over about $50 a box the 'minty' requirement kicks in for me. The UMC box could be worth more.

 

[121Cobra]

Additional 3 photos for Winchester:

 

[Mike Irwin]

You have some sweet boxes there...

The DWM box I don't know anything about.

The following values are based on what you'll see on similar boxes at gun and cartridge collector shows. Prices are all over the map on a lot of these things

The Remington box is probably worth $150 or maybe more in today's market if it's unopened. It's an uncommon loading in a very nice condition box. Remington started loading the .30 Luger in late 1901, and switched to that red box (from a darker, purpleish box, IIRC) around 1909.

The Western box is very late 1920s to just before World War II. Western started using Lubaloy in 1922, and started offering non-corrosive priming in 1928 or 1929. My guess on value is $75.

The Peters Box is post 1934 to the start of World War II. Remington purchased Peters in 1934, and operated the Kings Mill, Ohio, facility as the Peters cartridge division. Remington shut down Kings Mills in 1944 and moved production to Bridgeport. Value is $75.

The GECO is probably 1960s to early 1970s. Worth maybe $25 a box.

The Winchester box is also most likely the 1930s, possibly just after WW II, but definitely after 1928 or so due to the "Staynless" marking denoting non-corrosive priming. That one is a bit rougher than the others, so I'd say value is in the $50 range.