Why 5 Rounds?

D

Doc Holliday 1950

New member
Why do ammo mfgs. always package their ammo in boxes of 20,25,50 etc. rounds
when most wheels are 6 shot wheels.

If I use my GP 100 and buy a box of 50 I can only get 8.33333 full loads or 8 loads leaving 2 extra bullits. box of 25 gets me 4 full loads with 1 extra.

I realize that "in the Good Old Days, LEO's carried 38 specials with 5 chambers.
Well it's 2016 and most revolvers are 6 shot and sometimes 7 shots.

So, why hasn't Remington or Winchester et al step up and package like 24 in a box or 54 in a box ???

I always wanted to ask this question, so weigh in everyone.
 
I am sure it was done in 50 round boxes for a century. Maybe it was cause it made efficient stacking cause of the rectangle shape.

I have no doubt back in the 1880s .44-40s came in 50 round boxes.

Deaf
 
I have no evidence for what I'm about to say, but 50 makes sense to me. It's half a 100 which is a nice round number, but a 100 round box is too heavy and bulky in most calibers. 25 then also makes sense as half of 50 but that's more of a marketing ploy so you don't feel so bad paying twice as much for a box of hollow points as a box of target loads. :rolleyes: 20 is purely price gouging by companies that ought to put at least 25 in the frickin box. :mad:

To say that "most revolvers are 6 shot" - I'm not sure I agree with that. In sheer numbers, I'll bet there are still a lot more 5 shot snubbies than anything else. And as you say, there are 7 and 8 shot .357 at least. So there's no real standard. And in the semiautomatic realm there is even less standard on magazine capacity.

The solution is simple really. Always shoot 3 50 round boxes from your 6-shooter so it comes out even. :p
 
Back in the day of Doc Holiday,The Colt SAA was THE handgun.
They had not invented Ruger's transfer bar.
Folks figured out it was best to have that hammer mounted firing pin resting on an empty chamber.
So,I would guess back from 1873 on,a box of 50 was 10 wheels of 5.
But then,as has been suggested,its half a hundred.
The box was mostly about logistics.Ammo might then be put in a cartridge belt.
Ammo was precious.I don't think folks took boxed ammo to a rifle range and burned 50 very often.Maybe 1 or two shots got the job done.Then it would be a two shot reload or so.
Not everyone who shoots a wheelgun dumps a whole wheel every time they draw.
 
Overall, I'd have to go with, "humans like nice, round numbers."
To back it up, I'll piggy-back on SlimJim's, "There is no standard."

Round numbers make sense, when there is no given "magazine" size for a particular cartridge. Pack it, ship it, and sell it in quantities that are easy to track and understand; and let the customer worry about the size of their magazine/cylinder.


So, why hasn't Remington or Winchester et al step up and package like 24 in a box or 54 in a box ???
Click to expand...
They have.

Federal used to sell 24-round boxes.
...of centerfire rifle ammo. :rolleyes:
It came packed in three, 8-round, plastic, "ammunition holders," intended to be strapped to your belt.

I should still have a box of .270 Win, unless I gave it away. (I don't like Federal brass, and have been ridding myself of it.)
Checking...

Digging...

BINGO!


I apologize for partially obscuring the box, but... it's my box, and I handload. ;)

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I believe this box dates to the late '80s. Some time after this box was purchased (for a new shooter's practice before an Antelope hunt), the same thing showed up with the typical "Extra-Valu-Pack ~ 4 Rounds FREE!!!" (or similar) labeling that was so common on products at the time.
 

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It don't mean nuthin. I load my 9mm hand loads into 500 round fanny packs. My .223 goes into 100 round plastic bags. My .22 LR goes into the same fanny packs as 9mm, but with 1,000~1,200 rounds per pack. Why agonize over simple things?
 
Only people with OCD worry about this. The rest of the gun owning population don't always shoot an even number of cylinder full rounds as an exact number each and every time they fire the gun. There's treatment for this if it gets bad enough.......I just found a partial box of .357mag rounds and it had 37 rounds remaining in the box. Oh no! Now what do I do? I figure I can: a) throw one away b)throw the remaining rounds away c) quit carrying them in a box and not count them d) take up an activity that has nothing to do with easily divisible numbers, etc. Oops, I have to stop. It's nineteen minutes after nine o'clock and I have to be done posting before it goes past nine twenty.:eek:

Edit: I just found a TC Contender with a .357mag barrel. All my problems are over. They can be had in about all calibers. As long as I don't leave an uneven number in the box I should be OK.:)
 
The old 3D ammo company, a good size commercial reloader in its day, packaged .38 Specials in 60 round boxes.
Could that be because they sold a lot of ammo to police departments in an era when the PPC 60 shot course of fire was common for training, qualification, and competition?
 
It has been done. The British packed both .455 and .380 revolver ammo in boxes of 12 (two boxes were considered sufficient for any reasonable size world war) and the Germans packed 9mm pistol ammunition in 16 round boxes (one box for two P.08 or P.38 magazines or 2 boxes for MP.38 or MP.40 magazine - probably why the magazines were made 32 rounds).

The U.S. issued .45 revolver ammo (.45 Government or .45 Schofield) in 12 round boxes, and .45 M1911 ammo in 20 round boxes, but from the pre-WWII on, the issue was normally in 50 round boxes.

But ammunition makers who don't know in which gun their product might be used normally choose multiples of ten; for one thing it makes taking inventory easier.

Jim
 
Someone posted on here recently about finding a lot of unfired rounds at the range and wondered who was throwing good ammo away and why. Now we know. I just remembered I also own a SW 686+ and it holds seven shots. I like that gun, I only have to throw away one bullet when I'm done. With my regular 686 I have to throw away two. :rolleyes:
 
I have also thought about this. In my revolvers I shoot 5 round groups. In my pistols I shoot however it comes out. I think a lot of it has to do with shipping. Look at the milk cartons at Costco.
 
We're gonna reload the brass, right? It's better to have 2 extra rounds out of every 50 than to have 4 leftover primers out of 100.
 
How many penny's in a dollar?
How many yards in a football field?
What did your parents want you to get on your speelling tests?:rolleyes:
So a cheeky Brit wants to do a Ton on the motorway, the Ton = 100mph.
I think we are pretty much stuck with 100 for many things.
I've Never given it this much thought, I'm getting a headache.
 
I wonder why, even in the days when SxS shotguns were what most folks had, that shotgun shells came in a box of 25?

As was said, revolvers come with chambers that hold, 5, 6, 7, and 8 rounds. Should the ammo makes have a box for every one? 50 for the 5 shot, 48 for the 6 and 8 shooters and a 49 for the 7?
 
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