Remington .22 LR Training ammo - what year?

[speeder3]

I recently acquired a brick of Remington Kleenbore Lubricated .22 Long Rifle ammo from a friend who had this with his grandfather's military gear. Upon inspection of the contents, I found that each of the small boxes of 50 rounds is stamped o the bottom: "ARMY LOT No. 391-40." I'd like to know what the year of manufacture was, and am wondering if the "40" in the lot number is short for "1940"?

 

I'd also like to know what firearms this would have been used in (like the Winchester Model 75 in a recent post below).

 

[Charlie Flick]

Speeder:

 

That is a very nice brick of WW2 era USGI .22 LR ammunition. Collectors refer to that green and red style of Remington box as the "dogbone" box due to the shape of the Kleenbore logo on the front of the box. It was discontinued after the war with the introduction of a more modern style of graphics.

 

I have not checked my references but I think it is reasonable to assume that the -40 in the Lot Number is indeed a reference to the year of production. I have examples in my collection with -41 and -42 ink-stamped markings. The Army Lot is sometimes abbreviated on these Remington boxes as AL.

 

As to the firearms that this ammo was intended to be used with, if we assume that it was indeed 1940 production, then it most likely was intended for use in the Springfield Armory made U.S. Model of 1922/M2 series of .22 LR bolt action rifles. Again, I have not checked my references but my memory is that in 1940 the Army had not yet started large scale purchases of the other well known .22 bolt action trainers such as the Stevens M416, the Winchester M75, or the Remington Model 513T. (Even later in the War the Navy acquired the Mossberg M44 rifles while the Marines, desirous of a training rifle that more closely approximated the M1 Garand, bought the Reising designed, H&R manufactured Model 65 semi-auto rifles.)

 

Other more remote possibilities in 1940 would have been the Colt Service Model Ace and the Colt Woodsman Match Target .22 semi-automatic pistols. Of course, in the space of about 12-24 months that all changed dramatically with the huge ramp-up in defense spending and small arms purchases.

 

An excellent find you made there.

 

Regards,

Charlie

[917601]

Nice cartridges. Unimpressive for most, but desirable to cartridge collectors. I would join the Internet, Cartridge Collectors group for more information and pricing. Cartridge collectors pay stunning prices...I had an ex Scotland Yard collector pay $20 plus shipping to Scotland for a first run Remington 7.62x51 cartridge ( pre-NATO .308). I had to pull the bullet, empty the powder, and squirt oil inside the case to deactivate the primer. I have seen US WW1 dated .30 cal cartridge full boxes bring $150-200 bucks.

[speeder3]

Thank you for the responses. Since my OP, I found this document: https://22box-id.com/USA/REM-Vol1.pdf

 

It is a really good reference for collectible Remington ammunition. According to this document, the box's graphics (the small, individual boxes) was introduced in 1930 and generally replaced in 1936, although many of the boxes of this style were used into the 1940's. The doc also makes reference to the R17L product being used for Army training purposes. So, all in all I'm going to go with the "-40" in the lot number as referring to the date of manufacture until proven otherwise.