Friend showed me this older spam can of ammo. Both of us are unsure what caliber it is. Its either 8mm or 54R ammo.

What's everyone thoughts here.

Looks like Romanian 8mm Mauser Spam Can 7.92x57 - 380 Rds.Pre WWII https://www.google.com/url?sa=...jz9-t0K6bYgK6IUWrVab
This link should work better.

ltz400 is almost exactly right. It contains 380 rounds of steel-cased Romanian 8mm Mauser. But it's not pre-WW2... It's from 1973.

It's not even fun anymore to ask a question. It's answered in minutes.

And someone went to work on it with a P-38! Not the pistol or airplane, the can opener.

Not a P38. Those little things aren't nearly big or strong enough for these ammo spam cans.

In the photo in the OP, you can see the spam can opener laying on the floor just below the spam can.

Looks like this:



These spam cans came 2x to a wooden crate, with a can opener stored in the crate lid:

Live and learn. Extra heavy P-38.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Live and learn. Extra heavy P-38.

The little can opener was P-38, bigger one is called the P-51.

Someone in the War Department had a sense of humor back in the 2nd.

What, with cartoons, nekked ladies on planes and stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
The little can opener was P-38, bigger one is called the P-51.

Someone in the War Department had a sense of humor back in the 2nd.

What, with cartoons, nekked ladies on planes and stuff.

The original WW2-era can opener was termed the P38 because it took 38 Punctures around the circumference of the lid to open a standard C Ration can.

The later big brother P-51 wasn't introduced until the 1980s, and reportedly got its name from the fact that it's 51mm long, while retaining a similar naming style as its predecessor.

So no real connection to the WW2 fighter planes, and the P-51 wasn't even around until 4 decades after WW2.

Para needs to figure out a way to get rich from the collective knowledge of this forum.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:...

So no real connection to the WW2 fighter planes, and the P-51 wasn't even around until 4 decades after WW2.

I did not know the P-51 was a "late arrival", just saw one and made the leap. My brain does what it wants...

Heck, now that I have posted it, it will become an internet fact.

IIRC, and I may not,, but wasn’t that and the ROM 7.62x54R corrosive? Easier to clean and shoot in a bolt action gun. The latter was selling for $39 back about 25 yrs ago. And the Rom 44 was selling for $49. I got lucky and Dunhams threw in a spam can opener with purchase of 1 can.

Yes, it's corrosive ammo.

Most surplus 8mm Mauser and 7.62x54R ammo is corrosive, with very few exceptions.

The name has stuck, but I think it should be “Ham” can. The Swiss packaged some (or did) 9mm in a can the actual size of a SPAM can you find at the grocery. I’d love to get my hands on one of those, but they appear to be un-obtainium.

People often act like corrosive ammo is worse than lead paint. It isn’t. In fact, Mercury fulminate priming is reliable and long lasting in storage. You just gotta clean your junk after using.

I have a bunch of surplus ammo in the basement like that. I also have some, Hungarian maybe(?), can’t remember. It was manufactured in the early fifties, and I bought it for less than 5¢ a round. Anyway, it would fail to fire often, so I pulled a bullet and found the the brass cases were corroding on the inside. The powder was fine, and externally they looked good, but there was terrible corrosion of the brass. I won’t shoot them anymore, but I do pull the bullets and reuse them and the powder in new cases. I should post some pics sometime.