Cetennial topspeed ammo

rxvt10

Is there any value to this ammo ? Manufactured by Centennial Arms Corp, Lincolnwood Ill. I have 6 full boxes of 308 ammo and the boxes are in great shape, as is the ammo.

rufe-snow

Centennial was a importer/distributor of firearms etc., during the 50's/60's time frame. Most of their stuff came from overseas. Depending on the headstamp? The cartridges or full boxes might have some collector value, given their apparent age.

1KYDSTR

Not too sure if that stuff has collectors value, but I would concur with Rufe that it is likely NOT valuable at all, and is likely repackaged foreign source ammo. On another note...I can GUARANTEE you that NO company Lincolnwood Il. will ever produce or retail any ammo...poor buggers are now in Cook county where the guns are scarce, and getting even mre so! At least the LEGAL ones.

rxvt10

Thanks for your help. This is more for curiosity sake than anything. Take a look at the ammo if you like. No head stamp at all.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/Doctor_Fill/Gun Stuff/P1030080.jpg

Check out that album if you want, there is other ammo stuff and a couple firearms as well.
The firearms are owned by an older neighbor lady who I am trying to help find values for insurance purposes. She may sell a few items as well..

perry shooter

Try to get in contact with iconoclast on the want ad forum he is an ammo expert. Form the little I know I am surprised that it does not have a head stamp and I don't believe it is repackaged looks too good and the shell foam box insert looks too new and too well done.I hope iconoclast will come to your rescue and give us all a lesson on your ammo.

1KYDSTR

Well, that IS nice looking stuff. I am not familiar with Centennial (I live very near Lincolnwood Il)although there have been and still are (outside Cook Co)several arms manufacturers and retailers as well as bullet and cartridge makers around the area. Mostly they did not last too long even in the 60's and 70's because of the political climate in Illinois. Kaltron - Pettibone (Vita Vourrhi Oy and Lapua's parent) is in the building across the parking lot from me, so they are here, just hard tp find

I am really taken aback by the looks of those cases...they look all manner of different from what I am used to seeing with 308 or 7.62 NATO. They have an odd burnished gold look to them that I would normally ascribe to either Norma or RWS...both of course premium ammo makers for many, many years. I am going to have to hope that Iconoclast can help you here...let me know if there is any local research to be done and I would be happy to help.

rufe-snow

quote:Originally posted by rxvt10
Thanks for your help. This is more for curiosity sake than anything. Take a look at the ammo if you like. No head stamp at all.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p270/Doctor_Fill/Gun Stuff/P1030080.jpg

Check out that album if you want, there is other ammo stuff and a couple firearms as well.
The firearms are owned by an older neighbor lady who I am trying to help find values for insurance purposes. She may sell a few items as well..


I've seen cartridges ( without a headstamp ) like that before. It actually has been scrubbed, i.e. removed. Years back there was similar cartridges floating around, believe it originally had a Browning headstamp. Probably same stuff, Centennial had it repackaged and sold it under their name.

Iconoclast

Thanks for all the flattering comments, but while I may be somewhat more knowledgeable than the average ammo collector, I am by no means an "expert!" Seriously, it is embarrassing for me to be so characterized, because I know many individuals who've forgotten more than I will ever learn in this field. I'd really appreciate not being so described.

Personally, I'm not familiar with this company. According to a reference I have, they were established in the late 1950s as an off-shoot of Shore Galleries, an auction house founded by Sig Shore, dealing in quality firearms and later replicas. In 1971, they began selling ammunition under their own "Centennial Topspeed" brand. This ammunition was headstamped with the cartridge designation only and produced for them by Amron.

Obviously this .308 is a departure from the description. The headstamps were removed by machining - unusual, but not unknown in the 1950s - 1970s; I've seen it before, sometimes the entire base is cut down and the primer pocket cut deeper (the original .35 Whelen rounds were made this way many years earlier). This could be "remanufactured" material (commercial reloads) where it was necessary to obscure the original case manufacturer's name - or produced with brass from Browning's discontinued (1974) line (as rufe-snow suggested), it could be re-worked Browning (or other producer's line) ammo purchased at bulk, it could be milsurp where the bullets were simply replaced (or not), such as much of the Hanson branded ammunition of that era, and the origin removed. In any instance, this would have been an "off-brand" loading offered at a price falling somewhere between that of regular commercial loadings and military surplus.

I think it would be of interest to some collectors, but more as a curious example of the product of a secondary company than something which would have a lot of appeal to a broad group. If it were mine, I'd try auctioning it, a box at a time. Initially, I'd offer it at a price somewhat above current MSRP for standard ammo as produced by Fedremchester and adjust the pricing on later sales accordingly. I don't have any sales data in my records to support my view, but my instinct is that while it should sell, it's not going to bring all that much.

rxvt10

Well, I guess Iconoclast has pretty much summed up this discussion.

Thank you one and all for all the info.

Now, look for my next questions please.. I have a ton of them..[:D]

cpermd

Let me just add, In the last 45 yrs I have fired 8mm,7mm,9mm,45ACP,7.65,7.62,5.56.and 5.7 with no headstamp.
I have never seen any of them in styrofoam but that would be trying to refute a Negative. This is pretty cool. I appreciare the pic.
CP