Anyone have any information on this box of French ammo????

wallyent

Only info I have been able to find on this is it is French. Guessing the box is original but not sure there either and would sure like to know. Headstamps have S.F.M. at top, star on left and right, and bottom has what looks like a forward and backward C with arrows. Would sure like to know the year of these, value and any other info. or where to find it. Thanks. 

chme

French ammunition maker Societe Francaise de Munitions of Paris. SFM was formed from Gevelot and Gaupillat in 1886; the GG logo in the headstamp represents the two earlier firms.  

nononsense

If you have a pair of calipers it would be helpful if you would make some measurements:

bullet diameter

length of case

OAL of the cartridge

diameter of the rim

A ruler is not accurate enough.

Best.

kannoneer

Looks like 1950s ammo. Yes, the box is original. I have several boxes of .45 ACP in the same style of box. Date was on the label. It is not uncommon to come across this ammo occasionally. 

wallyent

Thanks everyone for the info we found a label for our box.  Now we have a better idea of what we have. 

rufe-snow

Star(s), were Spanish manufactured semi-auto pistols. Made by  Bonifacio Echeverria, from Eibar Spain. Star's were made in many models, and calibers, over a long time frame. 

Although marked 9 mm on the box. They're .380's. Which at least before the 2nd World War, were known in Europe as 9 mm.  Because of this, the box probably dates to the 20's or 30's. 

smartoldguy

Although those look like 9mm parabellum cartridges to my eye, they might be .380 as rufe-snow has commented.  Measurement would settle the question.  What we in USA know as .380 is, put simply, a shorter and lower-powered version of the now extremely common 9mm parabellum.  .380 has been appropriately termed "9mm Kurz" by the Germans, "9mm court" by the French, etc.  9mm parabellum preceded 9mm kurz in development by a decade or so; the former being a European standard created by Luger, and the .380/Kurz  was an American development (Browning).

wallyent

Here's a picture along with left round is a 9mm Luger, Star round in center, and right side is a 380 auto. The headstamped end of the star is actually a slight bit bigger than the 9mm Luger.   

rufe-snow

Measuring cartridges with a ruler, is a waste of time. The only reliable and accurate way, is with a dial/digital caliper. Harbor Freight sells inexpensive ones. The only drawback, is their all Chinese. Because all of the stuff, that's gone down in the last 6 months. It really pisses me off, to be buying any thing Chinese. You might feel differently.  

chme

POSSIBLE- 9mm Largo.  That is a 9x23 mm case.  While dimensionally similar, it is NOT the modern 9x23.  2 mm longer than a 9mm Parabellun.  There were about 10 different Star pistols made for that round.  Largo means long.  But I can't tell from a picture- a micrometer tells the tale.