USAC Reloadable Plastic Cased Ammunition

While cleaning up in my basement the other day I came across this box of odd .38 Special ammunition. It contained six cartridges, two of them fired, that I received as a sample from my favorite fishing and hunting shop in 1984. Unless you're a collector of ammunition you've probably never seen these before. They were introduced to the market and disappeared in less than a year.

Back in 1984 a company called USAC (not to be confused with the former Indy Cars sanctioning organization) came out with another of those brilliant solutions for which there was no existing problem- in this case, a highly simplified reloading system. In principle, it sounded impressive. Reusable plastic cartridge cases with snap-in bullets that used standard primers and powders, and a simple, inexpensive reloading press you could hold in the palm of your hand. No sizing or priming was required, so all the press had to do was deprime, seat a new primer, and snap the bullet in place.

In theory this was a great idea. In practice, it had a few problems. For one, it was very inflexible. There were four "full metal jacket" bullets offered ranging from 148 to 158gr which were in fact just copper flashed lead. No hollow points, no real jackets. Because of the snap-in feature, the rear half of the bullet didn't engage the rifling, so they had to be fairly long.  USAC only recommended a very few powders and loads.

Shooters reload for one of several reasons: To save money, for better accuracy, to get loads not commercially available, or just for the pleasure of developing new loads and experimenting. The USAC system was aimed at the shooter who wanted to save money. Problem was, you didn't really save enough to make it worth while. A box of standard 158gr .30s had a retail cost of around $9 in 1984, and commercial reloads cost half as much A box of USAC .38s cost $11, and replacement bullets were $3.30-3.50 per 50. USAC ads say that the reloader could get started for around $60.

Ideally, using the USAC system a reloader could turn out a box of cartridges for around $4. Buying new cases would push that up a bit. Using traditionally reloading methods and cast bullets a box of 50 would have cost no more than $2.50. It was unclear how many reloads you could get out of the plastic USAC cases. Brass, if loaded to modest levels, can be used dozens of times.

In the end, the economics of the USAC system just weren't attractive enough to interest shooters, and the limited options didn't interest reloaders.  USAC went bankrupt, and the ammunition and components were sold off. If you come across a box of these, they make a nice addition to a collection. They're not rare enough to be valuable, but they are interesting.