Thread: Colonial Ammunition Company - History

Originally Posted by muzza

Pm me your details and I will pass them along to the guy in the Cartridge Club who has done by far the most work on the products and history of CAC.

Sure thing, will have to get my hands on them first

I asked @gundoc on another forum why CAC bit the dust.

When I started shooting in the beginning of the 70's a box of CAC 303 went for about $5.00, not bad ammo but then we didn't use the more expensive stuff especially on goats. When I started working for the Pest Destruction Board in 78 we used CAC super and subsonic rounds( in plain white box) The super sonic round was called SR5 (I think ) but we found that both rounds were very inconsistent some subs went off better than the super sonic rounds. We also got a lot of duds which we would have to check to see if the bullet wasn't stuck in the barrel. Needless to say it was good when we switched to Winchester ammo which was good stuff.

In the early 70's I used a CAC round that had a nickel case shooting a 38 gr HP(Hi Speed I think it was called) which was a really good round back then. Used it for all the small game including goats, heaps of goats fell to that round.
We used to use our high powered rifles the first day and generally run out of ammo so we then switched to the 22 and that CAC ammo and sometimes Winchester Wildcat solids both were excellent. Great Days on the hill back then, we did a lot of shooting back then.

Originally Posted by muzza

Pm me your details and I will pass them along to the guy in the Cartridge Club who has done by far the most work on the products and history of CAC.

Originally Posted by Tommy

Sure thing, will have to get my hands on them first

Originally Posted by Ryan

21-01-2019, 07:44 PM I'll take 'em please.

*cough cough*

Originally Posted by Ryan

*cough cough*

3 packets to go around

Only just found this thread thanks to Mr Google.

As of today I now have the main books on CAC.

A Little Further A Little Faster, Lynn Harris, arrived today from Oz.
I have been chasing this book for years. I missed it in a New Plymouth auction as I was too miserable with my postal bid.
It came up in Ted's recent auction and I put in a stupid high bid thinking that would nail it but missed again. Failed to reach reserve. How bloody high was the reserve?!
Located a copy in a boutique book shop in Oz and pounced. Expensive but a lot cheaper than Ted's would have worked out to if I had been successful.

At the recent Antique Arms Napier Branch auction I was successful with my postal and got -
Whitney's Heritage by Barry Gracia
The Colonial Ammunition Company Ltd by Barry Gracia

So, it all fell into place over the last month. I'm rapt.

Re the CAC Hi Speed ammo Mooseman mentioned: It is great stuff. I have a couple of surplus packets if any Auckland members are keen. PM Me. And for Ryan, Barry Gracia has a newish book out, titled
"The Colonial Ammunition Company Ltd: Metallic Centrefire Cartridges made by the Company in New Zealand".

I noticed some workshop buildings down at Lincoln University are marked CAC and a date (can’t remember what it was). Being ex NZDF it got me wondering whether ammunition was manufactured there, maybe during the world wars?

Originally Posted by Ranger 888

Re the CAC Hi Speed ammo Mooseman mentioned: It is great stuff. I have a couple of surplus packets if any Auckland members are keen. PM Me. And for Ryan, Barry Gracia has a newish book out, titled
"The Colonial Ammunition Company Ltd: Metallic Centrefire Cartridges made by the Company in New Zealand".

That book is one of the three I have acquired. Looks like 2011 vintage. Printed on good quality gloss paper with all catridge photos in colour.
In the introduction Barry mentions the book was put out on the 50th year of NZ CC.
Very little about the company itself but comprehensive coverage of catridges produced.

Originally Posted by rockland

CAC ammo was disappearing from the shops by the time I turned 16 in 1987 but came across a bit of it over the years since.
With strong import controls you would think they had a captive market however the quality was pretty ho-hum when compared to Winchester and other international brands.
A big nail in CAC's coffin was the "High Flyer" drama. High Flyer was a 12 gauge high velocity 1 1/4 oz load of 4,5 or 6 shot in a modern compression-formed case marketed as a duck load. Anyway one batch of these shells blew up a bunch of older SxS guns and injured a few shooters. Read a report of tests which duplicated the effect by placing a live primer in the powder charge and hinted at industrial sabotage!

Must be a good story there for someone to research. I have met guys who still had full boxes of High Flyer in their ammo cupboards,many years later.

Like this?
Prol hasnt seen the light of day for 20yrs, interesting back story when i went to give to an older mate

Originally Posted by MSL

Graham

It is Graeme Champion, now lives in New Plymouth

What was the "Silver tip" CAC 308 stuff like? I never used it for anything bigger than Wallibies and Goats as I was told it blew up due to being too soft. This was ages ago though.

Originally Posted by GDMP

Was the shot tower demolished several weeks ago?.Seem to recall some mention of it on the radio.....

Yes it's gone now