What makes it match?

[Friday]

Got some old school 45 here and it says 'match'.
What makes it match grade? Pixie dust or a bit more TLC during manufacturing?
Also it appears to be some kind of mil-spec issue. What might have been it's original destiny/why would .gov order this kind of swanky cartridge?

 

[SINNER]

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/lodge/what-is-match-grade-ammo/
“Generally speaking, match ammunition is designed to be more consistent and accurate than cheaper general-use ammo.
Ammo makers achieve this consistency through tight tolerances and strict quality control. Generally speaking, the controls are more rigorous for this ammo to get put in a box and sold than cheap bulk loads.
You might find powders that burn more consistently along with higher quality (and more expensive) primers in match ammo.
Match grade rifle ammunition may also feature specialized bullet designs like a boat tail and an open tip. These bullet features help reduce drag to improve aerodynamics. These features can increase accuracy.”

I know government uses exact batches of ammo for some Marine sniper tasks. They also have competitions between services. Also the brown box isn’t always indicative of a government contract.

 

[Ben W.]

I shot thousands of those rounds in the Marine Competition-In-Arms program back in the '70's and '80's. Generally speaking, they are more consistent during manufacturing and testing. One good thing is that the "MATCH" brass doesn't have crimped-in primers and is great for reloading. It is loaded full power. Was often used in "Leg" matches for points towards Distinguished shooting where military style ammo is required. Good stuff!

 

[NKD]

It'll do 1/4 moa if you do yer part.

 

[Friday]

Thanks guys. Only 4 boxes but it came out of this which lead me to go with the military assumption. I should've included this pic, sorry my bad.

Just curious why the gov would want this stuff and what specs do they consider it match grade. I know it isn't for grunts in the field and guessed it was for some official competitions. I appreciate y'all chiming in on that.

 

[fieldgrade]

I bought about 1400 of .mil match .45acp out of Larry Vickers old stash along with a couple of other guys. The primers were sealed and it shot like 230 grain ball ammo. I ran it in matches where the longest shots are 20 yards, so I couldn’t tell you if it was more accurate than me or not.

 

[wvsig]

The marketing department these days.....

 

[Jayne]

The marketing department these days.....

If that's a 1960s headstamp and not "09" then it sounds like the marketing plague started long ago.

 

[wvsig]

If that's a 1960s headstamp and not "09" then it sounds like the marketing plague started long ago.

Didn't catch the 1960's headstamp. If it is 1960s ammo I would sell it to collectors vs shoot it because I am not a "match" level shooter.

 

[Beef15]

I don't know how long marksmanship units have been around, but I do believe the Army and Marines have been sending certain folks to shoot various competitions for a long time. Camp Perry comes to mind. I would imagine there's been some sort of try-outs and/or practice that exceeded any handloaded ammo capacity and contracts were issued for something more consistent than standard ball. That folks report it's still the same velocity is a little surprising. But I would not know.