You be the judge...

[Richard Flanders]

It's an aluminum .410 Dean. I think they were military?? The Army Air Corp. used to issue the plastic stocked Stevens .22/.410 O/U as an airplane survival gun. A WWII test pilot friend up here had two from his days as a cold wx test pilot in Fairbanks. The dealer in Anchorage has full boxes of this ammo, the boxes being plain brown coardboard. I have a couple of loaded examples from him. This one had #6 shot in it. Someone must know what they were made for. Shall I send you this one for your collection? I had assumed most folks had seen these before.

[Roundsworth]

I have seen quite a few of the alu-minium .410s, and they all had the 'WCC 52' headstamp. They were, indeed, loaded for aircrew survival guns. As for the nickel plated shells, I had one that was a bit less than nice, and tried the vinegar approach. It gave typical results as far as the inside crud was concerned, with no effect on the plating. That was my experiment! I cannot guarantee results with your nickeled cases.