I attended the annual Cartridge Collectors Show in Castle Rock, Wa. this morning, and stopped to talk to my friend Ralph who came down from Canada to set up a table. He has some very cool stuff, and I'd have bought almost everything he had if I wasn't watching my pennies. 
He had a very interesting box of .38-55 UMC bullets that were "254 grain" marked on the box! Never seen any in this oddball weight? He also had a box of JM Marlin marked .38-55 255 gr., but I have the same box in nicer shape. Then I spotted two boxes that caught my eye! Both .40 caliber, paper patched, with one being 285 gr. and the other 330 gr.! So we worked a deal and I brought both home. 
These would have been for either Marlin Ballard single shots in a few different cartridge chamberings, like .40-63B, .40-85B, or .40-65B chamberings, or even the 1881 lever action model in .40-60M cartridge. I always look for Marlin marked ammo, or bullets, but rarely see any in recent years. Didn't see a lot decades ago either, but they've really dried up now.
Of course these wont ever be loaded up!

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Rebel wrote on Mar 18^th, 2023 at 3:19pm:


Thanks! These should date to post 1881 when the company name changed from JM Marlin to Marlin Firearms Co.