Paper shells

[jmr40]

Found a deal on some shotshells at an Estate Sale last weekend. Two boxes of Fiocchi #2 steel shot and 2 boxes of Remington ShurShot #9's.

Also included in the deal was a partial box (15 shells) of these old paper shells. Got everything for $40.

Couple of questions about the paper shells. When I 1st started hunting back in the early 70's dad had a partial box of paper 12 ga shells that I just assumed he had had forever. I always thought they went to plastic after or during WW-2. But doing some research it seems they made them into the 1960's. Any input on that.

Also, any idea when these may have been made. The graphics on the box just scream 1950's to me but I don't know.

 

[entropy]

They still make paper shells today. Federal makes them for Clays game shooters. Remington made some a few years ago also.

That box is roughly late 40's to mid 50's.

 

[jdsingleshot]

That Xpert color scheme shows up in 1946 and lasts at least until 1954, though the later part of this period has lighter blue panels. I think the 1946 box contained shells with a top wad. By 1949 the shells were star crimped. Image is a 1946 ad.

I prefer paper shells. I find plastic tends to try to open and spill shot.

 

[jmr40]

They still make paper shells today.

Yea, I saw where they are making them again. I'm pretty sure they did not for a long time. I just assumed it was for nostalgia where people wanted to shoot period correct shells in their old guns. I can't think of any advantages to paper. They can't be reloaded as easily or often and would swell up and jam in guns if they got wet making them a poor choice for waterfowl hunting.

I think the 1946 box contained shells with a top wad. By 1949 the shells were star crimped.

These have a star crimp so they are not as old.

Thanks for the info. I don't plan to shoot or sell these but have them on display on a shelf in the Man Cave as a conversation piece.

 

[entropy]

I don't know if Federal stopped making them at some point or not, but I know they were always available. Nothing beats the smell of a freshly fired paper hull.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I remember working at a trap club in 69-70 and picking up a lot of paper hulls after the shoot.

 

[troy fairweather]

I wish they would make more paper shells, used them often when I was a kid since dad would get them all the time when guys at the gun shop he worked. The smell after firing brings back memories when out hunting.

 

[Bull Nutria]

Rem came out with plastic shellsabout 1963 I was 12. I hung around a discount store that sold hunting and fishing gear. I was gifted a old fox 20ga SxS. I bought a box of Win "Mark 5" shells. A short time later there was a glass gallon jar filled with Rem plastic shells under water on the counter. I ask the clerk, who i was friends with, if i could exchange my mark 5s for the Rem plastic with the "power piston" .The clerk did exchange the shells. I WAS A VERY Happy 12yr old!!

BULL

 

[Bull Nutria]

Paper shells when new and fresh worked great. However when subjected to serious humidity and moisture they would swell and had to be forced into shotgun chambers. And often gave extraction problems! Plastic shells eliminated that fault and we never looked back!!

Bull

 

[DukeConnor]

I'm still working my way through cases of old federal target loads.

 

[.308 Norma]

But doing some research it seems they made them into the 1960's. Any input on that.

When were plastic shotgun shells made available?

Answer (1 of 3): I found the (an) answer (maybe) in three minuets. Copied and pasted from the link below. In 1960, Remington introduced shotshells with plastic cases. Shotshell Cartridge History Wikipedia has a page about shotgun shells including history - quote below is copied and pasted fro...

www.quora.com

Yeah, I'm pretty sure paper shotgun shells were common up until sometime in the '60s. My Mom and Dad sold a lot of them in the country store/gas station they owned and operated when I was growing up, and I didn't leave for the Navy until 1968.
Also, I remember a couple of guys that reloaded shotgun shells griping about plastic shotgun shells because they couldn't reload them. Now I don't know if that was just "curmudgery" or not, but I do remember it happening.
I don't remember anyone griping about paper shotgun shells "swelling" due to high humidity though. But then again, I grew up in SW Idaho where the average humidity is only about 50%.

 

[jmr40]

I know the military specified brass shotshells during WW-2 particularly in the Pacific to avoid the paper swelling. I believe they were available well before that. But they were expensive. I know they are still available in limited selections.

I was always under the impression that once plastic came into use that paper shells became obsolete. Guess I was wrong about that.

 

[somethingbenign]

I have heard several younger hunters specifically asking for paper hulls. They like the idea of somecthing more readily able to decompose than plastic. With current trends I wouldn't be surprised if we see paper as a more common option again. The market desire is there, we shall see if that stays after the long forgotten downsides of paper are remembered.

 

[Rlafever]

peters blue paper shells because it was called Remington- Peters -the company.They still make them, some trap shooters will only shoot paper because of less or different felt recoil . There was a story about plastic shells causing the chambers of the Browning superposed ( circa 1962) to rust because paper sealed the chamber better and plastic didn't. Many shotguns now have chrome lined barrels, probably to prevent rusting., the ammunition folks probably changed to a non corrosive powder and primer.

Peters Paper

Peters Blue is Back with new, yet traditional, paper hull shotshells.

www.remington.com

 

[Savage30L]

I have piles of boxes of paper shells here. I should post some photos....

 

[Blue Brick]

I have piles of boxes of paper shells here. I should post some photos....

Yes.

 

[Gator Weiss]

Found a deal on some shotshells at an Estate Sale last weekend. Two boxes of Fiocchi #2 steel shot and 2 boxes of Remington ShurShot #9's.

Also included in the deal was a partial box (15 shells) of these old paper shells. Got everything for $40.

Couple of questions about the paper shells. When I 1st started hunting back in the early 70's dad had a partial box of paper 12 ga shells that I just assumed he had had forever. I always thought they went to plastic after or during WW-2. But doing some research it seems they made them into the 1960's. Any input on that.

Also, any idea when these may have been made. The graphics on the box just scream 1950's to me but I don't know.

View attachment 1165056

Mid to Late 60s box. Nice. Was buying and shooting paper right up through late 70s. Paper occasionally still available. Roll-crimp on paper factory loads seemed to have faded out for the star shaped crimp. Plastic had its advantages, I really liked paper. First time I pulled a trigger was 5 or 6 years old on a 12ga sxs loaded with paper shotshells.

 

[cfullgraf]

My first shotgun experience was with my Dad's 28 ga side by side in the then 1962-1965 time frame. 28 ga shells were hard to come by then and Dad bought a case of #9 target loads. These were loaded in paper hulls.

If it was not for not skeet competition, 28 ga would have faded into obscurity at that time.

I shot lots of that case standing directly behind the trap house to shorten the range for a new shooter. (Advantages of shooting at a private range.)

At that time, Dad had plastic shells for his 12 and 16 ga shotguns.

I got my first pheasant kill with the 28 ga and #9 shot paper hull ammunition. A lucky head shot brought the bird down.

By the 1990s when I was shooting competitive skeet, paper hulls were a thing of the past for me. I reloaded lots of 20 and 28 ga shells for copetition as well as .410 bore.All were plastic hulls.

(P.S, My 20 ga averages were better than my 12 ga averages so I so 20 ga in the 12 ga events.)

 

[Pete D.]

I like paper hulls. Some years ago I bought two large boxes of used paper hulls (hundreds) from Ebay. I still load some of them. Wear and tear has taken many. Here are a couple loaded with slugs and roll crimped.

 

[jdsingleshot]

I like paper shells for the nostalgia of the manufacturing methods that produced them. I have an unfired 1930s Remington 12 gauge shell that makes plastic shells look like artificial flowers.

I have several hundred Western, Federal, Remington and Sears empties in 12 and 16 gauge. Only trouble is I don't bird hunt anywhere near as much as I used to. I hunt turkey now and then, but that's usually a one-shot event.

Image is not my shell, but is an advertising piece for that era.

 

[PapaG]

No better smell on the trap field than a paper Federal just ejected. Or fired after one Red Dot reload.

 

[Milkmaster]

I shot Diana paper shells less than 20 years ago. had the familiar smell

 

[Rlafever]

Winchester aa red paper shells , there's a couple hundred empties around here some where , in my junk pile

 

[gspn]

From Wikipedia:

"Starting from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, plastic hulls started replacing paper hulls for the majority of shotgun shells and by the early 1980s, plastic hulls had become universally adopted."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_shell

 

[Laphroaig]

I started hunting in the early 60's. I can remember one of my uncles joking about how you could count the pellets on one of the first plastic Remington shells that we had seen.

I still have some paper 16 ga. #4 shot. If they don't get wet they'll last forever.