I was at the Range yesterday and brought a SD/HD Shotgun with me for practice. I have been shooting a lot of old ammo up first before using the newer stuff, so I brought a few old boxes of Federal 12 gauge 2 3/4" 00 Buckshot. These shells were paper hulled and wonderfully made, but again, I usually do not like relying on such really old ammo for SD purposes. I'd estimate the shells were made in the 1950's and still had the round cardboard top piece with the 00 stamped on it, holding everything in the shell.

I loaded up and fired away. Everyone went bang, the charges seemed normal and there were no feeding issues. Sometimes paper hulls swell over time and will not feed easily. Not the case with these and since I had inherited them, I don't know their storage history before I acquired them. They worked well, but had a sort of funky smell and a bit more smoke than modern 00 Buckshot usually exhibits. Still, for 75 year old ammo, it would have done the job and I was happy! Just a warm and fuzzy feeling - lol.

The practice session with the HD Shotgun went well and other than pissing my friend's wife off suggesting she shoot a half dozen rounds for practice (gave her a nice black and blue mark on her shoulder), everything went just hunky dory. Hey, they keep one in their home and she needs to understand how to handle it should the need ever arise. She also did need the practice with the SG!

I should have saved a few spent shells just for nostalgia, but forgot. They were exquisitely made compared to todays plastic shells.

In my experience, ammunition will last a lot longer and continue to function even under less than adequate storage conditions.

I've literally had magazines of ammo accidentally go through the wash twice, yet function just fine when tested. Likewise, I've had carry ammo which was over 5 years old with miscolored copper jackets and tarnished cases, yet still went bang when taken out to the range.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to rely on such ammunition, nor am I suggesting that ammo shouldn't be stored responsibly, or rotated I'm just saying that it tends to continue working even after ages in less than ideal conditions.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

I have shot ammo loaded in the 1880's and it still preformed well.

Six rounds gave her a B&B area............

Those must have been some pretty stout loads.

I think the “cool, dry place” warning gets overdone. There used to be a requirement that every FBI car had to have a 50 round box of ammo in the glove compartment. It was an inspection item so it was just left in there for year after year, dutifully counted and initialed, transfered to another car as required, and so on. One year I convinced the PFI to let me replace all of the ammo with new stuff. He agreed and I went squad to squad, gathering keys and swapping the ammo. Some guys were carrying 9mms and still had .38 ammo in the car. Those cars were like gold to me. I soon had a huge stack of raggedy boxes of ammo and the PFI said - shoot it up or give it to cops, just don’t sell it.

That stuff had been in temps from well below zero to however hot a parked car can get in Louisiana in the summer - basically the surface of the sun.

It all shot just fine.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

The oldest ammo that I have fired was from about 1916 .45ACP headstamped military ammo. It all went bang as it should.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Thought this was a hippie thread

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213th FBINA

I shot some honest to goodness 1937 original .357 Magnum ammo (you know, 158 grain at 1,510 foot seconds from the 8 3/4 inch Magnum) through a 1937 RM with a shorter tube owned by a friend not too long ago.

It worked just fine, no harm to revolver or shooter! And, as a friend says, you don’t have to go around front to see if it just went off. Boy, did they! Not sure, but seemed hotter than the Buffalo Bore stuff that duplicates the original load!

That was a good time!

They were quite stout - however, she also shot a box of #8 Birdshot during the training session as well. Not that the bird shot is heavy, but at the end of shooting 31 rounds she was sore! She is 4'11" and is a petite woman and has very little shotgun experience. I taught her as much as I could in a small amount of time.

Send her over. I taught a Combat Shotgun Course. We shot at least 350 of 00 Buck and slug in three days. Talk about bruised!!!

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I have shot a few hundred rounds in one day, but they were mostly #8 target loads with a few #5 & #6 High Brass Pheasant loads thrown in.

I shot about 50 rounds of #2 3" Magnum Duck Loads a couple of years ago and afterwards I was a little sore myself. I don't think I'd be willing to shoot 350 rounds of 00 Buck in 3 days! I guess that it also depends on the shotgun being used. An auto loader is much more doable and even an over-under weighs enough that it might handle the recoil little better. Most defensive SG's like a Rem. 870, Moss. 500, Ithaca M37, etc. are simply not fun for that sort of round count - at least to me.

Properly loaded brass ammo has a near-hermetic seal. Very little moisture gets in the powder or primer.

I really didn’t know Harley-Davidson made shotguns.

As long as she wasn’t complaining of pain while shooting, all is well. Bruising is normal, with some soreness. As you know …

We were trained on Mossberg 500 riot guns. Nothing fancy for us! My personal is a copy of a USMC M870 MK1 Combat Shotgun.

Attached Images

USMC Remington M870 Mk 1.jpg (34.8 KB, 28 views)

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Was that smell that wonderful nostalgic smell of waxed paper hulls? I grew up on that and there is nothing like it.

Had a jungle fatigue jacket with padding sewn on right shoulder, worked very well. Rarely shoot shotgun as “ arthur” in the shoulders will act up.

That "funky" smell you mentioned won't come from plastic hulls/shells........But to use old timers the smell of a paper fired shotgun shell is theraputic aroma to us.

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S&W Accumulator

HD = Harley Davidson, Home Defense, Honky Dory, Home Depot........

I believe Federal still makes paper case shells. Some top-tier clay bird shooters prefer them. I remember reading that Remington planned to do likewise, don't know if they ever did. For sure, some foreign shotshell manufacturers load paper case shells.

Remington of the new variety was suppoedly making Blue paper shells with the Peter's brand again...I have not seen any. The original old Remington shells had corrugated paper hulls...the Blue Peters were smooth. My first case Iever bought was a case of Peters 3 dram Trap loads...$21.00 The reason for the Peters was they could use Federal paper cases dyed a different color of course. I thought I saw pics of them...maybe Shot show...the oldest round I ever shot was an inside primed 45-70. It....shot!! I cleaned out a Civil war musket that was brought to me...Had 7 loads in the bbl. Supposedly from the Battle of Antietem. I used 80 gr of the black powder salvaged...shot a deer at about 40 yards with my T-C Hawken 50 cal. After cleaning the old piece I filed the percussion nipple conical again...loaded one of the original minie balls with 50 gr of 2Fg...tied to a tire of course. fired fine...hit the big ol cardboard box about 50 feet in front. Cleaned her up and it is still over the fireplace mantel...after over 100 years of kids playing with it and dragging it around

No. I still shoot plenty of paper hulled shot shells and they did not smell like that. I inherited them from my Dad and all the other shells I got (stored in the same place and conditions) smell normal. I am still Pheasant hunting with #6 and #5 Hi-brass Winchester, Peters and Remington and the only ones with this funky smell are the Federals. Thankfully that lot is now gone.

Many moons ago;

here in the Reno area, the top trap load hull, that we all tried to get, was the

Federal "Purple" Gold Medal, paper hull.

It just did not last too long if reloaded and some that did not reload,
would crush the crimp area with a finger, before they droped it,

as some of us reloaders found out.

A drive home with a buch of those hulls in the back of the car, would
bring a smile to my face, as the aroma driffted by.

I love the smell of a fired paper hull. Brings back a lot of memory's.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

I started my shotgunning with paper hulls in a Browning A-5. I know that smell - heavenly. I still hBe some paper hull loads, can't bring myself to shoot them. Put a few in a shadow box.

Pretty much the ONLY ammo I get concerned about failing due to age and or less than optimal storage conditions are:

Paper Hulled shot-shells, due to the fact that even though they are usually waxed, paper does absorb moisture and can transfer that inside to the components causing a failure.

Rimfire ammo because 22 rimfire ammo is produced in massive quantities and is not waterproofed like many center fire rounds are. They also have much ore susceptible primer material than centerfire primers do.

Since this thread has many shotshell replies and the wonderful smells produced I will let the newcomers to trap and skeet in on a little secret. When an old timer asks to see your gun, shoots a shot with it and loads one of his shells to replace the one he shot of yours, beware. Most likely it is loaded with black powder and chicken feathers. A right of passage as the saying goes. I have several of these rounds so loaded just waiting to get my payback.

I watch videos at times from the UK about shooting driven pheasants and other birds. Sort of a novelty thing that interests me but to the point. In the UK they are now required besides non toxic shot to use biodegradable wads. I expect anytime to see them mandated to return to paper hulls and biodegradable also.
I just have to wonder when that line of thought will make it to this side of the pond.

"WELL THEY SMOKED A BIT AND STUNK A LITTLE, BUT OTHERWISE WORKED PROPERLY"

that describes my brother-in-laws perfectly.

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NRA RSO

I have .22 LR ammo that I bought back in the early 80s that still functions normally. Chronographing shows no loss of velocity.