rburg
Member
And then moved to star crimp? Just trying to date some old ammo I have and I don't think roll crimp ammo survived WWII. Or if it did, the manufacturers dropped it in the late 40s. bb
Anybody smart enough to know when they stopped roll crimp?
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OFT II
US Veteran
Dick, are you asking about shotgun shells?
Andy Lowry
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My .38s are still roll crimped. 
mike campbell
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I'd say you have a fair handle on it.
Depends on the shell and manufacturer. Generally, roll crimps will be pre-war and pie-crimps post war. Remington first advertised the flat-top pie crimps in 1947. But it didn't happen to every product line overnight. And the other manufacturers came on board gradually and pretty much without fanfare. New introductions can usually be nailed pretty narrowly; phase-outs are sometimes a little blurry.
So, while it's pretty safe to say no pie-crimp was made before WWII, you can't say no roll crimp was made after WWII. In fact, Polywad, Inc. is loading with roll crimps today.
Depends on the shell and manufacturer. Generally, roll crimps will be pre-war and pie-crimps post war. Remington first advertised the flat-top pie crimps in 1947. But it didn't happen to every product line overnight. And the other manufacturers came on board gradually and pretty much without fanfare. New introductions can usually be nailed pretty narrowly; phase-outs are sometimes a little blurry.
So, while it's pretty safe to say no pie-crimp was made before WWII, you can't say no roll crimp was made after WWII. In fact, Polywad, Inc. is loading with roll crimps today.
I bought roll-crimped paper shotgun shells in the 1960s all the time, and bought some 16ga roll crimp shotgun shells from a country store in Oklahoma in the 1990s; not sure when they were made, but they worked fine.
ggibson511960
Member
Mark V
When Olin/Winchester brought out the plastic hull Mark V in the early sixties there were a bunch of paper roll crimped shells that were relegated to dry hunting. Instant obsolescence. Many a duck hunter swore at those old paper hulls. Nobody had plastic zip loc bags to keep shells dry. Remington used to glue yellow discs on their star crimped shells, maybe to fend off water. They looked cool, but all paper hulled shells would swell up and become useless if exposed to enough water. Us kids used to scrounge up the swollen and ruined shells to shoot for fun. I can remember many a snap or hang fire from both roll crimped and star crimped shells. Good riddance.
When Olin/Winchester brought out the plastic hull Mark V in the early sixties there were a bunch of paper roll crimped shells that were relegated to dry hunting. Instant obsolescence. Many a duck hunter swore at those old paper hulls. Nobody had plastic zip loc bags to keep shells dry. Remington used to glue yellow discs on their star crimped shells, maybe to fend off water. They looked cool, but all paper hulled shells would swell up and become useless if exposed to enough water. Us kids used to scrounge up the swollen and ruined shells to shoot for fun. I can remember many a snap or hang fire from both roll crimped and star crimped shells. Good riddance.
DWalt
Member
Crimped shells were phased in during the post-WWII era, but I think some were being made by the eve of WWII. Some paper-cased shells retained the roll crimp until later, mainly buckshot loads. By the early 1950s, most US shells had gone to the crimp. In any event you can pretty well assume that any shells with top wads are probably from before the late 1940s. There may be some foreign shells still using top wads, I believe Aguila is for their 2" 12 gauge loads, as it makes perfect sense in that application.
I have numerous boxes of crimped shells from the late 1940s and early 1950s, and advertise it prominently on their labels. Remington had a banner across the bottom front of their boxes that said "NEW REMINGTON CRIMP." Winchester and Western had "Super Seal Crimp" on their box labels saying that the crimp was sealed with wax (paraffin) to prevent water leakage. I have one box of Western shells from 1943 which mentions nothing about a crimp, and the shells have top wads.
"They looked cool, but all paper hulled shells would swell up and become useless if exposed to enough water. Us kids used to scrounge up the swollen and ruined shells to shoot for fun."
Remington made a line of shotshells especially for duck and goose hunters called "Arrow." They were coated with lacquer to prevent water damage to the paper case. They are very obvious as they are so shiny. I have also seen some lacquered European paper shell cases, I imagine done for the same reason. Winchester and Western paper shells (at least waterfowl loads) had a very heavy coating of paraffin. You could scratch it off with your fingernail.
I have numerous boxes of crimped shells from the late 1940s and early 1950s, and advertise it prominently on their labels. Remington had a banner across the bottom front of their boxes that said "NEW REMINGTON CRIMP." Winchester and Western had "Super Seal Crimp" on their box labels saying that the crimp was sealed with wax (paraffin) to prevent water leakage. I have one box of Western shells from 1943 which mentions nothing about a crimp, and the shells have top wads.
"They looked cool, but all paper hulled shells would swell up and become useless if exposed to enough water. Us kids used to scrounge up the swollen and ruined shells to shoot for fun."
Remington made a line of shotshells especially for duck and goose hunters called "Arrow." They were coated with lacquer to prevent water damage to the paper case. They are very obvious as they are so shiny. I have also seen some lacquered European paper shell cases, I imagine done for the same reason. Winchester and Western paper shells (at least waterfowl loads) had a very heavy coating of paraffin. You could scratch it off with your fingernail.
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