Paper shot shells?

[MNpurple]

I was given a bag full of old shotgun shells from a friends great grandfather. There are a few boxesof lead shotshells with a big picture of a duck on the front (obvious some age there) but then there are probably 50 loose (no box unfortunately) paper shotgun shells, 10 and 12 gauge, made by Peters, Winchester, and Remington. Instead of the crimped plastic at the end of the shell there is a paper insert or cap on the end with the kind of shot printed on it. Kind of neat looking. How old are these shells and are they worth anything without their box? I dont know that I would ever want to fire one from my gun.

[101winchester]

The old boxes, the ones with the ducks on front are worth the most. As far as the loose shells, I don't think there is much value to them. If you don't have any use for them, drop them off at your local law enforcement center and they can dispose of them.

[Ufatz]

Fer Pete's sake you guys....take the old shells out and shoot them at some clay birds. If they'll go in the chamber they should shoot fine. Only thing that could happen over time is that they might have swelled some. My guess is they will work fine. You don't gotta drop 'em off anyplace. Shoot 'em!!!

Jeeeez!

[DonBo]

I agree, get a clay target thrower and shoot 'em up!

[tealitup]

Keep some stored. Give them to your son, grandson or another child when they get older.

[BoxMN]

We shot up a ton of them given to us from a daughter of an old time hunter. I wish we would have saved then, or at least some. All of them were good, 20 ga. 16 ga. and 12 ga. Heck, we even had boxes and boxes from my grandpa long time ago, and we shot them. But at the time we didn't think they may be valuable, or even neat to keep. I wish we would have.

Good luck,

[so haaad]

I don't mean to hyjack the thread, but why don't the hunting/outdoor conservation groups push the shell industry into making biodegradable/cardboard shells anymore? It's always bugged me trying to pick up all the empty plastic shells and the plastic wads out in the middle of the duck decoys after a hunt.

[Gissert]

Ah, paper shells....good memories.

I still have a few from when my late father used to reload back in the 1960's.

I shoot one a couple times a year just for old times sake.

Nothing reminds me of my hunting cildhood more than the smell of burned powder out of a freshly fired cardboard hull. The plastic hulls just dont have the same smell.

[Ray Esboldt]

Gissert,

I am with you. I remember taking nose hits off recently expended papers down at the gun club when the old man use to bring me with. Warm plastic just ain't got the same smell as charred paper.

[mamohr686]

I still shoot a 101 yr old LC Smith SXS double gun. I really like to feed it paper shells by RST. You can do a google search on classic shotshell co and find their HSOforum. Their specialty is low recoil, low pressure short chamber loads for older shotguns. So if you really want to, you can still shoot paper. If you reload I think the paper hulls are made by cheddite. If it were me I would try to match up the shells with an original box, and hang on to them. The old boxes are all over at sporting auctions and gun shows.

[Ufatz]

Here's one you guys missed. Temperature 12 degrees, Northwest wind 28 mph. Spitting sleet. You hunch down in the blind and.......split a paper shotshell empty with your knife; cut it several times straight down from the open end. Light it with stick match. Burns a long time and keeps your hands warm for when the next flock of Cans comes blasting in on the wind. Pile several up on the ground and it will make a nice little warming fire. Or use them for fire starters. Or fill them with wax and a little string wick for a cheap improvised candle.

And regarding the comment about "...why don't they make a new biodegradable shell...." Please please PLEASE don't get them started on "improving" shotgun shells again Last time they did we ended up with steel shot and plastic.

[icehousebob]

My clearest memory of paper hulls was one day duck hunting in the rain. The pocket with my shells in it got wet. The paper hulls swelled up and wouldn't go into the chamber. Ducks flying over and no shells to shoot at them. Give me the plastics.

[Hammer Handle]

My dad tells me lots of stories about shooting the paper shells at ducks as they sat in his wooden decoys. No worry about hurting the decoys, they would tip...but right themselves up. Just a few splinters would be knocked off.

And, it was about how many ducks you could get for the family needed the meat. You would get 10 shells and would be expected to bring MORE than 10 ducks home.

Then, for deer hunting...you would open the paper shell and dump the BBs out. Add some more gun powder and a melted lead ball and some wax to seal the top...and now you have a slug. Some were not very accurate....

[Wanderer]

Set a few of the cherry ones out on a shelf or in a gun display case if you have one. Nice nostalgia. Give some to friends if they're interested. They're just cool in my opinion.

My guess is that the factory paper shells that are still made cost more than plastic of equal loads. Plastic is cheap to use in manufacturing.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

I will take them off your hands, if you want. I have my dads old gun he shot paper out of, but don't have the paper shells. Was thinking of coming down that way anyway...