Best Factory Shell of All Time???

It’s the off-season- might as well talk about something!


What factory shell did you like the best? I guess we can break it down for handicap and singles- however you feel like answering.

For me it was the Federal Gold Medal plastic shells. Shot a lot of their 2 3/4 dram 8’s for singles and the Handicap 7 1/2’s from the 27.

 

Federal Champion II'S..............Wish I had a pallet or two again!!!

 

Federal paper, and still is! It's not off-season here in Florida

 

Winchester paper super targets 2 3/4-1 1/8-7 1/2 from the late 60’s through 70’s.

 

Ditto on the Win papers and who can beat the smell

 

Hard to top the current Remington STS ammo.

 

....as far as performance goes.

 

The STS light handicap #8 shot load is #1. It is also the best kept secret from the average shooter. Roger C.

 

Silver Bullet for handicap.

 

At the Grands in the late 70’s early 80’s I shot all the caps with Fed papers. Everyone remembers the “aroma” of a fired Fed. I know some of you are smiling right now just thinking about it.

I also remember the smell of the Win Super Targets. One year I shot all of the singles and doubles with them. They were right up there with the Feds as far as crushing targets but the smell wasn’t as “enjoyable”.
By the time Saturday’s doubles came around I had to open the 3200 down below my waste because the smell of them was pretty harsh.

That said, I would shoot them again in a heartbeat if they made them.

 

1960's through 1970's Federal Paper.

 

...and is, by far, my favorite target load...and has been for over twenty years.

 

im still loading and shooting blue magics..........

 

Are those the same as the recent Peters Premier Blue Paper shells? (P/N PPT12L8)
I have several of boxes of them....for nostalgic purposes.

 

mudpak, I was a Remington distributor in the 80's,and 90's. Very few shooters purchased the light handicap 8's. I stood on the 30 yrd line up at
VERNAL, AND SMOKED 25 TARGETS , with them using an IM mod. choke. Roger C.

 

For me it’s the original Federal Papers. They seem to give me more confidence every time I
Shoot them. My old Model 12 used to love Winchester Super Handicap shells but I Don’t shoot
it anymore for registered.

 

Remington Nitros

 

I think it might be important to have started shooting in the 60's to know what good is (was). I don't remember blooper factory loads ever happening (premium shells too). like today.

 

good point.

blue magics were remade recently. great hull that could be interchanged with aa's reload data of the time.

 

Best for hunting.......Super X. Best for targets........Remington STS.

 

Winchester paper Super Targets, you have to be older then dirt to remember these. I still have a box that came from a case from back when Ned Lily shot for Winchester.

 

red 3 dram AA's for caps

They were good enough for Britt Robinson, they're good enough for me

 

Light handicap? What were the drams equivalent/MV on those? The STS Light Target I prefer are 2 3/4 dr, which is their 1145 fps load. Would a "light handicap" load be about the same MV as a normal STS Target load (about 1235/1250fps)?

 

mudpack, It was a 3 dram load. I do not know what powder was in them. Roger C.

 

Thanks, Roger. I think a 3 dram load w/ 1 1/8oz payload would be a 1200fps target load. Sound about right?

 

Moe is right. Best factory shells seem to be age related. Us older shooters remember fed and win papers being great shells. Some shooters today swear by rios. But then some newer shooters
never shot paper shells.

 

Fed papers for caps. I remember a PA squad of five, not to shabby, 27 yrd line shooters that would go to Leo Cerar’s in April and buy 25 cases (20 box cases) of 3 * 1-1/8 * 7-1/2’s. Shooting 2500-3500 registered caps, and also practice, those 25 cases never lasted until the Tri-State. They always had to buy a few more cases. Leo really liked those 5 guys.

 

Factory Winchester paper super target in 70s and 80s

 

hard to believe all pre 64 winchester m12's were designed around paper hulls. no one even gives it a thought.

 

Federal papers no matter the payload or dram. I've got thousands accumulated for the last 20+ years, been slow to reload. More recent production doesn't have as strong smell as older vintage, I think they made a change in the wax.

 

Federal Champion II

 

What smell is better than the old Fed Papers?

 

F.G. NONE Roger C.

 

The perfume of the first girl you ever kissed,
Fresh Cinnamon rolls in the morning.
Turkey in the oven on Thanksgiving Day.
The new car when you pick it up at the dealers.
Fresh mowed grass of your lawn in the Spring.
The old Hoppe's #9
The swamp on opening day of duck season
Hot coffee in that duck boat.
Your Dad's Old Spice when you were a kid.
The flowers you brought your mom on Mother's Day.
New money
Good whiskey
Your wife or girlfriend when she's cuddled up next to you the "morning after."

But as far as shotgun shells go? NOTHING is better than the the old Fed papers

 

Winchester AA Red 1200 FPS, 1 & 1/8 Ounce 7.5 Shot................Old Style or HS

WL

 

I do not have any particular brand loyalty when it comes to shells. For target shooting, I either purchase whatever is least expensive as I feel most shot shells (even promo shells) will out perform most shooters, or I buy Remington Gun Clubs to get the hulls, as they are the hull I reload the most.

 

B&P softest shooting shells out there and they load just like Federal Papers--Their F2 Mach is a kick ass shell 1 oz @ 1300 FPS

 

Gold Medal paper handicaps in the past. Today it's the AA super handicap.

 

AA all day!

 

If the question is not restricted to trap loads then my vote is Winchester Super Pigeon.

 

lockingblock, How did you come up with that sign on name? Roger C.

 

Personally I liked the Fed Flyers better

 

Silver Bullets!

 

Clever Bol D' Or

 

I like Remington STS as I think they are as good as anything ever made and the Hull is #1 for reloading. Just FYI for 20 years I shot nothing but AA but when they changed there hull I went to Remington. AA and Federal Papers performance was outstanding as well.
I don’t believe any of Remington Federal or Winchester will work and 99% of Shooters will never know difference in performance if buying the Top of the line loads for Handicap.

 

1960-70's Winchester papers

 

Federal Papers were the best. Loved the smell. Haven't shot any new ones, do they have the "smell"?

 

Silver bullets all the way

 

I grew up a Remington fan with Winchester second and Federal third. This is all around - target and hunting loads. Lately, I have gravitated towards Federal with Remington second and Winchester last. Federal has been the leader in innovation (mostly hunting loads I'm talking about) for awhile. They were the first to do Heavyweight 15 g/cc shot and first to do TSS 18g/cc shot. Their flight control wad really works from my experience. Supposedly, their 100 round value packs use better quality (higher antimony/harder) shot than the others. Winchester Universals and their current value pack shells are notoriously more problematic for more people than the other brands. This has hurt their reputation some although AAs are still very good shells. I still shoot all 3 brands but I shoot more Federal than the others these days. I do like Remington hulls for reloading target loads and I have a ton of them already so if shooting factory shells I don't worry about saving them for reloading. I do load some hunting loads in the Federal hulls as one and done loads. Component availability (or lack thereof) and high component prices have led me to shoot more factory shells as of late than I used to.