A friend has a few garbage cans full of AA red and AA gray hulls. These are the dark gray type. Are the darker gray hulls made of the same plastic? Which ones do I pick as I plan to buy a can or 2?
Since you mentioned the Hcp hulls are the dark gray kind, I believe that would make them the Win. HS hull. Assuming that the red hulls are also the HS type (not the old compression formed type) it is my understanding that the only difference between them is color. I load both the red and dark gray hulls and haven't noticed any difference in the plastic. I reload my Hcp shells in gray hulls and singles/doubles in the red ones so I always know at a glance what type of reload it is. Life is too short, buy both colors and have fun!
In my opinion the gray hull is better and will give you a few more reloads than the red. If you are reloading for an auto, pay attention to getting a good crimp or you may be plagued with cycling problems. Using the proper wad helps with the crimp. Eddie
Make sure they are the HS hulls. The first two piece ones they made had softer plastic and had a lot of issues with wrinkles. The newer HS hulls load almost as good as Rem.
In my experience, they seem to load the same. I think Winchester made the grey shells so handicap and sporting shooters look cooler