What happened to shotgun shells?

[T.R.]

When I was a kid in the 1960's, shotgun shells were color coded to prevent accidents.

12 gauge - RED

16 gauge - PURPLE

20 gauge - YELLOW

Heavy cardboard hulls were most common but plastic soon took over the market.

In error, I recently fired a black 16 gauge shell in a 12 gauge. I don't fault anyone but myself for this goof. Thankfully, all that occurred was a split shell at the lower case. But this mistake would never have occurred if 12 gauge shells were always RED and NEVER black.

Hornady sabot slugs have black cases.

When was color coding tossed out?

TR

 

[reckless carolinian]

All the Remington shells I have here are green, both #4 bird and 00 buck. All the Remington shells I have had have always been green. As far as I can recall, Remington shells have always been green. All others have always been red. (solely relating to 12 ga.)

 

[oneounceload]

20 gauge is yellow by everyone via an understanding.

Even back in the old days, Remington 12 was green and Winchester was red.

I'd like to see a color uniformity for 28 as well 16, but the real danger is still a 20 in a 12 gauge.

Different colors equate to different "branding" to establish marketing strategies

 

[PJR]

There never really was a colour coding. I've seen various coloured 12 gauge shells that go back well before the 60s.

The Sporting Arms and Ammunication Manfacturers' Insititute (SAAMI) has agreed that 20 gauge is yellow to prevent a 12/20 burst but is only for America. In Europe not all 20 gauge is yellow.

 

[EMC45]

I see plenty of black Remington hulls. Been seeing them since the early 80s.

 

[juk]

Can't speak for the others, but for 12ga I have seen black, red, green, clear, brown and gray and a bunch of weird earth-tones for the special loads (Hevi-metal, bismuth, etc). Shot some black hull remington just yesterday.

 

[50caliber123]

I have heard of clear plastic 20 ga which looks an awful lot like the brenneke 12 ga, only slightly smaller dimensions. I rely on the yellow for 20ga for identification.

 

[cougar1717]

With the exception of the yellow 20ga hull, the color is part of the branding now. Off the top of my head: Fiocchi's are purple, Nobel sport is orange, Rem is green, Rio is blue, Federals are red, Win is red or gray. A lot of specialty loads have the black hulls - like slugs, turkey loads, etc. I'm sure I've missed some, but the point is that we all have to make sure the gauges are separated or read the headstamp before we load them into the gun.

 

[JNewell]

I think you're incompletely remembering I was a kid in the 60s, too, and I remember tons of green Remington 12 ga hulls washing up on the shore in the fall back then.

20 ga is still yellow AFAIK - at least all the 20 ga I've bought is yellow.

 

[JohnBT]

"What happened to shotgun shells?"

They started making them out of plastic. They smell funny.

 

[RSVP2RIP]

The head stamp has never changed. You can't always tell the difference between a .270 and a .280 just by casual glance, but you will notice a difference when you look at the headstamp. I have several 16 guage shells that are red, green and purple. I've also seen 12 and 20 shells that are clear. You have to look up its skirt to tell what it is.

 

[JimKirk]

I have some RED 20 GA Win AA Hulls... I never looked to see what load was in them.

Jimmy K

 

[MCgunner]

My 12s are either green or red. My 20s are all yellow. What's the problem? 16, I have one of those collecting dust....