Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Paper shot shells

Love the smell of them last box was Federal 9's

My dad loaded them when I was a kid. Always had boxes on the shelf.

Lots of blackbirds met their maker in those days.

The last one I fired was a factory Winchester loaded with #5s from an Iver Johnson Companion single shot. It was the last rooster of the season.

I have an assortment of papers from 2.5" 410 to 2 7/8" 10 ga. I just found two 3" 20 ga papers I didn't know I had. Those in not the greatest of shape I take out in the old guns, the others get traded to a collector I know.

I have several hundred Federal papers that I use for field loads, I use them in the semiautos as I hate leaving plastic hulls in the field.

Never noticed much.


Grandpa left me a box of Remingtons that had a weird material to seal the crimp.


Like a putty or something.

The smell of paper shotgun shells and Hoppies #9 will never leave my head.

I think what you guys were smelling was the powder....

i loaded them with black powder when I could find them because they didn't melt from the fire like the plastic hulls so you could load them more than once.

Remington has brought them back, for how long I don't know.

Same here...l still use Hoppes and I have some paper shells in 12,16 and 20ga might have to shoot some and refresh my memory

Actually they're branded Peters, not Remington and in blue paper hulls. Years ago I had multiple boxes of Peters 20 gauge shells from the 1950s. Shot up a box on our trap range one morning and riled up a guy who collects old ammo, when he saw the empty hulls in the grass.

Got all the ammo, when I bought all the firearms from an old boy back in the 1980s. Still have a box of his Winchester 12ga paper shells.

I used to use Federal paper skeet and trap loads. You could reload them once usually before you got pin holes around the brass.

I bought 400 once-fired Federal paper hulls last year. I like them for grouse and ptarmigan.

I’ve found some paper 20 ga hulls that I load up and shoot partly for the just fired fragrance. Some of the older ones are red winchesters and green Remingtons. The federals are yellow.

I inherited an Ithaca (New Improved Double circa 1926) from my wife's grandfather and I had it redone by Diamond Gunsmithing out of New York. Lovely double gun. Used it on a bird hunt with Pugs and Hatari and of course with paper shells... Like some of you mentioned, "great smell"

Nice pics Jorge.

Federal paper hulls loaded with Unique powder duplicate that old school ammo fragrance.

I started shooting mid 60's when they were just starting to switch, so have a few odds and ends left. I have a full box of Rem 12 ga 6 2 5/8 and about 40 mixed 16 ga 2 1/2 1 buck have fired a few and all went off.
They sure do smell good.

I've got a few paper hull rounds laying g on my loading bench. One slug, some buckshot and a few bird loads. The bird loads had* the little sticker on the crimp with the load info. No idea what size shot is in them.

Code word: "HAD"! The remnants of the sticker is there.

Loved those old Peters shells. They were the best. My grampa called them Peters "Blue Whistlers".
Remember the mallard drake on the front of the box?

My Father would check me out of school on occasion if he had a big dove hunt lined up. He always used the Peters “Pigeon Load”, 2 3/4” shells with 3 1/4 Dr Equiv. 1 1/4 oz of 7 1/2s if he could. Loved that smell and I’d pick them up after ejection from his Rem Sportsman 58.

Old shotguns especially doubles were bored for card and fiber wadding. The plastic wad probably won’t give as good of patterns. Might not be good for the forcing cone.

i still have some old punkin balls and buckshot in paper shells. not sure of the brand. i think maybe monkey wards or western auto or one of them long gone stores. i'll never shoot them. they're up on a shelf at camp along with an assortment of other ammo from the 60's and 70's.