Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Old 16 gauge shells

Picked up a 1959 Winchester model 12 in 16 gauge today from a local gentleman. Said he was getting out of the 16s , didn't hunt much and wanted to know if I wanted the remaining 16 gauge ammo. I think some of it is older than the model 12. Mix of paper , mix of shot sizes but pretty cool ammo . This wasn't all of it. There was about 150 rounds total, just a selection of what was in the box .

Hey troutnut, nice score the green ammo will go off and probably the plastic ww stuff and feds but the paper ww stuff is just for looking at. Mb

I doubt I shoot any of it unless things really get bad. Put a few on the shelf to look at and give a few away to friends who collect. The old paper hulls do have a nice scent when fired though.

Doesn't look like it was used much...Nice pick-up!!!!

Lucky you! I am not much of a bird hunter but a model 12 in 16 gauge is on my list of guns to look out for.

Honestly probably my favorite all around shotgun. 16 takes care of 85% of what I need in a shotgun. I've got a couple but I can't pass them up when the price is right. Model 12s in 16 are built on the smaller frame and just feel right.

No it wasn't. Thank you

Some will try and tell you different, but a better 16 Gauge pump action has yet to be made. Although they could perhaps did a better placement of the safety on the trigger.

No argument here.

I've shot examples of all those pictured, currently have a couple each of the Remington and Winchester papers on the window ledge waiting for use in my grandfather's Iver Johnson single shot. I use these for pheasants out back while checking fences when the season is open and for various pests during the rest of the year. The plastic Remington's are from the 1970s based on the appearance of the plastic, the type of lettering, and the Power Piston wad vehicle can be seen through the plastic. I continue to load my empties for use on preserve pheasants but I am down to under 400 *57 primers so there isn't much time left for them. The red plastic Winchesters are compression formed and are the gold standard for 16 ga hulls. If you have many of them it may be worthwhile to offer them for sale, some people will pay pretty decent money for them.

Good grab, Tommy!

My dad bought a case of old paper 16s at an estate sale for $5 a few years ago. I loaned him an Ithaca 37 and he finished shooting them all up last dove season. Every one of them went off and he killed a bunch of birds with them.

Cough….37…..cough….side-eye….cough

( I did just buy Model 12 16 from 1923 2 weeks ago though, and like it just fine)

I’ve been waiting….😀

I think the 37’s are fine also. Had a 16 Featherweight that I traded for a friend to do some Dog training. Currently have one of their 28 gauges….and it works as well as the two Model 12-16’s.

I still turkey hunt with some of those red hull Westerns I got from my Dad. Work fine. I send pics of dead birds and the shell to my cousins who think only TSS can kill birds

I'm sure they'd work on turkeys. I've got quite a few of those. They throw a nice pattern in several model 12s and 870s

Those red paper super x's are usually the ones that fail for me. I have a decent old shell collection. Using them on patterning with.my old guns is what I enjoy the most about them. They give me insight on the performance levels they had back then in same age guns. Older m12, m11, A-5's, m37,870's, m97 and dbl.guns are usually tight choked. So it is kinda neat to see how the.patterns compare and what can be done using the old wadding vs mod plastics. Mb

WOW! What a find!
First, I'd sort out the paper shells and set them back. They're collectible to me! Not that they won't fire, but they're just a handsome reminder of times gone by!

I started a job in early 1988. There was a two week paid training period prior to actually going on shift.
One of thevtrainers was from Georgia and a garage sale geek. Talking on day on break, I said something about being a 16 gauge nut!
"Would you like some ammo?", he asked!
"Heck yeah!" I replied.
The next day, he brought me one of those small bathroom sized trash cans about half full of 16 gauge ammo! 😃!
He said he had bought a chest of drawers at a garage sale and the ammo was in one of the drawers.
It was a mixture of field load #8's and high brass #7.5's.
The stuff HAD to be at least ten years old.
In 2018 (30 years later!), I had refurbished a Win M12 16 gauge and wanted to kill a turkey with it.
I dug through the ammo and came up with 10 of the Hi-Brass #7.5's.
They, well, at least one of them, worked just fine!

Those older ones when they said full choke it's usually really full. I've got an early 870 in 12 that would compare to a lot of today's turkey chokes. Older guy I got it from won quite a few card shoots with it.

Yeah I'll probably use the plastic hulls eventually but I won't shoot the paper. Got a few friends who collect and I've got a small collection myself. Neat to look at and see how things have changed