what brand of shotgun shells have you used mostly..

S

Slugo

Moderator
speaking more of target loads than field ammo. Fun just to see! For myself it would be the following:

- Federal 75%
- Remington 20%
- Estate, Winchester, Fiocchi, etc. 5%
 
Near 100% of my shooting has been done using my own reloads using Remington Gun Club hulls.

I cant remember the last time I picked up a box of shells.
 
Duck:

Federal Ultra Shok 100%

Target:

Federal Gold Medal 75%(soon to be 0%)
Federal Top Gun 15%(soon to be 100%)
Remington STS/Nitro 10%(soon to be 0%)
 
Target loads are mostly Federal.

Small game hunting is usually Remington.

Although I used Remington Sluggers for many years with no problem in my smoothbore for deer hunting, a couple years ago I switched to Brenneke K.O.'s as I found they produced a bit better, consistent accuracy in that particular shotgun.
 
I thought this would be easy then I looked at my inventory and realized a lot of what I shoot is no longer in my inventory and some parts of my inventory have lots more shells in them than other parts so brands listed don't necessarily reflect what I have the most of.

Remington Premium
Remington Express
Remington Turkey
Remington Game
Remington Hi Vel
Remington
Federal Premium
Federal Game
Federal
Winchester Game
Winchester Expert
Winchester
Fiocchi Field
Golden Bear
Brenneke
Express
Hornady
Estate Hi-Vel
Activ

The bare bones truth is I am not brand fussy and while I have every size shot and a goodly supply of slugs in every gauge from .410 to 10 gauge I have favorite shot sizes but no favorite brands. If I was a wing shooter or trap and sleet shooter I'm sure that would change but deer, rabbits and turkey aren't as critical from my point of view as somebody shooting at a feathered rocket bursting from under their feet.

Now that I have just bought a reloading set up for my 10 gauge and my .410 my brand choices may become even less important as I mix and match my own loads to gun and purpose.
 
In 12ga and 20ga ....

I've shot a few flats of B&P ...nothing special about them. About the only time I bought them / was when I flew somewhere...and that was the premium load they had for sale, so I'd buy a flat. I never kept the hulls or reloaded them when I traveled. One of the kids pulling targets was usually happy to have them ..and policed them up.
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For the last 20 yrs or so ....
For tournaments I shoot almost exclusively Rem STS or Rem Nitro shells...usually new, if its a big tournament. I still keep 5 or 6 flats of new shells around ...

For my own reloads ...for practice ...its 100% Rem STS / Nitro as well.

Once in a while, if I'm shooting a semi-auto ---( like in the rain ) and I want to shoot a throw away shell, I'll shoot a box of Rio's sporting clays loads.
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From the 70's thru the early 90's I shot exclusively Win AA's - new and in my own reloads. When I got back into shooting ..especially into sporting clays in the 90's I switched everything to Rem STS / Nitro hulls on my reloads...so that's what I bought for new flats as well.
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I find Estate is a really dirty shell...so I avoid those unless I travel and that's all I can get. I was never a Federal fan ...or Fiocchi ...
 
In 28ga and .410's ....

I have 8 or 10 flats of new shells...Rem STS ...for each ..../ and right now I'm reloading them for each as well....and they're ok in .410's ....

28ga ...Rem STS hulls ..have Issues !!
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I'm very unhappy with the durability of the 28ga Rem STS hulls ( way too many of them - the plastic extrusion is breaking off inside the brass cup ) as the shell is fired...sometimes on the first factory firing, sometimes on 1st or 2nd reload....and once in a while the hull will stick in the barrel ..well into the forcing cone ( making it possible to load a 2nd shell...and fire it behind a blocked chamber...) ....:eek::eek: I've fired them on a skeet field ( only in my O/U's --- its way too risky to shoot them in a pump gun or semi-auto in my opinion )....and when I've fired them in my 28ga O/U ...I've had the target break normally ...and the hull fracture and remain inside the gun.

Its a pretty serious issue...and while its been reported in some of the shotgun magazines...starting about 3 yrs ago ...and pretty well know among skeet reloaders...I'm not sure its widely known.

I would not let any of my grandkids shoot a 28ga Rem STS shell ...even new factory shells....in a pump gun or a semi-auto ...( targets might break normally, shell sounds fine ...and that hull when the cup was extracted ..might still be in the chamber ( maybe the pump or semi-auto would jam ....and maybe not / which really worries me ) ...so in the 28ga, the only gun I trust for the kids to fire is my Browning O/U.
 
anybody ever use B&P? I never did, just asking.
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Yes , as well as Fiocchi - but not on a regular basis - B&P makes some nice ammo, but I really CAN'T tell the difference - and therefore justify the price difference - between them and others. Fiocchi makes some nice ammo, especially their Rhino and Crusher lines
 
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I use mostly Winchester as thats what I have.
I bought out three local K-Mart stores arund me when they discontinued ammo sales about 10 years ago. I think I ended up with about 700 boxes with about 80% of them being the 7 1/2 Field Load. At $0.99 per box I couldn't pass.
 
I can also remember, back in the mid 90's I used to shoot Winchester DoubleAA's and Federal Papers!! Dem were da days... ;)
 
I'm too young to remember paper hulls....:D

(no, you can't make me remember....) I won't do it ....

...../ unless you offer me a cupcake ...and then I'll do most anything ..since I'm still on this diet of "if it tastes good, spit it out " ....
 
I have used mostly Federal but have also used Remington and some Winchesters.

Federal Top Gun
Federal Speed Shok
Federal Field and Range
Remington Gun Clubs
Winchester AA
 
any one remember the old peters paper shells
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Picked up a few hundred rounds at an estate auction about 10 years ago. They got put away and not found again till last summer when I shot them up. One had a funny little sound but worked well on my target, all the rest worked as well as any other shell. They were high velocity loads and didn't look all that old so I assumed they were the ones made by Remington under the Peters name.

I have most of a box of Western Field loads too but those aren't going to get shot. They came in a box along with a miscellaneous collection of centerfire cartridges and a pair of WWII vintage binoculars.
 
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