Found at the Gun Show: Western Super X #7, Chilled 12 Guage

Gun Watch ^ | 16 March, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

This box of unfired Western Super X shotgun shells was found at the last gun show in Yuma.  A friend had it on his table, someone had bought it 50 years or more ago, set it aside, and never used it.  The box has some wear around the edges, but all the printing and color is clear.  The cartridges are just like new.  Just look at the roll crimp.  These cartridges were never loaded into a magazine.

Number 7 shot is not common any more.  It is a useful size shot for everything from ducks to dove, but now you see #6 or #7 1/2, not #7.   I figured that at the price or $5 for the box of these old shells, I could afford to use them for dove hunting.

But something happened when I got them home and started to look at them.  They evoked powerful memories and nostalgic feelings.  These shells were produced when I was a child, at the start of the litigation revolution that has dramatically altered the American social landscape.  They used obsolete technology: paper hulls, fiber wads, a roll crimp.  I love the colorful box with its advertising of all the Western brands.

Notice the safety information printed on the inside flaps.  Items that are a little more than common sense.  Sure, I was taught about these risks, but they are not so obvious to the casual shooter.

Do not mix shotgun shells of different gauges in your pocket; you might drop a smaller gauge down the barrel and then a proper one.  This has happened many times with a 20 gauge shell dropped in front of a 12 gauge.  If the shooter is lucky, a destroyed gun will be the minimum of casualties.

Do not shoot modern ammunition in a Damascus or twist steel barrel.  Damascus barrels can be strong, but they have more points where corrosion can cause structural weakness.  This warning was learned through hard experience as smokeless powder came to supplant the older black powder.

Strong, well made Damascus guns can be used with the proper modern ammunition, but considerable care must be exercised to do it.  The gun should be checked over by someone who understands the problem, and only low pressure loads should be used.

New shells made of plastic, with plastic wads, perform better than the old paper type.  Patterns are tighter and they are more water resistant.  Technology has moved forward.

The Western brand was discontinued in the middle 1960's, replaced by the Winchester/Western label.  I do not know when the roll crimp was discontinued, or when #7 shot stopped being commonly used. 

There were likely hundreds of thousands of boxes of ammunition like this manufactured.  I am not a cartridge collector in an organized way, but the art and manufacture of these items are a tribute to man's ingenuity and American productivity and freedom, all in one package.  The fact that I could casually walk into a show, plop down a $5 bill and walk out with these cartridges, all a completely normal, accepted, and legal activity, tells volumes about American freedom compared to the rest of the world.   I showed no ID.  I feared no informants or secret police.  I openly boast to the world of my purchase without fear of reprisal.

In contrast, one tiny .22 cartridge found on a London street sends all of England into a tizzy of horrified hyperbole.

I should probably shoot these cartridges the next time I go dove hunting.  It would make a good story to hunt 1 year old doves with 50 year old shells.  It is what they were designed and produced for.  Some might say that it is their destiny.  But maybe not. Maybe they were destined to sit on some shelf in a place of honor, a tribute to American exceptionalism, capitalism, freedom, tradition, and common sense.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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[marktwain]

A blast from the past.

[rockrr]

I have a box of cartridges my dad gave me. I can’t bring myself to shoot them. They’ll probably wind up like these did.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You might want to think again about shooting those up.

https://wardscollectibles.com/viewcat.php?category=1

[smokingfrog]

Good heavens, man, don’t you know there’s LEAD in those things! That’s probably what killed the previous owner. /s

[CodeJockey]

No UPC code needed. Sweet.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Forget the UPC... there’s no zip code either!

[smokingfrog]

I didn't know Winchester® made roller skates...

[biff]

I have two boxes of Western 25-35 for my family owned 94 carbine. The ammo dates back to at least 1961, the last time I shot this old rifle, I was 12. The rifle has been in the family since the 1890’s.

The author is right, the old blue and yellow boxes do bring back a streak of nostalgia. I get the classic out of the safe every couple of years, wipe her down, make sure everything is ok and think maybe I should take it to the range. But no, she is retired and telling all her new friends about the good ole days.

[Tijeras_Slim]

They also made flashlights, radiators, and salt shakers.

Winchester tested the durability of their skates by having 16 year old Bob Lawrence skate around the plant one summer, 4 hours a day racking up almost 200 miles. This was because there was no way of easily testing the skates in a lab.

A fascinating book is “Winchester : The Way it Really Was” by Pauline Muerrle, the only woman ever to work in their custom shop and last custom shop engraver.

[smokingfrog]

Blasting caps too.

[Axenolith]

Those are cool. We’ve got some like that from my grandfather (paper) and I’ve got 3 boxes of pre-war brass shell Fiocchi .410 #12 shot and 1 or 2 of paper Remington from a friends father who passed away.

Keepin’ them cool and dry :-)

[Axenolith]

Damn, now that makes me wonder if I should save the rest of my 1918 .303 British ammo. I’ve already gone through about 400 rounds from a case of 1000...

[driftless2]

Nice article, but it's gauge .....not guage.

[backwoods-engineer]

Sweet! Used to shoot #7 for dove myself as a youth.

I love that roll crimp. Old school!

[marktwain]

Thanks for the correction.

[Rio]

Fun to look up the US Patent assigned to Western Cartridge Company, and invented by one John M. Olin. Issued in 1930.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1757584.pdf