GENERAL INFORMATION
(USA Headstamps follow)
Note: Exact shotgun cartridge Identification requires the identification of both the headstamp, primer and the shell case. Many companies, such as Winchester may only place a "Winchester" headstamp on the cartridge base for various models of shot shells which are very different from each other. For example, the "Winchester" only headstamp is used on "Winchester Standard" loads, "Winchester Magnum" loads, "Winchester Duck and Pheasant" loads and various other shells loaded by many different companies follow this same practice with various loadings. Small companies often buy hulls from the larger manufacturers to reload and sell themselves. It is therefore important to note what is written on the shell casing itself (either on the top wad or written on the casing) to aid in the identification of the shell. The color of the plastic or paper hull as well as the case size and the size of the brass rim must also be taken in to consideration for identification purposes. The color, size and type of primer used may also be an indicator of manufacturer or if reloaded. Primer size, color, type and size have changed over the years and can sometimes give an idea to the age of a shell.
The contents of the shell is also of great importance to proper identification. Sometimes the contents are marked, other times not. If you look at the very top of the shell, on most older paper shells, there should be a paper cap that displays the powder and shot type. This may require further inspection and research by the collector to determine just what you have. Shells may be made with black powder or smokeless powder. The casing may be paper, plastic, foil or metal (usually brass, steel or aluminum). The shell may be loaded with a slug or shot (size 0000 all the way up to #12 or dust shot), with the shot being made of either lead, steel, copper, bismuth or tungsten etc.
On some headstamps (especially brass) there may also be an A or a B after the gauge. This is mainly used to represents the shell type or lot by some manufactures, for others it indicates the ability of the shell to be reloaded. For other manufactures, the A or B has represented the powder, whether it is smokeless or not. Also keep in mind, that in some cases, the letter can actually represent an alternate gauge. An example is a 20A UMC shell that has been found to actually be the rarer 18 Gauge shell. The 20A marked hulls exists in greater quantities than in the 18 Gauge. The guess is that UMC used surplus 20 gauge shells to make the experimental 18 gauge shells. Another consideration is that many gauges also have various lengths. There are a lot of variable to shotshells and often the box is the only surefire way to date and truly ID the shell.
Metal detectorists often find shell heads and I am often asked for values on these shells. Unfortunately to cartridge collectors, just the heads of these shells generally have no value. Shells that are collected by collectors need to be shells with the full paper or plastic casing and in good shape by most collectors. Full shells are even more desirable than empty shells.
Gauge can also vary, and are found in include both standard and metric sizes, as well as a "Collath" system of gauges which is entirely different.
| 0 gauge | 1 gauge | 2 gauge | 3 gauge (rarer) |
| 4 gauge | 8 gauge | 10 gauge | 11 gauge (rarer) |
| 12 gauge | 14 gauge | 16 gauge | 18 gauge (rarer) |
| 20 gauge | 24 gauge | 28 gauge | 32 gauge aka 14mm |
| 410 gauge aka 36 gauge aka 12mm | .310 Remington skeet | .360 British | |
| 5mm Wingo | 6mm (CF and Rimfire) | 7mm (CF & RF) | 9mm (CF&RF) |
(Please note: Headstamps may have one or both of the markings listed. EX: A Western Field shotshell may have just "Western" on the brass, while the same type of shell may also be marked "Western Field" on another base). The second name generally represents the brand name or purpose of the shotshell and may be either stamped on the base or written on the cartridge case itself. ** Some US shotshell manufacturers used a steel base instead of brass, during WWII.
(Dates after shells indicate dates of known manufacture. Dates after company name indicates known dates of the company being in business. An * after the shell represents the shell is generally a brass shotshell, but the headstamp may possibly be found on others)
Some photo's supplied by our friends at aussiemetaldetecting.com
A special Thank You to Jim Buchanan, Doug, Pete, Bob Ruebel, Gary, Dan, Mike and George who also provided many pictures for this page.
1951 - 1971 purchased by Fiocchi and S&W
(See more shotshells after the company listings)
Double Eagle (Alcan)
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Alcan Incorporated
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Alcan Basic Alcan
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Alcan Alcan  |
Alcan Italy
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Alcan USA  |
AMERICAN
AMMUNITION Co.
(1910 - 1922)
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Fort Dearborn
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American Jack Rabbit
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AA Red Devil's
Red Devil |
Steel Lined
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Steel Nitro
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Steel Special
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White Powder
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AMERICAN
BUCKLE and CARTRIDGE Co., West Haven, CT
1884-1889, was then
purchased by the Ammunition Manufacturers Association (Winchester and USC Co.)
Metal Hulls
A.B.C No (gauge) Diamond (circa
1885+)
A.B.C No (gauge) Cross, Diamonds (circa 1885+)
some have circles and designs around lettering
A.B.C. Diamonds (circa 1885+)
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A.B.C
A.B.C. Patent 3-85
A.B. &C Co.
(circa 1885+)
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I.X.L No (circa 1888+)
Quick Shot (Circa 1888+)
Special (circa 1888)
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AMERICAN CARTRIDGE and AMMUNITION CO., Kansas City, MO
(1921-late 1930's)
Standard
|
|
American Eagle
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AUSTIN CARTRIDGE Co. Cleveland, OH
(1895 - 1909, then was purchased by Western Cartridge Co.)
Austin CT'GE Company
AC Co., Advance
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AC Co., Alert
AC Co., Bang
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AC Co., Crackshot
A.C Co., Flash
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AC Co., Reliance
A.C Co., Winner
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BROWNING USA
CLINTON
CARTRIDGE COMPANY
(1904 to 1930's, owned
and operated by Sears Roebuck, shells usually made by Federal)
C.C Co., Pointer
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C.C Co. Mallard
C.C Co. (on top) Mallard
|
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C.C Co. Star
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(1860 - 1888)
| D in a diamond
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D.C Co. Wil Del |
X |
ST
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FEDERAL
CARTRIDGE COMPANY
(1922 to present.
Prior to 1922 was called Federal Cartridge and Machine Co. with same Federal
Headstamps) Currently owned by ATK (along with Speer, Estate, RCBS, Weaver etc)
Duck Symbol Made in USA
also 20 gauge |
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Made in USA (2010's-2020's)
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Federal Bottom (2010's-2020's)
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Federal Gold Medal |
Federal Hi Power
circa 1918 to 1950's
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Federal Monark Circa 1950's to mid 1960's
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Federal
FC
|
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Federal Steel
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Federal Tungsten Circa 2010's
Federal Industrial
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(1929 -)
Gambles S&G
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Gambles, Tiger 1930's-1960's
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Hiawatha Airway
1950's+
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  |
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George E Hart & Co, Newark, NJ
Circa 1869 - late 1870's
E.Geo E Hart Patd.
Sep 23. 73 Newark, NJ* 
*Star* Pat'd Dec 7 1869
Excelsior Patent Nov 9 75*  
|
Standard Nov
9. 75
Patented Sep 13 1873* 
Pat and various forms of the word "PAT" often with just PAT or PAT and gauge
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Hart's (Patented date)* (George E Hart, company listed to the left)
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HERTERS
(1959 -present,
although now the Company name is being used by Cabela's, it is not the same as
the original company with headstamps shown on the far right.
Herters, Herters
.410/36mm (appears to be made by Fiocchi) above photo by Matt of the IAA |
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Herters Pat
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MONTGOMERY WARDS
(Hawthorne, Redhead)
Link to Pictures of Wards Headstamps
(1887 to 1934, combined with Remington in 1934)
Link to Pictures of Peters Headstamps
(E Remington: 1870-1890. Remington 1890-1911 then Combined with UMC to form
REM-UMC from 1911-1934. 1934 Dupont buys out Rem-UMC & Peters to form Remington Arms Co. Remington went bankrupt in 2020 and the name was purchased by Vista Outdoors, ATK's ammunition company line which owns Federal, Blazer, Speer, CCi, Estate cartridge Co., Hevi-Shot, RCBS and others )
(Later Robin Hood Arms Co.)
(1887 to 1916)
Link to
Pictures
of RHA Headstamps
Link to
Pictures of Sears Headstamps
1867-1911. Combined with Remington to form REM-UMC from 1911-1934. 1934 bought out by Dupont to from Remington Arms Co.
Headstamps may have periods in between letters.)
Link to Pictures of UMC Headstamps
(1864 to 1926, then purchased by Winchester Western)
(Headstamps may have periods in between letters.)
Link to Pictures of USC Co. Headstamps
WANDA CARTRIDGES
1965 - 1972
Marked "Wanda" in
either Red, Blue, Green or Yellow plastic casings.
(red & Blue
are 12 gauge, Yellow and Green are 20 gauge)
WESTERN AUTO
(1955 to ?)
WESTERN CARTRIDGE COMPANY
(1898 to 1932. In 1932
Western purchased WRA Co. to form Winchester Western which lasted until
1944. In 1944 Olin Industries re-organized the company in to Winchester Western
Division of the Olin Industries)
Link to Pictures of Western Headstamps
(formerly New Haven Arms from 1860 to 1866. From 1866 to 1932 operated as The Winchester Repeating Arms Company until it was purchased by Western in 1932. In 1932 became Winchester Western which lasted until 1944. In 1944 Olin Industries re-organized the company in to Winchester Western Division of the Olin Industries)
in brackets is the company name who makes the shell,
a "?" denotes that I can not find who the actual maker is.
* = mainly all brass shells
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AAI (Teargas)
Acme (Acme GI
Company)*
A.C Hobbs, Bridgeport, CT (patent date)*
Circa 1876+,
10ga - 20 ga shown
Activ
(Activ Industries 1985-)
Many made in
Argentina as well.
Adams
4
8
AF & Co New York (Abercrombie & Fitch Co)
A.H Fox (snap caps)
Alaskan Cartridge 12 Ga - A.L Howard or Standard (A.L Howard Company)*
1877-1884
Made by WRA Co for them.
They also made
headstamps reading as "Standard".
ALH (A.L Howard) (Circa late 1870's)
A. Littoward
Allen's Pat (Ethan Allen 1860-1872)*
Am.C & A Co.
American Standard (Cussins & Fern Co. Circa 1929/1930) No 12
Amer.Rock
Express
A-Zoom (Snap Caps)
Baker & Co.
(W. H Baker & Co. 1870-1888)*
Baker Steel Cone*
Bailey Gas-Leak
Proof (Charles A Bailey)
Circa 1902
Ballistic Tools Inc.
Best (Best Cartridge Company, Cromwell, CT) 1890's
of obsolete cartridges
Bismuth Cartridge Co. (ones with dashes in are generic cases made by a generic hull maker)
Blue Chest No 12 (Chicago Shot Tower Co. circa 1895) -
Blatchford Cartridge (Blatchford Cartridge Works, Chicago, IL. circa 1888-early 1990's) No 10 or No 12
Blue Rival
Boss Circa 1882/1883
Boss (New Company, not the
same as above)
BRI (Ballistic
Research Industries, Ca.)
Buffalo (Tryon-Supple)
C.A Bogardus
Champion
(Blachford
Cartridge Works
cases by WRA Co.
C.A
Co. (Chicago Arms Co.) 1880
-1915
owned by Meridian Firearms Comp
12 Ga. Black Powder. Pat Pending
C.A.I
Carlsbad Ammo Co.
(Carlsbad
Ammunition Inc.,
Sacramento, CA)
Cassady (Bridgeport Brass Co.) 1882-1894*
Cassidy (Bridgeport Brass Co.) 1882-1894*
Catron (Catron, Carmel, CA)
C.C.C Mandan
(Creedmore Cartridge Co.)1890 - 1892, sold to the Ammunition Manufacturers
Association.
12 ga shell pic
by:
Bradley Bergholtz
C.C.C
No 12
-
C.C C.O
See Kansas City Grouping
C.C & T Co (Chamberlain Cartridge
and Target
Co.) 1883
- 1932,
purchased by Remington*
C.D Leet or C.D.L
Springfield Mass
(Same name)
(1872-1877)
C.F.C Co. (C.F
Cook Co.)
No 12
photo by Henry Eichman
Champ USA
Charles Daly
Club
Colt Industries
Conical Base, St
Louis
Dead Shot (No
info)
Delmard Patent*
Dircks - Beath
Ammo Co
Double
Eagle
Dri Bore Snap Caps
Eclipse (Eclipse Cartridge Co.) All Plastic.1980-1985,
sold to CAVIM, Venezuela.
Also made some brass shells
apparently.
Eclipse* (Unknown)
E.C Meacham, & Co., St. Louis, Mo.
circa 1884+
E. Hart Patd.*
Sep 23 73 Newark,
N.J
(See Geo Hart in
top section)
Estate Cartridge
(Estate Cartridge Co.)
modern.
Eureka
(California Powder Works)
1861 - ?*
|
Everlasting (Ideal?)
Excelsior "patent date" (See Geo Hart in top section)*
Frankford Arsenal (Forager shell. Observed with many different dates). Month, year and Gauge.
F.D & Co. (F
Draper & Co.)*
F E. Boyd Co. (1860's)* Shotgun Makers: F.E Boyd & P.S Tyler. (reported to exist) -
Fiocchi USA
(Fiocchi USA Division) GF (Fiocchi)
Fisher (see HB Fisher)
Fort Dearborn (See American Ammunition in first section)
Fowler Plating Co., New Haven, CT 1885 - ?**
Frankels Rapid Smokeless
G&H Omaha
GPS Premium (snap cap)
Gun Exchange (Modern Snap Caps)
Harts Pat (See George Hart in First Section)
H.B Fisher (Same as name)
photo by Henry Eichman
Henry Industrial
H.S.B & Co. (Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett) 1880's+ Used Peters shells exclusively.
H. Sears & Co. * Circa 1881/1882
Hevi Shot (Modern)
HORNADY (Hornady Manufacturing)
Henry Squires, NY, NY Circa 1892
Hodgdon (1946-1996)*
Holiday (Holiday Stores) 1971 - 1975 Holiday Shotshells. Headstamped first using Alcan USA markings then by CIL Canada. - Hoppes (Penguin Industries) Plastic dummy. -
Hunter Arms Co., Fulton, NY Circa 1878-1880
I.C C.O (See Kansas City Grouping)
Ideal (Hibbard, Spencer and Bartlett).
Used Peters shells
exclusively.
I.F.S Co. (International Flare Signal Co.)
(Flare Cartridge)
Imperial USA
Interarms USA (1972-1980)
INDEPENDENT CARTRIDGE Co.
(See Kansas City Grouping) (1910 - 1913)
J.P. Plower & Son, Denver, Co. Circa 1885+. Made 10 and 12 gauge.*
Kansas City Grouping (Sherman Brothers), Kansas City, MO . Circa 1910's
K & Co (Unknown)*
K.C & Co. (Kelsey Cartridge Co.)
1884 - ? *
Kelsey Pat.Apd for (Kelsey Cartridge Co., New Haven, CT)
1884 - ?*
Kent ( Kent Cartridge Co., WV)
Kevin's USA
Keystone (Keystone Ammunition Co. Philadelphia, PA. circa 1879 - ?)* Made by WRA Co for them.
Krider Phila Eley (John Krider)1845-1916 Both Krider and L.C Siner were on same corner of street in Philadelphia and operated at roughly the same time.
LC (Lake City
Ammunition)
L.C Smith (Hunter Arms Company: See further above), Fulton, NY (circa 1877+)*
L.C Siner & Co. (same name) 1845-1916 -
L.D.F No. (Liberty Display Fireworks Co.) Flare Cartridges
Liberty Bulk, (Liberty Cartridge Co. Alexandria, VA.)
1908 - 1917 equipment
purchased by Federal
Liddle & Keading, San Franciso, CA. * 10A or No 10. Circa 1879-1880'S
Lightfield (Lightfield, NJ)
Lil Magnum (Big Horn Arms)
LM or LM Co. (Elm City Manufacturing Co.)* Circa late 1880's
Part of USC Co. Circa 1880-1882 Lowell Extra No 10 or No 12
Lowell First Qual
Mercury, New Trap Mercury, Victoria (?) Mercury (?) -
Meyers Bros. (Meyers Brothers, Minnesota). I have only seen components, not shotshells. But has been reported to exist. -
Meridian Firearms Co. 1904 -? (made shells for Sears in the early days of Sears shotshells
MH Inc (cases by NOC, Italy)
Micro Hunter
Mini Shell by Sportco Ammo Corp, Minnesota
Moran (Moran Electric)
Nimrod, made by Alcan and WRA for White Stores.
Noramco (Northwest Cartridge Co.)
Norwestern (Northwest Cartridge Co.)
1956-1957
N.Y.C gauge (A.L Howard) or N.Y Club circa 18 80's*
Oath
OLIN Corporation (purchased Winchester Western in
1944 but rarely used the name on
headstamps)
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OLYMPIA Cartridges (Olympia, OR) -
Orion, Indiana. Flares
OWS (Old Western Scrounger) 1980-1990's
Pac Meteor
Pacific Tool Company. Later merged in with Hornady.
Pachmayr (Snap Cap)
Paragon (Paragon Shell Reloading Co.) Re-loaded shell so doubt they had their own headstamp.
Parker Bros West Meriden (some just say Meridian, some West Meridian and some W. Weridian, CT) . same as name* (1876 - 1934) Purchased by Dupont
(Rem-UMC)
PC
Flare Cartridge
Penguin (Penguin Industries
{Flares, teargas
and Twinshot})
Phoenix 20 20 or 12 12 AA Super -
Phoenix 12 12 AA Extra -
Phoenix 12 12 AA Target -
PMC
RAS (Robert A Smith. Dayton Renew Tool Company, Huber Heights, OH, USA.). Snap Caps
Roberson Cartridge Company (circa 2020's)
R.C.C 16 16 League -
Red Star ?
Reynolds Metal Co, Southfield, MI Circa 1960's
R ochester Fireworks. (RF)
Flare Cartridge
San Francisco Gun Exchange (snap caps)
Savage Superior (Montgomery Wards Savage Factories Inc. Minneapolis, MN) Circa 1917+
SC (Carlson's Snap Caps)
SOUTHERN
CARTRIDGE CO (Savannah, GA)
S.I.C.CO (Se Kansas City Grouping)
(1910 - 1913)
Strong
Shell &
Cartridge Co
(New Haven, CT)
SOUTHERN CARTRIDGE CO (Houston, TX) 1923 - 1929 shells only made from 1923-1924. Was then purchased by Western cartridge Company.
SO. C. Co Retriever
Schaefer (William R Schaefer & Son, Boston, MA) Circa 1875/1876
SELBY (Selby Smelting & Lead Co.) 1865 - ?
S.G (S.G Brown Co.)*
S.I.C Co. Star or Rocket
(Sportsman
International Cartridge Co.)
Smiths (Smiths Graphite Cartridge Co.) 1916 - ? -
Squires (See Henry G. Squires more more samples)
Standard (See A.L Howard)*
Standard Type Champion Nat (?)
Standard with a patent date (See Geo Hart further above)
Standard Shell & Cartridge Co (circa 1924)
Star (Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.) Superior Mogul or Superior Guaranteed
(Made by Peters
Cartridge Co. circa 1933-1938)
See American Ammunition in first section
Stoeger New York (Stoeger Arms Co.) Modern -
St Louis Patent Shell Company (See Williams)
Sultan Patent 1885*
S&W-F
(Smith & Wesson)
Taylor Arms, Chicago, IL. circa 1883/1884*
Triumph Explosives Inc, Elkton, MD TEI
Flare cartridge.
Traditions (Snap Cap)
Tri-Test
USA stars (Herter's by Cabela's)
Vawter
Inc. (Vawter Inc)
VFM (Flare cartridge)
V.L & A, Chicago (Von Lengerke & Antoine)
circa 1891+ United Fireworks Mfg Co, Dayton, OH) UF
WW2 Flare Cartridges
V.L & D = Von Lengerke & Detmold, NY, NY (Circa 1897+) V.L &D Lightning (WRA Co)
V.L &D Lightning (Kynoch, UK)
V.L &D Nitro (UMC Co)
V.L &D UMC Co
White Powder No.
(Fred Biffar & Co.)
(reported. White Powder is a shotgun manufacturer) -
Whitney
St Louis Patent Shell Company Circa 1875/1876
Wood New York (Waterbury Brass Co.) Circa 1879-1880's
Made by ICI England for Scott Powder, USA
SWAN
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Shotgun 6 Africa, Asia & Middle East
Shotgun 7 Central & South America, Oceania & Unknowns
Shotgun 8 Russia & Eastern Europe
Curtis
Steinhauer
www.cartridge-corner.com