Winchester REPEATER
 

Wonder what these shells were for?

Attachment 100539

Attachment 100540

Attachment 100541

None of the Winchester catalogs I have from the years the New No. 4 Primer was in use show any 12-gauge load lighter than 2 1/2 drams, 1 ounce.

Wow, early woodcock loads… maybe?

Or snipe?





.

My guess is they were railbird loads. I have an empty Western 'Xpert' case marked 2-2-10 which the bona fide East Coast Collectors Association gurus assured me were "put up" for card shooting at turkey shoots. Also advised me that they were very popular in dispatching pigeons and rats inside barns and outbuildings, since the very low velocity didn't tear much up indoors. With 2 oz. of shot they sound like loud farts when detonated.

I also have a full box of Winchester 'Ranger" loads on what I consider the other far end of the spectrum at 3 1/4 - 1 1/4 - 10 shot!!

The reason I say railbird loads is that rail are very fragile birds shot usually at very close range; you don't need a heavy shot charge. As my dear departed mentor in railbird hunting Gerry Parsons used to say, "No choke is too open and no shot size is too small!"

We routinely shot them with wide open-bored 28 gauges using anywhere from 5/8 to 3/4 oz. of shot and, on several occasions, shot them with .410s using skeet loads with the standard 2 1/2" shell with 1/2 oz. of shot.

As Dean points out, you could use them for snipe and woodcock but there I suspect there you would want a little more horsepower (especially for snipe) and a heavier shot charge at longer ranges.

there was a time when ornithologists used very light loads of fine shot to "acquire' specimens of birds - even song birds - for museum taxidermy displays

as said above, they would not tear up the subject
'

these are some weird loads....but I like the unusal....charlie

Thanks, Dave.