Keith the Federal purple shells are usually 16 gauge while the 12 gauge promotional loads are maroon and some of the higher end target loads are maroon, gold or silver. Yes Federal hulls are great for reloading and the paper base wad should not be feared unless they become brittle form age or water soaked. I have gotten as many as six reloading from Federal 16 gauge hulls without any signs of splitting or base wad separation, however, after 6 reloads I start check the bore for any base wads that may have come loose after each shot on all of my reloads. Several years ago in response to a dust up on another forum over the quality of Federal shells I contacted the Ballisticians at Federal and inquired if they had ever had any damage reported due to a dislodged base wad and while affirming that shells that had been water soaked should not be re-loaded they had never received any customer feedback pertaining to dislodged base wads causing damage to guns
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