8-gauge Ammunition

[Craig Larter]

I believe in loaded shells Leader=Winchester, Arrow= UMC, UMC/Remington and Remington/Dupont, Trap=UMC, Pointer=Sears (I have never seen a picture of a 8ga Pointer box)

"Sears Roebuck catalogs 115 and 118 of the 1905-1910 period list smokeless loaded 8 gauge shotshells for sale. Pointer brand 8 gauge ammo manufactured by the Meriden Fire Arms Company is listed as Catalog item nos: 6T1924 and 6L1924. Both loads were listed as 5 1/2 Dram eq. 1 3/4 oz. of BB size shot only. I thought several points listed in the catalogs were interesting. Sears claimed they repeatedly tested their shotshells with electrical chronographs and that their black powder shells were loaded to average 960 feet per second while their smokeless shells were loaded to average 1050 fps. The 8 gauge brass BP shells they sold were 3" while the bulk smokeless paper 8 gauge shells were 3 1/4". The Pointer shells used a bulk smokeless powder called Triumph that was imported from England and which they claimed was superior to any American made smokeless powder and "There is no acid in Triumph to eat your gun barrel or to create an enormous breech pressure which is apt to endanger your life." Ten, twelve and sixteen gauge Pointer shells were were listed as being loaded with smokeless powder while the eight gauge Pointers were Hand Loaded with smokeless powder. The prices of boxes of 25 shells for 12, 10, and 8 gauge shells were $0.50, $0.55, and $1.37 respectively."

[Researcher]

Did Winchester load 8’s in the Nublack or Repeater varieties ?

Not that I know of. The 8-gauge was probably not a big enough seller for the companies to offer it in a variety of shell cases. It appears they just loaded both black and smokeless powders in their LEADER or TRAP/ARROW cases. I thumbed through Stadt and he shows an 8-gauge 1901 METAL LINED NPE on page 18 and states they were offered from 1897 to 1907. He also states the METAL LINED shell was only offered loaded in 10- and 12-gauge.