Federal’s New Gold Medal Grand Paper Shotgun Shells
Russ Chastain 09.28.18
One of my fondest memories is of my early hunting days. At age 11, I began carrying a gun of my own in the woods while hunting with my father. It was an ancient and much-worn Lefever Nitro Special side-by-side 410 shotgun, and back then we had a fair supply of paper shotgun shells for it. I quickly learned to love the smell of one of those old paper hulls after it was fired.
These days, I carefully ration my paper shells in all gauges, because they don’t make paper shells anymore. Except, they do.
Federal Ammunition is making paper shotshells, and recently announced several new paper loads in their Gold Medal Grand line of shotgun ammo.
Aside from my nasal nostalgia, I believe paper shells to be better for my guns. When fired, there is something like off-gassing that comes from plastic shells, which makes shotgun chambers rust quickly. I’ve seen this in a number of scatterguns, and I’m sure it’s true. Paper shells don’t produce the same rapid rusting.
That said, I readily admit that plastic shells have numerous advantages which include increased weatherproofness (usually), greater durability, and greater ease of reloading.
Anyhow, here’s the press release from Federal Premium.
Federal Premium is proud to announce new paper-hull shotgun shells to its Gold Medal Grand product lineup. The look, feel, smell and performance of Gold Medal Paper shotshells made them the favorite of the most serious clay target shooters. Now there’s an even better option with the all-new Gold Medal Grand Paper which includes various new 12-gauge loads in shot size No. 7.5 and No. 8. Shipments of this ammunition are being delivered to dealers now.
These new paper-hull loads combine Federal Premium Ammunition’s classic paper hull with an improved design that provides less felt recoil, more reliable ignition and improved shot hardness.
Features & Benefits
- Exclusive Federal Premium paper hull design
- Two-piece wad utilizes SoftCell technology to decrease perceived recoil and produce more uniform patterns than one-piece designs
- Rigid PrimerLock head improves primer sensitivity, ensuring proper ignition in the event of a light hit
- Lead shot is engineered for the optimum blend of hardness and density for even patterns and maximum downrange power
Part No. / Description / MSRP
- GMT175 8 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ 2 3/4 Dram 1 oz. / $13.95
- GMT117 7.5 Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ 2 3/4 Dram 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
- GMT117 8 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ 2 3/4 Dram 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
- GMT118 7.5 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ 3 Dram 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
- GMT118 8 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ 3 Dram 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
- GMT171 7.5 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ HDCP 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
- GMT171 8 / Gold Medal Grand Paper 12 gauge 2 3/4″ HDCP 1 1/8 oz. / $13.95
Federal is a brand of Vista Outdoor Inc., an outdoor sports and recreation company. For more information on Federal Premium, go to www.federalpremium.com.
More power to ’em.
