Shotgun shell ID? How old are they

[Mobius1]

I picked up a while bunch of shotgun shells in the hillside of one 1897 park. I believe they are all paper but does anyone know what era they came from? I'm thinking early 1900.
This is what they say:
XTRA-RANGE 12 12 S R.&Co.
REM-UMC No. 20 ARROW
WESTERN SUPER-X No. 12
U.S.C.CO. CLIMAX No. 12
U.M.C. Co. NITRO No. 12
WESTERN XPERT No. 12
W.R.A. Co. RIVAL No. 12
FEDERAL MONARK No. 12
1901 REPEATER No. 12

 

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[longcut]

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - NEBRASKAland Magazine

 

[wayfas4u]

Good info Longcut, thanks for sharing!

 

[cambria09]

Hello Mobius1. Nice shotshells. I love finding these things. There is a wide variety of them and they are fairly easy to date so you can get a good fix on the age of the site you are digging.

I beleive the UMC and USC ones are the oldest in the group you found. Here is another internet site to check out.

Shotgun

HH C9

 

[Mobius1]

Thank you for that. The pictures help a lot so I'll look further into it later

 

[CSA2K]

We call them "12th Georgias" Glad someone is excited about digging them
Congrats!

 

[turtlefoot13]

Congrats on the great finds! I love shotshells. In fact they are my favorite things to find and collect. I have 5,000+ in my collection. Here is a quick rundown on what you have, as best as I can tell you.

1. XTRA-RANGE - This is an early Sears headstamp. As best as I can tell, this is the first "Sears" stamped headstamp that was used. I don't have solid dates, but an educated guess is this headstamp was used in the 1930's.

2. Rem-UMC Arrow - This one will date from 19156-1942/45. At this point I cannot verify the exact end date.

3. Western Super-X - 1927/32 to the early 1960's. This date range is from vintage catalogs and period advertisements.

4. USC Climax - I cannot see the headstamp clear enough to help on this one. This line of shells was around for a long time though.

5. UMC Nitro - 1894-1899 - Nitro and Nitro Club shells are a bit of an enigma. The 1895 UMC Catalog shows the introduction of the Nitro line of shells but makes no mention of the Nitro Club. An 1894 ad in Recreation Magazine lists the Nitro Club shell. A story in an 1895 issue of Forest and Stream talks about a new shell (Nitro) taking the place of the Nitro Club, while an 1896 ad in Outing Magazine is an ad for the new shell - the Nitro Club. On a side note, a noted historian has given me the start date of 1893 for the Nitro Club, but I cannot verify that date!

6. Western Xpert - 1927/32 to early 1960's

7. WRA Rival - 1894-1897 - You won't get any older for named Winchester shells.

8. Federal Monark - 1950's-1960's - This date range is "iffy" at best. This is based entirely on period ads.

9. 1901 Repeater - 1901-1919 - This is a great Winchester head.

You have some great finds!
Doug

 

[Mobius1]

Congrats on the great finds! I love shotshells. In fact they are my favorite things to find and collect. I have 5,000+ in my collection. Here is a quick rundown on what you have, as best as I can tell you. 1. XTRA-RANGE - This is an early Sears headstamp. As best as I can tell, this is the first "Sears" stamped headstamp that was used. I don't have solid dates, but an educated guess is this headstamp was used in the 1930's. 2. Rem-UMC Arrow - This one will date from 19156-1942/45. At this point I cannot verify the exact end date. 3. Western Super-X - 1927/32 to the early 1960's. This date range is from vintage catalogs and period advertisements. 4. USC Climax - I cannot see the headstamp clear enough to help on this one. This line of shells was around for a long time though. 5. UMC Nitro - 1894-1899 - Nitro and Nitro Club shells are a bit of an enigma. The 1895 UMC Catalog shows the introduction of the Nitro line of shells but makes no mention of the Nitro Club. An 1894 ad in Recreation Magazine lists the Nitro Club shell. A story in an 1895 issue of Forest and Stream talks about a new shell (Nitro) taking the place of the Nitro Club, while an 1896 ad in Outing Magazine is an ad for the new shell - the Nitro Club. On a side note, a noted historian has given me the start date of 1893 for the Nitro Club, but I cannot verify that date! 6. Western Xpert - 1927/32 to early 1960's 7. WRA Rival - 1894-1897 - You won't get any older for named Winchester shells. 8. Federal Monark - 1950's-1960's - This date range is "iffy" at best. This is based entirely on period ads. 9. 1901 Repeater - 1901-1919 - This is a great Winchester head. You have some great finds! Doug

WOW is all I can say!! I really appreciate the info because now I know for sure I'll be back to that site. I have no doubts that I'll be pulling out more shells from that site but I'm hoping for coins since the area is so old. However I'm hoping that it hasn't been cleaned. The fact that the density of targets is so low and that the only targets ingot were shells leads me to believe maybe someone discriminated out brass and dug high tones. Let's hope not huh!

 

[turtlefoot13]

Any time! Any questions on shotshell heads, feel free to send them my way. They are my true passion. If someone discriminated out brass, they sure were taking a chance of missing some great targets! Good luck to you and I hope you will find the coins you are looking for.

Doug

 

[Mobius1]

Any time! Any questions on shotshell heads, feel free to send them my way. They are my true passion. If someone discriminated out brass, they sure were taking a chance of missing some great targets! Good luck to you and I hope you will find the coins you are looking for. Doug

Okay ill be sure to remember that. Can't wait to see a buff or a merc pop out of that ground. Let's hope it's out there!

 

[cambria09]

Any time! Any questions on shotshell heads, feel free to send them my way. They are my true passion. If someone discriminated out brass, they sure were taking a chance of missing some great targets! Good luck to you and I hope you will find the coins you are looking for.

Doug

Hello Turtlefoot13. You 'da man on shot shell head stamps! HH. Chris