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Fellow gave me a dozen 16 ga shells made by Imperial (Canadian) designated AAAA. They are plastic shells with rather high brass. I assume that this is some type of buck shot? Anyone shed some light on these?

Back in the 1960's the Imperial hunting loads had extra high brass. I have a box of paper 16 ga Imperials from that era in number 4 shot. I remember buying a fair amount of Imperial ammo in the early sixties for duck and pheasant hunting--we thought the extra high brass was really cool!

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Oh yeah--the extra high brass--what a marketing scam Embarassed

Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 24 Location: Manitoba, Canada

Imperial paper shotgun ammunition was by many once regarded as finest in the world. They were manufactured by "Canadian Industries Limited" (CIL), formerly the "Dominion Cartridge Company" near Montreal, Canada. Several brands were available, the aforementioned delicious looking purple Imperial "high brass", Maxum, and Canuck to name a few. I grew up shooting this ammo in the 1960's and still do have plenty of 12 and 16 gauge loaded fodder of this generation. Best thing about these shells besides the pleasant aroma of spent shells was the clear "Ducco" finish, an automotive clear coat that was applied during manufacture to make the shotshell waterproof. A swelled shotgun shell was a rare thing even after being dropped into the water, wiped off with a sleeve or such and placed back in a hunting coat for later use. The company went to plastic ammo in the late 60's' closed the 100 year old ammo plant and relocated. Coupled with labour problems the plant was closed and a thing of the past by the late 1970's. I would go back to those days and shoot that ammo at the drop of a hat!

Ted