dad gave these to me. I knew he had them. they were my grandads. two full boxes and some loose ones. boxes are bout rotted away. shells look good cardboard over shot wads seem fine. they are all the same. 00buck. box says Remington on the front. boxes are toast now though. do the shells have any collector/trade value or should I shoot a couple to see if they will shoot? I always figured they had black powder in them but box says smokeless. these are the only old brass shells I ever seen though I have always known that used to be standard.

They are a collectors item, probably not worth much. I'd blast 1 or 2 of the loose ones, just to say that you've tried them out. I'd save the rest of them, full box and all for the next generation. More than likely, they still won't be worth much.

they use them in war .

not legal here for deer or id kill one with it this winter. assuming they will still shoot lol

Very cool

Yep on the war... 'Nam if I'm not mistaken... a vet could verify that I'm sure.

if it were military I don't think the box would say for hunting small game

Those are collectors items but there are many people who still shoot them. They are still made today too - in fact you can buy them loaded they way you want them. They were first used in the late 1800's to load black powder shot shells. They are easy to load and they last a long time. I don't think I ever heard of someone wearing them out like you do rifle brass. I have an old Baker double barreled 12 gauge I shoot BP paper shells in. I would be afraid to shoot those in anything but a modern shotgun. They say smokeless because they used to all be black powder. The military used black powder longer than civilians did which makes me thing they are not military.

It is strange they say for small game. My Dad told me they had Winchester Model 12 pumps in Korea with 00 buck loads in them. He said the Winchester shotguns worked the best because the the firing pins stuck out as the pump was worked and they would slam fire so they were faster than other ones. I would have thought those would be for combat but probably just regular 12 ga. load with 00 buck since they say small game.

That is a pretty cool thing. Do you have the shotgun those were used in?

The brass hulls were WW 1-2 era, in the 'Nam the hulls were plastic. Also used were 12 ga "Fletchet" loads, small wood arrows with a steel tip and plastic "feathers", nasty little buggers. Google it.

They should be either Winchester or Rem-UMC. I have some that were "liberated" from Uncle Sam about 1960-61.
They use a large pistol primer and for years Alcan made oversize wads to reload these with. The overshot wads were sealed with waterglass.
All of the military ones I have seen were buckshot,so the small game label seems odd. Remington ran some Ducks Unlimited brass shells some years back as loaded ammo.

Here is a better picture of a shell.

Larry I never saw my grandfather shoot a round of buckshot. No clue where or why he picked them up. Im guessing a trade for something or other.

You can still buy brass, they are a only 2.45'' long made for a 2.50'' chambered gun. I always shot short 2.5''in a .410 gun chambered for 3'' shells. I don't know as I ever saw or had a 12 gauge chambered 2.5''.
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There were some Win. Mod. 12's that were made with 2-9/16" chambers.
If you decide to try firing those shells be careful of hang fires or late firing.
Be careful!
I had one of those exact shells. I just gave it to somebody who collected old shot shells.

2 3/4 shells are 2 1/2 inches long after you crimp them. 2.375 actually for some Winchester super x 7 1/2 shot factory shells. Theses brass shells are 2.51 according to my caliper. Some Winchester super x turkey loads, #4 shot, 3 inch factory shells , are actually 2.58 inches long when measured. So these brass cartridge's are closer to 3 inch shells than 2 3/4.

Lot of good info here from people with "hands on" knowledge of them...

I believe the "Fletchet" was used in 105 Howitzer loads for close range in Nam. There was a ring or two of them collected with a metal ring holding them.

The ones I saw were all metal and about 1" long or so. They looked like a little arrow and black.

Those are really cool, and I have never seen one in person. They would look perfect in one of those old leather "Bandolier" hanging off a set of steer horns.

I believe the "Track of the Wolf" catalog sells brass shotgun casings or maybe it "Dixie Gun Works" heck, it might be both or neither... But I have seen them offered somewhere

I like the Bandolier idea, mix in the loose ones with other colors, decretive yet functional.

During the Vietnam War the United States employed 12 gauge combat shotguns using flechette loads. These plastic cased shells were issued on a limited trial basis during the Vietnam war. They were manufactured by Western Cartridge Company contained twenty flechettes 18.5 millimetres (0.73 in) long and weighing 7.3 grains (0.47 g) each. The flechettes were packed in a plastic cup with granulated white polyethylene to maintain alignment with the bore axis, and supported by a metal disk to prevent penetration of the over-powder wad during acceleration down the bore. Cartridges manufactured by Federal Cartridge Company contained 25 flechettes. Tips of the flechettes are exposed in the Federal cartridges, but concealed by a conventional star crimp in Western cartridges. Flechettes had flatter trajectory over longer ranges than spherical buckshot, but combat effectiveness did not justify continued production.[

I remember from the Marines, the 105 commonly shot those rounds... Devastating.

Semper Fi