Shell Colors/Designation

FightingIrish

FightingIrish

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Apologies if this isn't in the right Forum.

Is there an official standard for shotgun shell colors? From what I've read, there isn't. Federal apparently sticks to some sort of standard, but it's not industry wide.

So, are 20GA ALWAYS yellow? Do they have to be? Is 12GA ALWAYS red? One argument I've heard is the 20GA is always yellow to differentiate between 20GA and 12GA, but what about providing some sort of differentiation from 16GA as well?

Thanks in advance.

Irish.
 
FightingIrish said:
Apologies if this isn't in the right Forum.

Is there an official standard for shotgun shell colors? From what I've read, there isn't. Federal apparently sticks to some sort of standard, but it's not industry wide.

So, are 20GA ALWAYS yellow? Do they have to be? Is 12GA ALWAYS red? One argument I've heard is the 20GA is always yellow to differentiate between 20GA and 12GA, but what about providing some sort of differentiation from 16GA as well?

Thanks in advance.

Irish.
Click to expand...

No there is not a standardized color for the different gauges. In other words it is false to assume that all 20 gauge shells are yellow. I have 3 or 4 different colored 20 gauge shells.
 
gunsaholic said:
No there is not a standardized color for the different gauges. In other words it is false to assume that all 20 gauge shells are yellow. I have 3 or 4 different colored 20 gauge shells.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response. Okay, so 20GA doesn't HAVE to be Yellow. Does yellow HAVE to be 20GA? Has anyone ever seen a yellow 12GA or 16GA?
 
The reason for 20 being yellow and nothing else requiring a colour to differentiate them is because 20 gauge will enter the barrel portion of a 12 guage and become lodged, creatign a barrel obstruction which is never a good thing. 16 gauge apparently will not do the same. Now, gunsaholic says that he has several different coloured 20 gauge shells so perhaps this convention has fallen ou tof favour. I know that 12 gauge is available in a rainbow of colours but to my knowledge I've never seen a yellow 12 gauge.
 
BigUglyMan said:
The reason for 20 being yellow and nothing else requiring a colour to differentiate them is because 20 gauge will enter the barrel portion of a 12 guage and become lodged, creatign a barrel obstruction which is never a good thing. 16 gauge apparently will not do the same. Now, gunsaholic says that he has several different coloured 20 gauge shells so perhaps this convention has fallen ou tof favour. I know that 12 gauge is available in a rainbow of colours but to my knowledge I've never seen a yellow 12 gauge.
Click to expand...

Now that you say that, it refreshed my memory from the CSFC and I remember that being said. Something about the 20GA loading and then being able to load a 12GA fully and not realizing it. Thanks for the reminder.

Still, I'd be curious if anyone else has ever seen a non 20GA yellow.
 
In 20 gauge I have had red, yellow and 2 different shades of orange, all plastic hulls. On another thread that is running right now (20 gauge for waterfowl) someone else has posted pics of different colored 20 gauge shells. It's on page 2 of that thread.
 
When Winchester first introduced their "AA" Target loads, 20 gauge were red. I still have a couple of empties somewhere.
I've never seen a yellow 12 ga., but just about every other colour under the sun ... black, white, grey, clear, red, orange, blue,
purple, violet, pink, pale blue. dark green, light green, maroon, gold, silver ...
 
Federal follows a color code. Following text taken from their website.

"Federal was the first company to color-code our shotshells for safety and identification. We make the color variations by mixing colored pellets in with the white ones.

Brown for 10-gauge
Red (or black) for 12-gauge
Purple for 16-gauge
Yellow for 20-gauge
Red for 28-gauge and .410"

FP_Shotshell_ColorCode.jpg
 
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