TOPGUN749 Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 I bought a job lot of cartridges in an auction recently and among them was a full box with silver heads.Does anyone know the reason Eley produced these for a period? I was wondering if it was 1977 for the silver jubilee year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Not that I am aware of! Just another step in the evolution of shotgun cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 those are plastic cases................... i used to buy grand prix when i was flush....but they were the paper case.....you opened them and were hit buy that loverly smell of varnish and powder........then you get your gun out and you were hit by another scent...................the old gun oil we used to use............ them were the days eh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Eley started using steel heads because it was cheaper than brass. They rusted badly, especially with coastal use. Cartridge heads now are still steel but plated. You can pick them up with a magnet. That was not possible with older cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 (edited) We used to buy them from an ironmonger store in St Andrews .I recall the staff had them in a wee wall cupboard by kitchenware .They sold them just as they would a kitchen utensil. No drama . Makes you wonder where the publics overall negative attitude to fieldsports took this turn.It was usually when the supply of russian rounds was running low and we had a big day ahead on the estates ferreting/pigeon shooting.I was young and had very little cash.,I used to count every shot fired against how many birds/rabbits i had in the bag for sale to the dealer. PS. if i was really flush id ask for a box of alphamax or maximums for duck or geese!!! Edited June 24, 2023 by bishop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 39 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. Absolutely😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 46 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. Nowt wrong with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCB56 Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 58 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. It's only "Old Mans Corner" if your a young man, otherwise it's just life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. how are your plans going to visit the titanic................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 50 minutes ago, London Best said: Eley started using steel heads because it was cheaper than brass. They rusted badly, especially with coastal use. Cartridge heads now are still steel but plated. You can pick them up with a magnet. That was not possible with older cartridges. Steel has been the main metal used for at least 70 years,I have some paper case ICI cases from about 1950 and a magnet picks them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shambam1962 Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 We used to stop off on a Saturday morning if we was running short of cartridges in the now Oil 4 Wales garage on top of Nantycaws hill outside of Carmarthen and buy a few boxes of cartridges before heading down to Pembrokeshire. The cartridges would be on a shelf in the garage shop, and you would pick them up and proceed to pay at the till. The main Dyfed Powys Police Headquarters is only 1/2 mile away, and how times have changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 (edited) I knew a man that was a manager at Eley. He said that apparently steel required less processes than did brass. So the cheapness wasn't just the cost of the metal but that less things had to be done to it. That they "hated" brass for that reason. For collectors there are some Eley shotgun cartridges that were made in France after there had been an incident at the Kynoch in Birmingham. I don't know if that was a fire or an explosion. But there were...certainly in 20 Bore...French made Eley. I visited the Kynoch in the 1980s when it was still making shotgun cartridges. But even then (as it had long stopped making metallic cartridges except .22RF and .50 Browning it was being run down. However it still had red roads, green roads, yellow roads and etc.. Roads with a painted line so that those wanting one building or "mill" were told to "Follow the red road"." And in the offices that fantastic walk through glassed cased display of cartridges. Edited June 24, 2023 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Yes, could buy shotgun cartridges almost anywhere in the 1970’s, just had to look over 17. £1 for 25 was the average price in 1973. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dipper Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 If it’s not paper with a RTO it’s not old . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strimmer_13 Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Work fine on crows still Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmo Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 We used to buy cartridges from Mitchell’s the ironmongers in lochgelly 6 alphamax bb please or hymax ( I was only 14 ) the progressed to topmark duck and goose it was 1979 . Then once I was 16 and got my bigboy pants on Winchester XX 2s or CIL imperial or remmy power pistons . What an era Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 4 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: And welcome to "Old Mans Corner" where reminiscence is espoused. What wrong with us old men reminiscing 🤔, 🙄😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 2 hours ago, TOPGUN749 said: Yes, could buy shotgun cartridges almost anywhere in the 1970’s, just had to look over 17. £1 for 25 was the average price in 1973. Hello, before I left school I worked on a farm to buy my cartridges , 1962 to 1965 , oh happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 3 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said: Hello, before I left school I worked on a farm to buy my cartridges , 1962 to 1965 , oh happy days I recall walking back one afternoon back up the fields from my favorite oak tree on a sown field and asking the farmer for some paper eley cartridges i could buy off him.he used to give me them free!! ahh changed days indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 (edited) Of course do remember that Grand Prix far from being a premium cartridge was actually Eley's cheapest and lowest quality offering. The bottom rung on the ladder through Bonax, Primax, Gastight and whatever else with metal lined case and such up to Alphamax and etc.. Yet nowadays it seems to be largely forgotten that it was actually very much that base line ranking....loaded in a low brass unlined and non-waterproof basic paper case with a cheap wad of Thames board rather than a real felt wad. Rose tinted glasses and nostalgia have elevated it to a status it neither had nor deserves. Edited June 24, 2023 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 It was what people could afford, or more precisely was within the affordable bracket. It took quite a bit of effort to buy a box of 25, none of this modern day 1000 minimum stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 7 minutes ago, 39TDS said: It was what people could afford, or more precisely was within the affordable bracket. It took quite a bit of effort to buy a box of 25, none of this modern day 1000 minimum stuff. Yes,and Grand Prix weren’t the cheapest at £1.15 a box in 1974, others were £1 or less.Not many could afford to buy in bulk with 1000 costing around £35,(2 weeks take home pay in many cases) Today despite VAT being double we get more for our money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 i used for many years "Gallyons Hi-shot"...#5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN749 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 I remember buying some Red Rival from Gallyons in Norwich,Yellow Wizzard too about 90p a box in 1972 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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