Federal Paper at the Olympics
by Terry Wieland
Across the screen this afternoon rolled a press release from Federal Cartridge, proudly announcing that its team of sponsored shooters brought medals home from the Olympics, including one gold.
The four were Vincent Hancock, Austen Smith, Conner Prince, and Derrick Mein — and congratulations to all of them — but what really grabbed my attention was the fact that all four, competing in trap and Skeet, were shooting none other than my beloved (!) Federal Gold Medal Paper shotshells!
Hancock took the gold medal in Men’s Skeet, beating teammate Conner Prince by one target in the finals. Hancock coaches Prince as well as Austen Smith. Miss Smith won a bronze medal in Women’s Skeet in her second appearance at the Olympics. She then teamed up with Hancock to win a silver medal in the Mixed Team event. Derrick Mein, one of the finest shooters in the world today, finished fifth in Men’s Trap.
According to Federal’s press release, all the American competitors were shooting Federal paper, as we fondly refer to it, and have for more than a hundred years. Federal Paper has been produced in the same facility, a small brick building in the sprawling Federal layout in Anoka, Minnesota, since 1921. The whole place looks like it belongs in the Smithsonian, if not the British Museum, and it produces the distinctive burgundy-colored shotshells exactly as it has always done. Like Burgundy itself, the process cannot be rushed.
In recent years, demand for Federal Paper has outstripped supply — at least it has if one can believe the “out of stock” messages I keep receiving in response to my attempts to buy some for my feeble efforts at trap and pigeon shooting.
As was explained to me when I visited Federal some years ago, the facility has just so much capacity and that’s it. It cannot be easily expanded because the machinery is ancient.
Three things make Federal paper so popular with competitive trap and Skeet shooters: Beautiful patterns, perceived less recoil, and not least, when the crisp autumn breezes blow, the gunsmoke from a paper shotshell just smells so good. Actually, I’m not sure how much the aroma means to Olympic shooters, but I love it.
I have written about Federal paper in any number of places, including here in Sporting Notes #36, Cornerstones, August, 2021, and Sporting Notes #177, Paper Gains (Again), April, 2024. But a brief recap won’t hurt.
Federal produces its own paper hulls, from special paper produced at one mill they keep in business for just that purpose. It arrives in large rolls, which are then spooled into laminated tubes, treated with wax, and set aside to cure for eight days in carefully climate-controlled conditions. The paper tube is then cut to length, headed, fitted with a base wad, primed, and so on. Total time required: Nine days.
By comparison, a plastic hull progresses from pellets in a hopper to a finished shell in about 20 minutes. If time is money — and it is — you can see why Federal Paper ain’t cheap. It retails at $21.99/box, compared to $17.99 for High Over All (successor to Gold Medal Premium).
If you think paper shotshells are irretrievably archaic, no matter how romantic they might be, consider that they seem to be gaining adherents, not losing them. In recent years, if you try to buy some in the spring and early summer, you are told they have only enough to supply the Grand; after the Grand, they are out of stock until the tiny production facility catches up. That suggests demand keeps rising, and bringing home an Olympic gold will only intensify it.
Federal’s line of commercial Gold Medal Paper is limited to trap, handicap trap, and Skeet loads, all in 12 gauge. When I looked at the Federal website, it showed 11 paper loads, none of them identifiable as either International Trap or International Skeet, both of which use 24-gram loads at high velocity. Federal confirms that they load paper-hulled ammunition specially for their sponsored competitors in international competition, such as the Olympics.
By the way, the website showed that all 11 commercial offerings with paper hulls are “available,” so it would seem now is a good time to grab some. Maybe the only time.
Meanwhile — and Federal has not said anything about this — but at the age of 103, I assume Federal Paper to be the oldest competitor ever to win a gold medal.
Gray’s shooting editor finds it somehow encouraging that a product born the same year as his mother was not only in the Olympics, but won medals.
