Belt Auction

When did "Winchester-Western Duck & Pheasant Load" shotgun shells stop being sold as such?

Today I visited a farm and its new owners. I found a spent shotgun shell that appears to have been there quite some time. Red plastic, "W-W" headstamp, 12 gauge, 2 3/4 inch, printed with "Winchester Western 6 Duck & Pheasant Load." I'm trying to come up with even a ballpark of how old it might be. I assure you I know less than nothing about guns or hunting, but I *do* know how to use the internet, and it appears that anything that used to be called "Winchester-Western" now is just called "Winchester." They have no products on their website with this name or anything close. I've seen collectible/vintage boxes of what appears to be this exact product for sale on eBay where the packaging looks kind of fifties-ish, but I can find no mention of a year on any of these sales. Can anyone narrow down the timeframe on this thing for me at all? Even if just to say "Winchester stopped using the Western name in 19XX" is better than the nothing I got now. Thanks!

Public Comments

1. In 1931, the Olin family bought the floundering Winchester Repeating Arms Company to create the Winchester-Western Company. Western Cartridge Company continued to appear on ammunition boxes and in advertising, although Winchester immediately began attaching promotion of its firearms. Before the merger of Western and Winchester, Western shotshells bore the W.C.CO headstamp. Olin began using the W-W headstamp in 1965 and by 1970 virtually all cartridges bore the Winchester-Western designation. Now, I don't buy Winchester shot shells (I use Federal) but I believe they still stamp them W-W My Winchester 9mm white box is stamped W-W the joke is W-W = Winchester White Box