Reloading AA shotshells: are grey AA's the same as the red ones?

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy Reloaders,

I was recently gifted a trash bag of fired shotshells. In with the red AA's were a bunch of grey shells marked as AA's. A quick look at my Lyman SS handbook only shows AA's as red. Some measuring and critical eyeballing seems to show these are the same. Being new to shotshell reloading, I thought I'd consult cowboys who have more experience than me.

What's the deal here?

Rev. Chase

[Hoss]

I’ve loaded both. No issues. 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

I see no difference.

If I recall correctly, the grey ones were some sort of anniversary edition ones.

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

I see no difference.

If I recall correctly, the grey ones were some sort of anniversary edition ones.

 

Winchester AA hulls have been made in 3 colors, Silver, Red, and Gray.  Per Winchester, there is no difference between them when it comes to reloading.

 

The Silver ones were issued in 89 or 90 for the 25th anniversary of the Winchester AA hull.

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I’ve loaded both as well with no problems or difference in performance.

[Still hand Bill]

Winchester AA did come in gray/silver.  Also orange.  The bigger difference in AA hulls is the compression formed single piece vs the AA-hs two piece.  The plastic is a little more matte on the compression formed.  Many consider these the better hull, but it’s been 10+ years since they were made.  The AA-hs hulls are glossy, also that’s current production.  some say they had issues with base wads coming loose on the first ones, but it seems to be “fixed” now.  If I was loading AA hulls I would use AA-hs.  I do save all the compression formed hulls I can find as they load the same as Remington hulls. 
 

Load data does not differentiate between the two, but I found using a shorter wad on the AA-hs hulls helps with fit.  Ie I use a 1 oz wad for 7/8 oz loads, 1 1/8 wad for 1 oz loads.  

[Vic Halls]

They also had a Black case marked Handicap. Shot alot of them from the 23 yard line.

["Big Boston"]

I shot skeet way back in the day, AA hulls were what everyone used. The trap shooters were a bit fussier, I'd got hulls from them. There are subtle differences. First, different color plastic can have different characteristics. IOW the pigment, being a different formulation, makes the plastic different. Some colors would split sooner, some would crimp better, some patterned a bit better, some ejected easier. Winchester had handicap loads, normal loads, Olympic loads, all in different colored hulls or sometimes not. The load data was the same, but if you had a P-W or other high end progressive, and wanted consistent crimps, you sorted and selected the hulls you used. The crimp is a factor in having consistent velocities and patterns. 

 

But, we're cowboys, if they load OK, shoot OK, and eject OK, you're golden. I've just bought my ammo for years, but the price has doubled, I may have to begin reloading again. All my old wads got brittle and crumbled, but I still have a few hundred new unfired Blue magic hulls. 

[Reverend P. Babcock Chase]

Howdy helpful Responders,

 

It sounds like I'm good with the different colors and can keep using the same components. 

 

Thanks for the help fellas,

 

Rev. Chase

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

same loading recipe but think the gray ones last a bit longer

 

 

[WymoreWrangler SASS 46187L]

My TTN hated them, wouldn't come out after they were fired, no problems with the red AA's.  I measured the bases and they were a bit longer in the the gray's but that was years ago and I don't remember the exact extra length...

[watab kid]

a friend loaded them exclusively , he swore by AA hulls , he loaded the gray with BP and the red with smokeless , made sorting in the cart easy for his family of shooters , he said there was no difference , 

 

i think its just pigment/stain that colors them ,