When I started shooting a shotgun 50+ yrs ago there were basically 3 brands available to small town folks; R/P, W/W & Federal. All were paper & federal still used a roll crimp with a "Frangible" top wad. Everyone I knew "Bad-Mouthed" the Feds, but as a young farm boy, they were cheaper, so I used a fair amount of them. I did no extensive pattern testing, but as far as I could tell the squirrel, rabbit & quail population saw no difference, mainly depended on the boy behind the gun, not the brand name on the hull. I started some reloading prior to the intro of plastic & found the Federal hull of that day to be the best of the 3 for re-loading. They were good until would no longer hold a crimp, while base wad deteriation often destroyed the other "Big Two" after a couple of loads. I learned to melt a little parafin in a double boiler & dip the mouths in & could usually get 4-5 loads from the Feds. In order to make a fold crimp I of course had to use a 6-pt starter the first time. Paper hulls had better "Memory" than do plastic so most loaders of the day did not come regularly equiped with a "Point" starter, only a cone which was sufficient for a previously fold crimped paper hull.
