doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Eley 2" Shells

I found two unopened boxes (plus 12 loose shells) at a local flea market for $100. Probably paid too much but I have a shotshell collection that didn't have any 2" shells in it.

I am considering opening one box and hunting with them in the Fall. Is this a good idea or bad? I have a couple of cases of RST and Polywad 2-1/2" shells that I usually hunt with, so I don't NEED to use them, just thought it might be cool to see how they perform. Any advice or thoughts?

Eley do still produce them but now in plastic. I am currently looking at 8 boxes of paper case ones from where I sit and have more downstairs. Now if only I could find a cheap way of shipping them across the Atlantic? They should be o.k. to fire in any double 12 but they have been accused of balling the shot in the early days but it is not something I have ever experienced even when experimenting with them in 3 inch chambered guns. Someone with a 2" gun may give you a small profit. Lagopus.....

Yep, Those are the same except mine are 8's instead of 7's. Maybe I didn't overpay and at $5 per shell - I should just put them on the shelf and shoot some RST's this fall.

Its a pity eley are such junk now, i bought two boxes recently as its all the shop had in 2 1/2". The box said they were paper cased, they were plastic, the box said the wads were fibre, some were and some weren't , but i got into trouble anyway as it was a fibre only shoot. Finally the spent cases could not be removed from the chambers, and the gun broke the ejectors trying to eject them, the only way to remove the cases from the gun was to get a pen knife or a key and lever them out. To add insult to injury, these supposedly superior cartridges were over twice the price of good quality trap cartridges.
I will not be buying eley again since they have started making cartridges in spain. I never had any trouble with the old birmingham made ones.

Bonny, That is interesting and informative. I always equated Eley and quality... Sad when a company with such history finally "JUMPS THE SHARK".

That is a reference to an old episode of Happy Days when Fonzie water skis and jumps over a great white shark. It was the end of a great era in 70's television.

Sorry that you had bad luck with Eley cartridges. There was a batch of Grand Prix 12 bore stuff out with plastic cases but put into boxes marked Paper. I have some but the Dealer did tell me of the mistake. I have just checked a few and all have fibre wads (shone torch from behind case). I wonder if it was ones from this batch that you had experience with (orange case with high brass head 30 gram number 6 shot). I use Eley a lot and have no complaints. Lagopus.....

Lagopus , i am disappointed with eley. They are , or were, a company who's products you could bank on for quality and were always my first choice. The alarms bells started to ring a year or so ago when a shooting magazine tested some of the eley clay cartridges (black gold i think) and panned them as shoddily made. These particular cartridges were made in spain afaik.
What perplexes me is after being fired the spent shells could not be removed from the chambers. The paper cased eley shells i used last, fall free under their own weight, these plastic shells were well and truly stuck, and it has just occurred to me that the cartridge case is longer than the 2 1/2" they are supposed to be. I will check later.

I shoot Eley, VIP, bismuth loads, and they are perhaps the best non toxic bismuth load I have ever used, at 32 grams and 67mm these no. 4's (No. 5 US) are my waterfowl load of choice (along with RST Nice Shot). Cosmetically, they are the best looking shell on the market. It is marked clearly on the box that they are made in Great Britain and at $60.00 per box of 25, they are competitively priced.

I shoot Eley, VIP, bismuth loads, and they are perhaps the best non toxic bismuth load I have ever used, at 32 grams and 67mm these no. 4's (No. 5 US) are my waterfowl load of choice (along with RST Nice Shot). Cosmetically, they are the best looking shell on the market. It is marked clearly on the box that they are made in Great Britain and at $60.00 per box of 25, they are competitively priced.