UPDATE:
Many of the old-time components can still be used, today, but the use of ground or powdered "natural" cereal- or animal-based products as wadding or shot buffering material can cause dangerous pressures when used in fired plastic cases. This is due to the roughness that previous firings can leave on the inside of case walls. Old-fashioned brass or paper cases did not manifest this problem to the extent that plastic cases now do.
Paper filler wads can still have merit but care should be used when shooting them under dry conditions. Shredded paper in particular, can pose potential fire hazards. The use of wadded paper wads seems to be no more hazardous than the use of fiber filler wads but I have seen at least one nasty grass fire that had been started by a smouldering fiber filler wad.
