Cartridge story is no flash in the pan

The development of shotgun cartridges over the past several centuries has been driven by the increasing requirements for accuracy, efficiency and higher performance. As game shooting as a sport evolved, so too did the guns themselves and ammunition had to keep up with this progression.

The first examples of cartridges that we would recognise as close to what we have today were introduced in the 1860s. George Daw produced arguably the first centrefire guns in Britain in 1861 and retailed the cartridges, too. Although patented, Eley Bros won a court case on the grounds the patent had expired and also started producing them.

However, this was by no means the start of ammunition. For that we must look back as far as the 15th century, where we see the use of matchlocks, wheel locks and then the more common flintlocks. These muzzle-loading