The history of the shotgun is littered with innovations that never went anywhere. From designs like this 10 gauge from Ethan Allen to the American Arms Co.’s Fox-patent Side Opener, some ideas sounded good, but never really caught on. The 14 gauge was another of ideas that never went anywhere.
Fourteen gauge shotguns used to be popular in the percussion era, and Parker, Lefever and several British & German makers built 14s at the end of the 19th century and into the twentieth. Winchester even tried to revive this oddball gauge in 1960s with a line of Model 50/59 semi-autos.
But no matter what makers have done, the 14 gauge has never caught on. That’s what makes this case of 14 gauge paper shells by Winchester so rare. I’m sure some cartridge collector will snap these up. I’m sure the price will be pretty high, too.
