What Is the Color Code for Shotgun Shells?

Special thanks to Scott N., one of our readers who liked our How-To Guide on Types of Shotgun Shells: 3 Need-to-Know Basics. Scott asked, “l was told that the shell color has some significance, could you please expand on the shotgun shell colors?” Sure thing, Scott!

If you’re anything like Scott, you’ve probably wondered if there’s any reason that shotgun shells come in different colors. The answer is really interesting: yes, no, and kinda. The color-coding of the hulls of shotgun shells is a little muddied, after all. There really isn’t anything else like it in the ammo world. Luckily, we're here to expand on this so that you have all the knowledge when shopping for shotgun ammo so that you can be sure you're getting exactly what you need.

What Is the Color Code for Shotgun Shells?

In the old days, shotgun shells were color-coded by gauge for quick, easy identification and safety. Shooters could immediately tell what gauge shotgun shells were with a glance and instantly know if they would work safely in their shotgun. Uniform shell colors may have also been handy for people who couldn’t read and/or didn’t speak English.

Back then, it was brown for 10 gauge ammo, red or black for 12 gauge ammo, purple for 16 gauge ammo, yellow for 20 gauge ammo, green for 28 gauge ammo, then back to red for .410 bore ammo. This was no longer necessary when they started headstamping the cases (brass) with the gauge sometime around the early 1970s.

Rumors have swirled around for decades that shotshells were standardized by law, but that’s just not true.

I rummaged through my shotgun ammo stash (some of which actually goes back to the 70s because they were my Dad’s) and took a picture to illustrate. These are all various gauges in all kinds of colors. here’s what they are, left to right:

On the left are a black .410 Hornady Critical Defense load and a green BPS .410 slug (which is marked as a 36 caliber because it’s from the Republic of Turkey, which is another story entirely). Both are distinctly not red.
The next 7 yellow(ish) ones are all 20ga: Fiocchi #5 birdshot, Winchester Super-X #3 buckshot, Winchester Super-X 3/4oz slug, Remington Premier Magnum turkey load, Winchester LongBeard turkey load, Federal Blackcloud waterfowl load, and a Kent FastSteel waterfowl load. Notice a trend? Read on to see why 20 gauge shells are almost always yellow shells.
That lonely red one in the middle is a 16ga in #7-1/2 birdshot. My wife claims I’m somewhat colorblind, but that’s definitely not purple.
All 7 on the right are 12 gauge shells: black Remington #2 steel shot, red Winchester Super-X #5 birdshot, Remington Nitro Gold #7-1/2 for sporting clays, blue Federal Premium slug, clear RIO #4 buckshot, clear Sellier & Bellot 00 buckshot, and a red Winchester Super-X 000 buckshot. There’s no standardization at all.

I’m unaware of any examples where the shell color is standardized for shot size, either. This is annoying since the print on shotgun shells tends to fade and wear off even after one day of being in your pocket or shell holder out on a bird hunt. I have plenty of yellow 20ga shells with rubbed-off print, so if I’m not careful I don’t know if they’re shot size #7-1/2, #5, a turkey load, or a waterfowl load. You can sorta cheat with buckshot since it’s pretty easy to see the pellets through the hulls. Slugs always have an open top, so no worries there.

Pro Tip: As soon as you see print fading on a shotshell, use a permanent marker to re-write the shot size, load weight, etc. Once they're jumbled up, unmarked shotshells are a crapshoot and you'd have to cut open the tops to be 100% sure what size the shot is. Unless you're a reloader, you'll then have a bunch of useless shotgun shell hulls.

These days, there’s really no rhyme or reason for most shotshell colors. They vary from brand to brand, or special marketing like Federal’s pink ones for breast cancer awareness or the red, white, and blue ones for veterans’ charities. You’ll find shells in all kinds of colors that don’t match the old system and don’t signify anything beyond the manufacturer’s choice. As you can imagine, there’s probably no color in the rainbow that hasn't been used by some company at some point.

Shotgun Shell Headstamps

The most trustworthy way to know for sure is to check those headstamps on the bottom of your shotgun shells.

What Kind of Shotgun Shell Is Blue?

Aside from the blue Federal Premium tactical slug above and the red, white, and blue Federals I mentioned, there are many blue-hull shotshells out there. There are plenty of them in modern production in various gauges, but there is one of particular note: Peters True Blue from Remington. These are highly prized and difficult to find.

What Color Is a 20 Gauge Shotgun Shell?

Yellow 20 Gauge Shotgun Ammo I will say that 20 ga shells are probably the most consistent color out of all the gauges. Again, 20 gauge shells are almost always yellow shells. Why? Well, there’s a rather dangerous situation that’s come up enough times that manufacturers settled on a pretty uniform system: the dreaded “12-20”. What’s a “12-20”? A 20 gauge shell will fit into the barrel of a shotgun chambered for 12 gauge shotshells, so if a 12ga shotgun is negligently loaded with a 20 gauge shotshell, a 12 gauge shotshell will chamber behind it. If this very, very dangerous configuration is fired, it causes a catastrophic malfunction, and the shotgun itself explodes. Never, never ever try this at home! The yellow shells act as a warning system to immediately alert the 12ga shooter not to chamber a 20 gauge shell.

What Gauge Are Purple Shotgun Shells?

Under the old system, 16 gauge shotgun shells were purple. It’s pretty common to still find them in purple, too. However, as seen above, they can be red or any other color the manufacturer wants.

In A Nutshell or … Shotshell(?)

So there it is: although shotgun shells still have a little bit of color coding, it’s by no means universal across the board. Before using, you always have to ensure that you know exactly what shotshells you’re chambering into your shotgun. Want to learn more? Browse the rest of the Ammo Guides from our in-house experts and enthusiasts or be like Scott and drop us a line with any questions you might have!