12ga 7/8 ounce Happiness

[TrapperReady]

For a while now, I've been playing around with 7/8 oz 12ga loads. Unfortunately, I've felt that they are a bit lacking in performance when compared to 1 oz or heavier loads. I was never able to get the crimps just right, and my scores always dropped off a little using the lighter loads.

Not any longer!

I'm now using a recipe as follows:

Remington STS hulls
Remington 209P primers
17.5 grains Clays powder
7/8 ounce of lead shot (either 8.5 or 7.5)

and the secret is...

Ballistic Products Lightning wads

With the BP wads, the crimps are great and the patterns are deadly. These things pattern beautifully from both my Browning 425 and my wife's 682. The velocity is around 1250fps (published) and they are ideal for 16 yard trap (I'm confident that they'll work further out as well) and general sporting clays usage.

I've bumped up a notch in choke, and am now running Modified most of the time when shooting SC... but I really like the way they perform, and the recoil is almost negligible. I'm using the #8.5 shot for anything under 35 yards, and #7.5 on the longer shots. I've shot nearly 1000 of these in the past couple of weeks and continue to be impressed with how well they break targets

The only downside is cost, since they run $99/5000, plus shipping, but that is only an extra penny or so per shell, which I'm happy to pay for something that works so well with such little recoil. The other caveat is that this wad is designed for use with tapered hulls, so it may not work as well in a straight hull. IIRC, BP does have a similar wad (maybe the Rex-24) which is designed for straight hulls.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks for posting that. BP has a couple neato wads for 7/8 oz I'd like to try.

Meanwhile, I'll satisfy my shell itch with the Claybuster clone of the WAA 12 SL for both 7/8 and 1 oz.

Crimps are a little dished, but usable in AAs. Better is the 1 oz Windjammer, but there's availability issues.

 

[PJR]

I've had good luck with 7/8 ounce loads using Winchester AA hulls and their grey wad. I've also had no problems using the Claybuster Windjammer replacement wads.

7/8 ounce 12 gauge loads are among my favorites. Low recoil and unless the distances are long will smack targets with the best of them.

Paul

 

[TrapperReady]

Dave - I've also got 1000 each of the BP Super-Spark and Piston Skeet. Originally, I got 1000 each of the Lightning and the other two. The Lightning impressed me enough that I just got another 5000. I still need to play around a bit with the others.

If you'd like, send me a PM with your address and I'd be happy to send you a handful of each at no charge.

 

[sm]

TR,

Thanks for sharing.
Everyone - I appreciate the sharing of load data.

 

[TrapperReady]

Dave and PJR - In the past, I've tried Winchester AA hulls with the WAA12SL wad (or the Windjammer clone) and Remington STS hulls with the TGT-12 wad. My observations with these are as follows:

* Appreciably more felt recoil with the Winchester setup than the Remington, even for otherwise similar recipes.

* Crimps were OK, but still dished.

* I was never completely satisfied with the patterns. The edges were often pretty ragged.

With the BP Lightning wads, the patterns are quite even, all the way out to the edges. So far, I'm kind of amazed at how effective these shells are... even at longer distances. For example, on the 5-stand course I shoot, there is a particularly tough simultaneous pair. It's a close rabbit, with a long and fast left to right quartering away shot. By the time you break the rabbit, you usually end up with a 50+ yard second shot on a dropping target. The way I'm shooting it now, I use a 7/8 oz shell with #8.5 shot on the rabbit, and the same thing with #7.5 shot for the flyer... and most of the time I'm crushing both targets.

I shot two rounds of sporting clays earlier today (both 50 targets each), and used 7/8 oz loads for all but 14 targets. The ones I didn't use them on, I went with 1 oz of high-velocity #7.5, since they were long going-away shots with the thrower well in front of the shooting station (think 27 yard trap with vicious trajectories). The great thing is the nearly complete lack of recoil. Playing around on the 5-stand course, I've ripped through 2 boxes of shells as fast as I can reload and call "Pull"... probably under 5 minutes for 50 shells... with no adverse effects other than a lighter wallet.

 

[P95Carry]

Interesting component mix Trapper - unfortunately I have enough ''stuff'' put aside for about 2,000 more rounds of my std 1 oz load ... so pocket won't get hit trying anything else. Good to know tho - sounds a winner.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

I need to get me a shotshell loader...

 

[TrapperReady]

I have enough ''stuff'' put aside for about 2,000 more rounds of my std 1 oz load

That should hold you over until at least April.

Seriously, I'm kind of appalled at how much ammo I've been going through recently. I'm reloading 500-600 shells per week, and still dipping into my stores of already loaded/factory shells.

I think that's a big reason why I'm so happy to have found a really effective 7/8 oz load. Shooting volume like this is much more comfortable. In the past, on numerous occasions, I've shot nearly 400 1 1/8 oz shells in an afternoon... and felt it the next day (and the day after that and the day after that). Now I can shoot all I want and not suffer any ill effects.

DOL - If you have even the slightest inkling you want to get a reloader (or even if you don't... yet), start saving/scrounging hulls right away. I saved my hulls from the get-go, even though I didn't start reloading for a year or two. By the time I was ready to jump into it, I had a supply of several thousand Remington STS hulls.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

TrapperReady,

Thanks for the advice.

All I've been shooting for the past few years have been the Walmart Value Paks.

Time to start shooting some other stuff?

-Jim

 

[Dave McCracken]

JIm, it's time. Both to get a reloading setup and save good hulls. It's a tossup on prices between buying valupacks and rolling your own, but one can make top quality ammo for the price of storebought generics.

Thanks, TR. Check your PMs later.

7/8 oz loads are effective, and the lower cost pulls about $0.25 off the cost of a box. Over a few thousand rounds, it adds up. As for kick, sure isn't much.

I fnd it interesting that the edges are filled out. All patterns are denser in the center, but mayhap these wads lower the center loading. I can tell there's some patterning coming up.....

 

[TrapperReady]

I said:

With the BP Lightning wads, the patterns are quite even, all the way out to the edges.

Dave said:

I fnd it interesting that the edges are filled out. All patterns are denser in the center, but mayhap these wads lower the center loading.

Let's say that I overstated the "even all the way out to the edges" part. It would be more accurate to say that the patterns are more even, with better density further out towards the edges. They do contain a "hot spot" in the center, but the patterns are far more efficient than my previous attempts at light loads.

The Piston Skeet wad looks interesting, as it has a very short shotcup, protecting only a portion of the shot load... and the Super-Spark has a noticibly shorter shotcup than the Lightning. Like I said, I need to do some more work with those wads... but the Lightning works well enough I decided to use that for general use for now.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

Trapper & Dave,

I'm hooked on trap & skeet and have just started to save my hulls.
So far I have the new Win AAs and will be working on some STS's.

-Jim

 

[Dave McCracken]

Jim, good for you. I'd use the AAs for learning how to use the reloader, then switch to the STS hulls for the long pull. Besides picking up hulls on the range, one can buy a case of shells, shoot them up and reload them until they wear out, then buy another case.

Les Greevy did a test a few years back where he took one hull from each major player and loaded it 15 times before prudence dictated a stop. The STS hull was the best looking afterwards and had lost no velocity.

TR, the Piston Skeet wad sounds like a great close range unit. Thanks.

 

[Duke of Lawnchair]

...one can buy a case of shells, shoot them up and reload them until they wear out, then buy another case.

That is EXACTLY what I'm doing these days.

It's a heck of a lot more fun too.

Now, I just need to find a decently priced used loader.

The folks that I went with were recommending the STS hulls along with the older, one-piece AAs. Since I'm already working on my collection of newer AAs, I'll use these to start me out.

-Jim