So my reloading history goes back to the early 70's, when I burned through what my Dad had proclaimed was a lifetime supply of shotgun shells in one year. So he bought me a Texan press, some components and I was off and running.
Going through my residual stash from the day, I was surprised to see how many wads I still have that intended for....3 3/4 - 1 1/4 oz heavy field loads. Easily over 1,000. Shot a lot of ducks and crows with those and have the hearing loss to prove it. But when they went to all steel shot, that coincided with loss of access to places to hunt, plus changes in flight patterns.....so my duck and goose hunting ground to a halt as did my reloading for same.
I also note that back then, our "standard" load for trap and quail was 3 1/4 - 1 1/8 oz and 7 1/2 to 8 shot. The "standard" may have had origins in formal trap, but what we also used on quail....and used a lot of them. BTW, for me, that was informal trap. I only shot on a formal trap course a couple times. The rest was home thrown......either by fixed thrower or hand. That was mostly me doing the throwing and shooting.
Later, because of the opportunity for reloading, we started buying Win AA trap and skeet loads by the case....both for the loads and hulls. Found out that a load of 3 - 1 1/8 for skeet worked just fine for quail too. But then the quail population crashed, bird dog played out, and with nothing to hunt and now with a job and family to worry about, shooting dropped off.......a lot.
Fast forward to modern era........still no quail.....so looks like most shotgun shooting is for trap, skeet and now sporting clays. Also notice how many folks are now shooting lighter 12 gauge loads. 7/8 and 1 oz loads vs. the 1 1/8" standard of back then. It was hard to find any shotgun shells back then with only 1 oz of shot....and none in 7/8. I note that of the wads in my residual stash.....and that is several thousand......none are listed for 7/8 or 1 oz loads. Thought was.....why handicap yourself?
In modern era, also note there seems to be a transition between powder uses.......high velocity (1,250 to 1,300+ fps) 7/8 and 1 oz on the light load end and low to med velocity (1,050 to 1,200 fps) with 1 1/8 oz loads for the heavier loads. Is that because of rules or?????
Powders I used back then were either Red Dot, Green Dot or 700X. Technically, all still available today, but I'm told the formulas have changed, so same in name only. Load data would be dangerous to duplicate.
So finally I get to the question. Since Red Dot is same in name only, and rarely available, what would be good powder, primer, wad combos to look for using modern era Remington STS, Gun Club etc hulls, with either 1 oz or 1 1/8 oz loads? Recreational shooting......i.e., backyard clays.......vs. formal competition. Something in range of the old 3 - 1 1/8 oz loads......or for kids.....and to use less hard to find and expensive shot..............7/8 or 1 oz loads. **
Late in the game, it finally dawned on some that a 20 gauge with 7/8 oz loads killed a lot of quail too, plus a 20 was lighter to carry and had far less recoil. Some of us old dogs do come around......eventually.
** Powders I've seen available as recent as this week include Titewad, Competition and Nitro 100.
Going through my residual stash from the day, I was surprised to see how many wads I still have that intended for....3 3/4 - 1 1/4 oz heavy field loads. Easily over 1,000. Shot a lot of ducks and crows with those and have the hearing loss to prove it. But when they went to all steel shot, that coincided with loss of access to places to hunt, plus changes in flight patterns.....so my duck and goose hunting ground to a halt as did my reloading for same.
I also note that back then, our "standard" load for trap and quail was 3 1/4 - 1 1/8 oz and 7 1/2 to 8 shot. The "standard" may have had origins in formal trap, but what we also used on quail....and used a lot of them. BTW, for me, that was informal trap. I only shot on a formal trap course a couple times. The rest was home thrown......either by fixed thrower or hand. That was mostly me doing the throwing and shooting.
Later, because of the opportunity for reloading, we started buying Win AA trap and skeet loads by the case....both for the loads and hulls. Found out that a load of 3 - 1 1/8 for skeet worked just fine for quail too. But then the quail population crashed, bird dog played out, and with nothing to hunt and now with a job and family to worry about, shooting dropped off.......a lot.
Fast forward to modern era........still no quail.....so looks like most shotgun shooting is for trap, skeet and now sporting clays. Also notice how many folks are now shooting lighter 12 gauge loads. 7/8 and 1 oz loads vs. the 1 1/8" standard of back then. It was hard to find any shotgun shells back then with only 1 oz of shot....and none in 7/8. I note that of the wads in my residual stash.....and that is several thousand......none are listed for 7/8 or 1 oz loads. Thought was.....why handicap yourself?
In modern era, also note there seems to be a transition between powder uses.......high velocity (1,250 to 1,300+ fps) 7/8 and 1 oz on the light load end and low to med velocity (1,050 to 1,200 fps) with 1 1/8 oz loads for the heavier loads. Is that because of rules or?????
Powders I used back then were either Red Dot, Green Dot or 700X. Technically, all still available today, but I'm told the formulas have changed, so same in name only. Load data would be dangerous to duplicate.
So finally I get to the question. Since Red Dot is same in name only, and rarely available, what would be good powder, primer, wad combos to look for using modern era Remington STS, Gun Club etc hulls, with either 1 oz or 1 1/8 oz loads? Recreational shooting......i.e., backyard clays.......vs. formal competition. Something in range of the old 3 - 1 1/8 oz loads......or for kids.....and to use less hard to find and expensive shot..............7/8 or 1 oz loads. **
Late in the game, it finally dawned on some that a 20 gauge with 7/8 oz loads killed a lot of quail too, plus a 20 was lighter to carry and had far less recoil. Some of us old dogs do come around......eventually.
** Powders I've seen available as recent as this week include Titewad, Competition and Nitro 100.
