Challenger Shotshells

Me too, have fired tons, 12 and 20 ga. This is my first issue. Even the ones that did eject, I could just pull off the brass. I have a few more boxes of the same Lot #. I will try to find a break action.
 
I use Federal top gun target loads for cowboy. Go through them by the thousand. The empties just fly out of my double without even having the chamber polished. They go on sale all the time for $69/flat. I think I have 13 flats in the basement at the moment.
 
I've shot tens of thousand of Challengers and the only problem I've had with them is in very cold weather. Otherwise they work great and prefer them to Top Gun or Winchester Super Target.
 
Not a huge fan of their target loads but when they are on sale for $15 - $20 less per case then I grab some. Biggest thing in my books is they are heavy on recoil and the primers often pierced. So far I am not having a piercing issue through my TM1 but they definitely did in all my o/u's.
 
I agree with Spank on the recoil, especially in their "heavy target" loads !!! I've never had primer piercing issues in my K guns or Remington 3200, but it does seem to happen with some frequency with some of the Browning O/U's that are used by guys I shoot with.

I'm now reloading 7/8 oz for all my 12 Gauge needs so I'll probably never use them again.
 
Never use Challenger now, as their target loads did not pattern well in my trap gun. Others I shoot with use the target loads regularly, with no issues.
 
BJP said:
I agree with Spank on the recoil, especially in their "heavy target" loads !!! I've never had primer piercing issues in my K guns or Remington 3200, but it does seem to happen with some frequency with some of the Browning O/U's that are used by guys I shoot with.

I'm now reloading 7/8 oz for all my 12 Gauge needs so I'll probably never use them again.
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They have the 1oz high velocity(1300fps) on sale currently so I grabbed 4 flats for handicap. They definitely get there quick and destroy targets when you connect but they are punchy!! Next day I picked up a deal from a fellow shooter on 15 flats of 1oz 1180fps top guns. So much nicer to shoot but I still have 3.5 flats of the challengers to burn up. I'll get rid of 1 flat at the next registered shoot. Lol
 
I just picked up a 16 box flat of challengers 12ga 1 1/8 oz 1150fps lot 120013058. Hoping they dont peirce the primers. Was $114.99 at the hardware store and i have 3 friends who just took up skeet so we been burning thru shells fast
 
I've shot almost 1000 of Challenger 7.5 target loads this year. Not a single problem. Only shot a box of slugs, but still, no problems. Odd.

That said, I have co-workers that talk of Challenger being wonky with their QC.
 
Challenger is bargain price ammunition.
The shot in their "First Class" target ammo is as soft as the cheapest in the industry, shown by testing over on Trapshooters.com.
Soft shot is not First Class. There is a reason that the sale price is the lowest available.
 
saskbooknut said:
Challenger is bargain price ammunition.
The shot in their "First Class" target ammo is as soft as the cheapest in the industry, shown by testing over on Trapshooters.com.
Soft shot is not First Class. There is a reason that the sale price is the lowest available.
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I couldn't find this testing you referred to. What I did find on trapshooters.com was this.

https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/challenger-shotshells.825599/#post-7743913

I measured about 10 individual pellets and they were very consistent at .085. This correlates to an actual #8.5 but the shot was extremely spherical and rolled in the dish very smoothly. The Challenger factory answered my email regarding antimony and it is 2.5%. I have cut open a lot of shells and this is some of the most consistently round I have seen in a shell at this price point.
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Of the various promotional loads I've found Challenger patterns and feeds better than Winchester Super Target, burns cleaner than Federal Top Gun and is usually less expensive than Remington Gun Club.
 
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saskbooknut said:
https://www.trapshooters.com/thread...rchased-at-2020-ata-grand-shell-house.891825/

The poor test results of Challenger ammo are a disappointment to me. I used to recommend Challenger over Gun Clubs and Super Target.

It is very interesting that this year, Federal Top Gun had significantly harder shot - in Winchester AA territory. That makes this lot of Top Gun the best bargain ammo on the market.
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Thanks for the link. The Top Gun results are a surprise. I haven't patterned in a while and perhaps it's time to get out to the board and see if anything has changed with Challenger.
 
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