A simple question for shotshell reloaders...

[northern skies]

When something has a load of, say "1oz" or whatever, is that just the weight of the shot itself or is the wad included?

So would a "1oz load" be 437.5 grains of shot PLUS the 26 grain wad?

I've been cutting open and examining a bunch of different factory shells, and I want to calculate the recoil. There's a significant difference whether I add the wad to the equation or not, and I want to get it right.

 

[yomomma]

Weight of the load, no wad

 

[Aniest]

Weight of the load, no wad

Yes: it is the mass of the slug or other projectiles intended to strike the target, not including the wad. Yeah, just echoing it in another way just 'cause.

 

[northern skies]

Great, thanks. I'll add the wad into the calculator. Should add a few ft-lbs.

It became important when I noticed the wads varying in weight from 20-40 grains.

 

[Ganderite]

Add in the weight of the powder, too.

 

[northern skies]

Absolutely, the JBM calculator has a field for that. That's one of the reasons I cut the shells open.

 

[Maritime Storm]

It is the weight of the shot charge itself. Point of note though, shotshell reloading isn't as precise as metallic reloading, their are acceptable variances in drop weights, powder is normally +/- .5 grs, shot charge is roughly +/- 20 grs due to the volumetric nature of the tools.

 

[Seagull]

Make sure to test some 2oz turkey loads. They will make your teeth rattle