Balanced loads

Grouser

Grouser

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Came across this interesting article dealing with balanced loads for hunting -- for years, I have felt that 1oz 12ga loads would out preform 1 1/8oz in the same pellet size see --- http://www.sidebysideshotgun.com/articles/balance_loads_article.html
 
Some people cannot get their head around the fact that I can literally slam pheasants with a hammer double muzzle loader and a 1oz of shot and 80 grains or so of FFG travelling about 1120FPS!!:p

Or a 12 bore cartridge gun with about 90 grains of FFG and 1 1/8 oz of shot in a brass case!!
Both guns are over 100 years old and cylinder bore as well.

Cat
 
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For a number of years, my pet load in my old Neumann Bros. was a Federal Gold Medal Paper hull, CCI209 primer, 70gr.FFg, WAA12R wad with 7/8Oz of #6, roughly 1090FPS. Never heard a Grouse or Hare complain about that load. Too much Magnumitis among shooters in my opinion. My go to skeet load is a reload 1Oz of #9 at 1180FPS, for the 16yrd line I switch up #7 1/2. No reason to pound yourself with heavier loads, the faster you drive lead the faster it slows down, the worse your patterns look.
 
I use 7/8 oz loads in my 12 ga for everything that can be shot with lead. #8 for skeet and rabbits. #7.5 for trap sporting clays grouse and squirrel. #6 for pheasants and turkey #4 for fox and jackrabbit. BBs for coyote. Slugs for deer and bear
 
A lot of folks get caught up in the "bigger is better trap". The manufactures make higher velocity shotgun ammunition and convince the nimrods out there that it is better when just the opposite is true. A prime example of ammo makers brainwashing the shooting public is the 3 inch magnum 20ga which is perhaps the most ballistically challenged on the market. We all know that extra speed is needed if hunting waterfowl with steel shot because of its lighter weight. That being said the speed compromise when shooting steel produces ballistics that leave a lot to be desired ----- omhp
Cheers
 
Grouser said:
A lot of folks get caught up in the "bigger is better trap". The manufactures make higher velocity shotgun ammunition and convince the nimrods out there that it is better when just the opposite is true. A prime example of ammo makers brainwashing the shooting public is the 3 inch magnum 20ga which is perhaps the most ballistically challenged on the market. We all know that extra speed is needed if hunting waterfowl with steel shot because of its lighter weight. That being said the speed compromise when shooting steel produces ballistics that leave a lot to be desired ----- omhp
Cheers
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You are forgetting the 3" .410.
 
Dad was in the ammunition industry for 30 years, in field testing, R&D, sales promotion and shooting sports development
His favourite answer when I asked him a question about a "new" type of ammo, accessory , or similar stuff was
"Son, that's something that someone designed to sell to someone who thinks they need it"!!

There is a law of diminishing returns , and if you add something somewhere( like velocity) you will lose it elsewhere( like in patterning and recoil)
The 3" ammo is an example if you look at the actual data it makes a person wonder why it sells?
"faster louder bigger"!!
Cat
 
I have found that 1 oz. loads @1250 fps in the good old 16 bore are very deadly. This past fall I somewhat returned to 2 3/4" steel loads at 1425 fps for most of my water fowling. Guess what? The guns are nicer to shoot and the birds I hit were very dead. I spent one morning on a slough in Manitoba with my Magnum 1100 (it cycles the noted steel loads just fine) and shot a limit of Blue Wings and even a Sandhill with 2 3/4" #4 steel. I would call it an "awakening".

Darryl
 
I've never had an issue over decoys killing big geese and ducks with 2 3/4" 20 gauge ammo and a load of steel 4's , and my goose hunting buddy for the last ten years has used a 110 Remington 12 in 2 3/4" 2's and just slams 'em!
in my hammer double I throw a load of 1 1/4 #2 Nice Shot and 100 grains of FFG to push it
because of the bigger diameter shot I need a bit more to get the pellet count up but I have used 1 once loads of 4's as well if there is no wind and they are coming in close .
Those loads are still under 1,200 I would think, but I have never chronographed them . Card wads as well, I don't use plastic wads in my BP loads!
Cat
 
I have spent 30 years in the business of marketing and selling sporting goods related products. Longer actually but I hate to admit it. I am now way too cynical about "new" products and their real value for improved performance because I have been part of way too many meetings and decisions when those kinds of "new" products got green-lit.

I hate shooting any 12 gauge load over 1 oz., the exception being 1 1/8 lead, tungsten or bizmith if I am waterfowl or turkey hunting. I don't own a chamber larger than 2 3/4" and I own about 20 shotguns.

If I don't drop the bird, the problem is my shooting, not my equipment.
 
canvasback said:
.....If If I don't drop the bird, the problem is my shooting, not my equipment.....
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A tough pill to swallow, but when you finally realize it, you're miles ahead.

My favourite 12 ga. load for grouse & woodcock has been 1 oz. of 8's since about the mid '70's ... a George Bird Evans recommendation.

I'm still amazed at how well 24 gram International loads of 7-1/2's pattern & kill after trying them in the early 90's !
 
beretta boy said:
A tough pill to swallow, but when you finally realize it, you're miles ahead.

My favourite 12 ga. load for grouse & woodcock has been 1 oz. of 8's since about the mid '70's ... a George Bird Evans recommendation.

I'm still amazed at how well 24 gram International loads of 7-1/2's pattern & kill after trying them in the early 90's !
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Apparently these chukkers never got the "light loads are killers" memo either!!Laugh2
Cat
 
amen to that one, what gets forgotten in this discussion is the difference in wad design between the old days and today, with todays wads we do not need heavy loads or tight choke constrictions, the wad is better the shot is better thus the patterns are better

when i first started trap shooting with a baikal fixed choke gun marked full over modified i was scoring in the 20s one day we actually measured the constsrictons and patterened the gun it was actually an ic barrel, the clay targets never got the memo either!
kootenay
 
kootenay said:
amen to that one, what gets forgotten in this discussion is the difference in wad design between the old days and today, with todays wads we do not need heavy loads or tight choke constrictions, the wad is better the shot is better thus the patterns are better
kootenay
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Interferes tingly enough, the two guns in the above picture with the chukkers are as different as the the guys shooting them!
My son shoots a Modern 28 gauge O/U with smokeless powder and modern hi- tech wads with 7/8 oz of shot and me ,being as old (school!) as I am , shoot late 1800's 12 bore hammer gun with black powder , fibre wads and brass cases with 1 oz of shot.
About the only thing that is the same is the size of the shot!

My son does shoot open chokes however , CYL/IC and my barrels are CYL/CYL.
we hunt over solid pointers but often team up with a member here who runs close working Goldens.
Cat
 
I just read a debate on another forum where a shooter was suggesting large payloads and long shot strings are the only reason we can hit moving objects with a shotgun.
 
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