shotgun loads 3/4 vs 7/8

[Marshal Chance Morgun]

I've been thinking about switching from 7/8 to 3/4 for my 12ga. Are there all real advantages to doing this? MCM

[Hoss]

about 3.05 shells more per lb of shot. = 76.25 per 25# bag.

 

of course, if you have to make up a couple that you might have otherwise knocked down.....

 

I've been loading 7/8oz. I have a load I'm happy with, so I doubt I'll change.

[G W Wade]

Been loading 3/4oz for a couple of years now. Never lost a target I hit. GW

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

What patterns best? That should decide the matter, and the wad could have as much to do with the pattern as anything.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

I like 1oz load, handy for stubborn knock downs.

 

OLG

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

3/4 ounce advantages - lower shot cost (the biggest part of the cost in shotshells); less recoil.

Disadvantages - missed shots due to poor patterns.

 

I've made 3/4 and 7/8 ounce loads for folks before, even shot some of them. I find it hard to get a 3/4 ounce load to pattern nicely. Most 12 gauge wads just are not designed for 3/4 ounce loads. Sure, you can make the 3/4 ounce load have a very light recoil. But, I and other person I used to load for would leave a knockdown occasionally even using the special 3/4 ounce gray wad from Claybusters. (CB0175-12)

 

http://www.claybusterwads.com/index.php/winchester-style/53-cb0175-12-load-data

If you look at the 1150 FPS 3/4 ounce load with Clays and Cheddite primer in a Rem STS case, that was a very nice light load. Still had holes though.

 

So, I am back to shooting 1 ounce loads again. I like the patterns they give me on thrown birds and soda cans, and can handle the recoil of 1 ounce at 1100 FPS without slowing my shotgun speed. And no knockdown stands up to a center hit from that load.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

The distance is so short in Coyboy shooting

I dont really think it will matter .

 

I load 7/8 oz shot and 2.5 dipper of BP and have never had one NOT go down.

But then again I have had NO shot and knocked them down with the wad !

[Sedalia Dave]

Been loading 3/4oz for a couple of years now. Never lost a target I hit. GW

+10

 

Use STS hulls and Claybuster CB0175-12 pink wads

Edited December 29, 2016 by Sedalia Dave

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Tried 3/4 oz and didn't like it. A noticeably higher number of make-ups that I didn't get with more shot.

 

Been loading 3/4oz for a couple of years now. Never lost a target I hit. GW

 

The more shot in the shell the more forgiving it is for bad aiming/pointing. If we keep going the super poofer route with shotgun ammo ike we do with handgun and rifle ammo I guess the next hot ticket will be 1/2 ounce loads and petitions to the ROC to allow adults to use .410s.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933

[Marshal Chance Morgun]

" I've made 3/4 and 7/8 ounce loads for folks before, even shot some of them."

GJ, I hope that the them you are talking about shooting isn't the folks.

 

I was thinking that a less shot would reduce recoil for the wife, but if there is a chance of a miss, I'll just leave things as they are.

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

I am with some of the fellas above. 1 oz patterns best for me. 3/4 does the poorest in my loads. 7/8 is ok, but not near the pattern of a 1 oz.

[Rye Miles #13621]

I like 1oz load, handy for stubborn knock downs.

 

OLG

Yep I was loading 1-1/8oz. but last year cut down to 1oz. They work great!!

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

 

GJ, I hope that the them you are talking about shooting isn't the folks.

 

Hard keeping "return customers" if'n you shoot some of them.

(Even if it was only splash back off of knockdowns)

Edited December 30, 2016 by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

[Your Nemesis]

Ive shot 3/4 oz for two years now with CB pink wads designed for 3/4 oz loads cb0175 have never had a target not go down when I did my part.

[Sedalia Dave]

Ive shot 3/4 oz for two years now with CB pink wads designed for 3/4 oz loads cb0175 have never had a target not go down when I did my part.

 

+10

[Cowboy Junky]

Advantages are in the price only......at the range it's only a disadvantage IMO.......I like 1oz loads. For most situations in SASS the differences will be moot but when you have clays in the air, stars moving, long shots or that stubborn KD that's front feet have dug into the dirt by the time your posse gets there a good 1000FPS 1oz load might make a difference. As a TO I can't count how many times I have seen "magic BB's" in a clay, a chip fly off one in the air, a KD just barely drop etc all because a couple extra pellets hit the mark.

 

I also can't tell you how many matches I have won & lost where the difference of 1 shotgun reload would have changed the outcome. So for me the price of the extra shot compared to all the other expenses and time I have involved in this sport isn't worth the risk.

 

Just my .02.

[twelve mile REB]

I was going to stay out of this topic as so many have already posted their opinion. For some people recoil is a real concern and as the most common target for a shotgun is a knockdown 3/4-7/8 loads more than do their job, pattern is not a consideration as the shot is mostly still in the wad at typical knockdown distances. 7/8 oz. loads with claybuster gray do a great job on flyers or AA"s factory low noise low recoil also a 7/8's of an oz. load are deadly on clay targets or other moving targets. The thing some people forget is that a shotgun is still an aimed weapon you must use that little thingy on the end of the barrel and the misses go away.

[Bullett Sass 19707]

What REB said. Been using 7/8 oz loads since 1995 knocks down everything I aim at. Bullett 19707

[Lefty Dude, SASS # 51223]

I tried both 3/4 & 7/8 oz loads, back to 1 oz loads. lot more forgiving and better for KO targets.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

Well I'm in the minority....I shoot 1 1/8 oz and a full load of BP. Patterns very well and I am happy with it, don't plan on changing anything! Lots of smoke and "dead" steel!

[Rio Brazos Kid]

I shoot a 7/8 oz load of 7-1/2 shot at approx.1000 FPS, out of a 20 inch barreled Coach Gun with IC (.010 constriction), chokes. Takes KD targets down with authority, and patterns well on poppers. Nothing not to like.

 

RBK

[Coffin Filler #51633]

You need to evaluate YOUR needs. What kind of targets do you shoot at? Is recoil a concern? How good a shot are you?

 

Shot is expensive so cutting back saves a bit of money. I practice trap shooting using 1 oz loads, but always use 1 1/8 in competition. I cannot afford to miss a bird when it matters. But trap is a different game. I used to shoot 20,000 rounds a year so saving money on practice shells mattered. Cost did NOT matter when competing.

 

For the vast majority of CAS shotgun targets, 3/4 oz will not have many disadvantages. If you have a stage with aerial targets or stubborn KD's it is not a big deal to carry a box of heavier loads to get the job done. Then go back to the lighter loads.

 

Pattern YOUR gun with YOUR chokes, and YOUR loads. There are a LOT of perfect scores shot in skeet with less than 7/8 oz of shot.

 

Having said all that, unless you flinch, or recoil affects recovery for subsequent shots, more shot will always be better.

 

My CAS load is 7/8 oz of 8's @ 1050 fps I have a box of 1 1/8 8's @ 1145 fps if needed.

 

Coffin Filler

[VICIOUS, SASS#8014]

Howdy; I have gone to 3/4 ounce in rem. hulls and pink clay buster cb 175 wads. I add a good amount of powder for higher velocity. 8 size shot. No issues at the trap range ,good tight pattern, but I am using a 50 year old stevens bolt action shotgun. As to CAS aim and hit method works.

[Snakebite]

JMHO.... All this talk about Pattern... is not really meaningful at the ranges we shoot our shotgun targets at. There isn't a falling target in the game that won't go down with a 3/4 oz load if you hit it right. Too many folks just slop their shotgun shots. The pattern from a 1 1/8 oz load compared to a 3/4 oz load has about the same spread 7 yds... not many shotgun targets are farther than that...... the density of the pattern of course is higher, but in either case the spread is about the same. Just aim the shot, hit the target, and it will go down. I shoot 3/4 oz loads and it is a very rare thing for me to have to re-shoot a target. Carry some other shells for the VERY RARE occasion that the shotgun targets are not in your face.

 

Snakebite