Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Need to find a good 12ga load recipe


Risky Rick

Recommended Posts

I'm new to cowboy shooting, and at my first shoot other cowboys thought my loads were heavy so i'm in the hunt to try and find a good lighter load recipe for 12GA cowboy shooting, I have clays powder, many remington gun club hulls, claybuster CB8118-12 (fig8) wads. I'm not against purchasing different items if need be. I need help form all the experienced cowboys and cowgirls out there in developing that perfect load recipe. I do believe you can't list load data on this forum, but if you could PM me with them it would be most helpful Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Buffalo Dick, SASS #12880 said:

7/8 oz of shot, gun club hulls, Winchester or Claybuster gray wads, Winchester 209 primer and about 15gr clays should do the job.

 

+1 This is about what I use as well. I have the #26 mec bushing which is 14.5-14.7 of clays or so.

 

Unless someone specifically tells me to pay attention its indistinguishable from AA Low Noise/Recoil for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, El Cubano said:

 

+1 This is about what I use as well. I have the #26 mec bushing which is 14.5-14.7 of clays or so.

 

Unless someone specifically tells me to pay attention its indistinguishable from AA Low Noise/Recoil for me.

I use the #24 same recipe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, +4 to the Clays, 7/8 oz shot, gray wad.  I used 14.5gr.  I used Gray AA hulls just to keep them separate from others.  This was in a Lee LoadAll II, don't know which bushing I used.  I don't load smokeless anymore, but these felt a lot like The Winchester Low Noise Low Recoil shells.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, I mentioned Clays since that's what the OP has, but when Clays was hard to get, I started using Clay Dot and never looked back. It's cheaper, less temperature sensitive and I load using the same data by weight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clays Superlite shotshell:

AA or Remington Hull

Win 209 Primer

13.9 grains Clays (MEC #25)

grey wad

7/8 ounce shot

Lighter than a featherlite shell

Knocks 'em down every time

I load these for my wife, but I use them too, when I shoot smokeless

--Dawg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Buffalo Dick, SASS #12880 said:

7/8 oz of shot, gun club hulls, Winchester or Claybuster gray wads, Winchester 209 primer and about 15gr clays should do the job.

 

Yup, my load too. Been using it for 20 years. I use Rem STS and Win AA with Claybuster or Win gray wads and the #27 bushing in my MEC Jr. Can't tell them from Featherlites when I use them.

JC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For published 3/4 oz loads with the claybusters CB0175-12 pink 3/4 oz wad, see:

 

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

 

I have tried several of the Clays and Red Dot loads for my wife and son.  Work great for them.  The wad is specifically designed for 3/4 oz loads and you can produce great/proper crimps with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Win AA (grey)hulls

13.4 gr.Claydot

3/4 oz. #7/12or#8 shot

209 primer (Win. ,Cheddite or Fed.)

Claybuster grey wad

Handles KD targets just fine,very light recoil

Choctaw Jack

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Straight Arrow Hombre said:

My old standby smokeless load is STS Hull, gray wad, 7/8 oz shot, Winchester 209, mec #26 of clays or claydot. I’ve also used a #28 busing with good results. 

 

CAUTION: When using Clays and Claydot go by weight, not bushing size. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/11/2019 at 11:46 AM, Marshal Chance Morgun said:

 

CAUTION: When using Clays and Claydot go by weight, not bushing size. 

I just weighed both dropped from a MEC 28 bushing. Clay dot was 15.4 grains and Clays was 15.5 grains. My lot of clays is Australian production, so not the current Canadian manufactured Clays. My Clay Dot is a couple of years old. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

was good shooting with you RR,, I use 13 gr of clays, by weight,  7/8 oz of shot with gray claybuster wad,,, in AAs or STSs...  cheddite 209 primer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OLG’s recipe using Unique works fine,  and he has Unique recipes for rifle and revolver as well.  Nice boom and a little smoke as bonuses! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Winchester has a great recipe... AA12FL8.  Stock up during their $2.00/box rebate in the fall and have fun all year!  Then... using a #43 MEC bushing, 2F Goex, a Claybuster CB1138-12 wad, 7/8 oz of #9 shot, and have even more fun the next year!!!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Risky Rick,

 

     Welcome to SASS and to Cowboy Action!

 

Use what Prairie Dawg said in his post and you can't go wrong.

 

You can bust clay birds, shoot knock-downs, and even get a rabbit with this load.  

 

I've been using it for years and so have a bunch of other folks I shoot with.  I call it the Prairie Dawg Lite Load.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Mo

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mentioned so far:
Bushing# - weight

24 - ?

25 - 13.9

26- 14.5-14.7

27 - "~15"

28 - ?

All were with pretty much the same other elements. There must be a better way to measure effectiveness and what to recommend other than " works for me". Not sure I want to risk my chronograph testing a shotgun. I have never used it. Anyway, I have an unopened jar of Clays and figure I will use it up with the median advice to use MEC # 26 at a bit under 15 gr., but #25 at 13.9 might be just the ticket and worth testing. The wallop we get when firing the gun seems to be the only subjective metric used here other than yes, it knocks down targets and gets clay bird bonuses.

 

When I look at load data for 7/8 oz of shot, say using Win AA hulls, I look for velocity hovering around 1200. I have never seen published data that goes below that, closer to specs for Win AA new shells. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Roscoe Regulator said:

I look for velocity hovering around 1200

 

Somewhere back in the dark ages I recall hearing that 1200 fps in a shotshell load was considered the magic number for getting adequate penetration and bone breaking on game animals.   I think that is the reason why we don't see many loading charts giving recipes for slower moving loads.   If you are encountering a lot of clay bird targets the 1200 fps load is ideal.   But I suspect shot charges traveling at somewhat slower speeds would probably still take down most of our cowboy targets.

 

The problem with many powders is that they require a certain minimum pressure for burning reliably.   If you go below the minimum powder charge the results can become erratic and possibly dangerous.  I have spoken with the folks at Hodgdon on the phone several times about "off the chart" recipes.  They have always given me their lab results for absolute minimum powder charges for their powders and a specific shot volume.

 

In my opinion, anyone considering a recipe lighter than what is shown in publicly available data should contact the powder manufacturer before going off the chart.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

 

Somewhere back in the dark ages I recall hearing that 1200 fps in a shotshell load was considered the magic number for getting adequate penetration and bone breaking on game animals.   I think that is the reason why we don't see many loading charts giving recipes for slower moving loads.   If you are encountering a lot of clay bird targets the 1200 fps load is ideal.   But I suspect shot charges traveling at somewhat slower speeds would probably still take down most of our cowboy targets.

 

The problem with many powders is that they require a certain minimum pressure for burning reliably.   If you go below the minimum powder charge the results can become erratic and possibly dangerous.  I have spoken with the folks at Hodgdon on the phone several times about "off the chart" recipes.  They have always given me their lab results for absolute minimum powder charges for their powders and a specific shot volume.

 

In my opinion, anyone considering a recipe lighter than what is shown in publicly available data should contact the powder manufacturer before going off the chart.

 

 

 

That is why I worked my load out with a Hodgdon Tech over the phone.

--Dawg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14.5 grs. Clays, 1 oz #7 shot, Winchester AA shells.     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.