Soft recoil 12 ga. loads & recommended powder

[Go West]

After a lull, I've decided to reload shotgun shells again. Looking for an economical powder (loads per pound) and a recommended load. Used to use American Select. I'm getting a new press and will need to select charge bar and bushings. 

Remington or AA hulls, grey wad, 7/8 oz shot will be the common denominators. Mec Sizemaster on the way.

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

Clays Superlite shotshell:
Worked this out with a Hodgdon's tech on the phone.
AA or Remington Hull
Win 209 Primer
13.9 grains Hodgdon Clays (MEC #25)
grey wad
7/8 ounce shot
Lighter than a featherlite shell
Knocks 'em down every time
--Dawg

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

14.7 Red Dot, 7/8 oz, gray cb wad in STS hulls, win 209, very mild

 

Imis

[Jackalope]

My wife is pretty happy with 12 grains of American Select and not quite an ounce of shot.  Recoil is really reduced compared to the 17 grain load she had been using and it still has plenty of power for knock down targets.

[Sedalia Dave]

For the wife I load
Remington STS or Nitro Hull

Federal or Winchester primer

CB0175-12 Wad

13.2 grains of 700X

3/4 ounce shot

 

Less felt recoil than any AA LNLR featherlight and knocks them down every time.

 

[Yusta B.]

1 hour ago, Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 said:

14.7 Red Dot, 7/8 oz, gray cb wad in STS hulls, win 209, very mild

 

Imis

This load - or reduce to 12 gr. (#21 bushing).  What I load for daughter. Also - Alliant Promo is the cheapest powder I have found & may be used instead of Red Dot (same bushing).

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

I use the first load on the following chart.  It patterns well enough to break clays and is reliable in cold weather.

 

 

[Marshal Chance Morgun]

I use Prairie Dawg's load. Only I use ClayDot. Weight of powder is the same, but bushing is different. I use a MEC Sizemaster press.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Be cautious with Promo.   Alliant manufactures it so that the SAME WEIGHT of powder is equivalent to a loading of Red Dot.  The density of the powder, and thus the bushing size you need, has to be checked with each new lot # you buy.   Read the instructions right on the bottle.  Shotgun loaders who load a lot (and thus break into a new 8# jug fairly often) report having to jump up a bushing (or two) or drop to smaller size bushings very often.   WEIGH THE CHARGE that your measure drops, when loading Promo.

 

Good luck, GJ 

[Dusty Devil Dale]

7/8 oz. Shot over 12g. Hodgdon's Extra Lite with pink cb wad in green STS hulls.  A lot of CAS folks use this load.   Light recoil, but fully adequate for knockdown targets and clay birds.  

[Snakebite]

I also use 12 grains of Extra Lite, and prefer Remington hulls. Either STS or Gun Club both work well. However, I normally use a Grey Clay Buster's wad. Both wads work well. I use an adjustable bar in my Mec 9000, and just adjust the shot to give me a good crimp. Overall wad height is the same.

 

Snakebite 

[Yusta B.]

4 hours ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

Be cautious with Promo.   Alliant manufacturers it so that the SAME WEIGHT of powder is equivalent to a loading of Red Dot.  The density of the powder, and thus the bushing size you need, has to be checked with each new lot # you buy.   Read the instructions right on the bottle.  Shotgun loaders who load a lot (and thus break into a new 8# jug fairly often) report having to jump up a bushing (or two) or drop to smaller size bushings very often.   WEIGH THE CHARGE that your measure drops, when loading Promo.

 

Good luck, GJ 

Very true ^^^^

 

With my Mec#21 bushing I got the following:

10 charges Red Dot -- 119.10 gr

10      "         Promo  - 110.46 gr

 

Difference of 8.64/10 = 0.86 gr per charge.

Allowing for actual variations between charges this is acceptable to me as < 7% variance.

I believe that Promo will vary more lot to lot than most any other powder, therefore this kind of comparison should be made to verify if the difference is acceptable to you at the level you are using.

[largo casey #19191]

I use 12 gr of X-tra lite 0175 wad with filler & 5/8 oz of shot .Takes em down every time.STS hulls.

                                                                                                                                                                                      Largo

[Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580]

13 grains of Titewad under a gray Claybuster 7/8 ounce wad. Nice soft load that still works well on knockdowns. And when I bought the jug of Titewad it was way cheaper for 8 pounds than either Clays or Red Dot...

[bgavin]

23 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

For the wife I load
Remington STS or Nitro Hull

Federal or Winchester primer

CB0175-12 Wad

13.2 grains of 700X

3/4 ounce shot

 

Less felt recoil than any AA LNLR featherlight and knocks them down every time.

 

S.D. how is the 700x in this load for dirty or incomplete burn?
I went the same specs, but Clays instead of 700x.

[Eyesa Horg]

I started with 700x and now use Clay-Dot in the Praire Dawg load. I don't see any difference and neither doe the wife.

[Blast Masterson]

Alliant Extra Lite was designed for the exact load your looking for...

 

https://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/Powder.aspx?powderid=28

 

One of the cheapest powders by Alliant @ $22/lb

[Blast Masterson]

1 hour ago, bgavin said:

S.D. how is the 700x in this load for dirty or incomplete burn?
I went the same specs, but Clays instead of 700x.

 

I changed to Ultra-Lite from using 700X. At lite loading 700x was filthy and actually caught a hull on fire (on the range)!

I posted this incident elsewhere here.

[Baltimore Ed]

My current 12 ga load is 3/4 oz of #9 shot in a Clay Buster hot pink wad with a #408 powder bushing worth of Clay Dot. In w-w AA shells. I upped the amount of powder last year from the #398 bushing to help my Winchester M12 trench gun. It felt like I needed a little more juice. A very comfortable load.
My 2 inch 12 ga loads are 7/8 oz of #9 shot in a CB1138-12 wad with a #408 worth of Clay Dot in cut down ww AA shells. I can get 7 rds in my 6 rd modded Marlin, 97 and M12 shotguns. These actually have more ump than my regular loads. You do need to lean the gun slightly to help feeding but they do run fine.

[J-BAR #18287]

Moderator:

 

Please make this thread a “sticky’ at the top of the page.

[Escopeta Jake]

These are not bad.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/81024

[Max Payne]

Alliant American Select – 26 Bushing – 15.3 Grn, Claybuster Pink Wads, 1 1/8 shot, 956 fps STS Green or Gold Hulls. Winchester hulls work fine also.

Alliant American Select - 23 Bushing – 13.8 American Select, same wads, shot & hulls - 902fps

 

I like American Select & shot 8 pounds of it before I couldn't find it. I had about 12 pounds of Clays, so I switched. When I shoot that up, I may go back to American Select, although no problem with the Clays.

[Sedalia Dave]

When listing wads pleas list the actual P/N and not color. For example Claybuster makes 17 different 12 ga wads yet they are not 17 different colors. All 17 could be described using only 6 colors. (red, pink, gray, green, blue, or white.  

 

[Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580]

 

When listing wads pleas list the actual P/N and not color. For example Claybuster makes 17 different 12 ga wads yet they are not 17 different colors. All 17 could be described using only 6 colors. (red, pink, gray, green, blue, or white.  

 

Sorry, I would have but they're out in my shop and there's about a foot of snow between me and them and I'm in my jammies...

 

[Roscoe Regulator]

I use Extra-Lite and found that it requires a #25 bushing to yield 12.8 gr, Alliant's load of 13.4 less 10%. I use #8 chilled shot, and WinAA12L grey wad (or equivalent). Hulls are WinAA, 8 point. I also load Fiocchi 6-point hulls with a Lightning wad, same powder and shot measures. This same #25 bushing will yield the Clay's load. I would note that new Win AA is marked 26 grams while a MEC 7/8 charge bar yields more than 26 Grams (.91 ounce rather than .875). I see shooters doing fine with what they say is 3/4, which may actually be more than .75.

[Max Payne]

 

Alliant American Select – 26 Bushing – 15.3 Grn, Claybuster Pink Wads, 1 1/8 shot, 956 fps STS Green or Gold Hulls. Winchester hulls work fine also.

Alliant American Select - 23 Bushing – 13.8 American Select, same wads, shot & hulls - 902fps

 

I like American Select & shot 8 pounds of it before I couldn't find it. I had about 12 pounds of Clays, so I switched. When I shoot that up, I may go back to American Select, although no problem with the Clays.

Claybuster Pink CB 1100's for above loads.

[bgavin]

Noob question:  does a MEC Sizemaster care if the hull is 6 or 8 point?

[Roscoe Regulator]

From SIzemaster parts listing

65A    Spindex Star Crimp - 12 Gauge ( 6 Point)    1008439126
65B    Spindex Star Crimp - 12 Gauge ( 8 Point)    1008439128

Same site has the user manual, which makes only vague references to alternate crimp. My 600 came with both types of crimp starters. They just snap on and off. You should use the same number of points as the original.

[bgavin]

Thanks!
Perfect answer.

I'm shooting Gun Club at my weekly trap get-together to build up a stock of hulls.

[Slow Mo Dern]

Hi G.W.,

 

     If you use a MEC Sizemaster, make sure the charge bar says 78 on it if you're using 7/8 ounce of #8 shot.

 

     7/8 oz. has 78 on the charge bar.  

 

     1 1/8 oz. has 118 on the charge bar etc.

 

     I have been using the Prairie Dawg Lite Load for years and it works wonderfully.

 

     All the best, 

 

     Mo

[Sedalia Dave]

An adjustable charge bar for you MEC is one of the best things you can buy.

[Charlie MacNeil, SASS #48580]

 

An adjustable charge bar for you MEC is one of the best things you can buy.

+100 to this. I've been using one for years.

[John Boy]

Have been curious about the velocity of factory AA Low Recoil/Low Noise Target Loads Shotshells ... 980 fps

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/winchester-aa-low-recoil-low-noise-target-loads-shotshells

 

If you want to calculate your reloads ...Recoil Energy Calculator ... http://www.shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

AA hulls are a PITA and I toss'em.

For a 'lite' 12ga load, try 17.0gn of Unique with 3/4 to 1oz of shot. 

OLG 

[Yusta B.]

 

AA hulls are a PITA and I toss'em.

 

I didn't know any better so I reloaded them for about 15 years ....