Using WST for Cowboy 12 gage loads

[Wild Eagle]

A friend of mine has a jug of WST he wants to sell.  It looks to be a little slow burning for our cowboy 12 gage loads.  I load 7/8 oz. of reclaimed shot at about 950-1000 fps.  Will WST burn clean at this low pressure?

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

Yes. I'm using 14.4gr since that's what one of my Lee bushings throws, with 7/8 oz shot. Love them.  Very good for WB 45acp also.

[Crisco]

I believe it is the powder Winchester uses in their LNLR (featherlight) loads.  I load it for my wife with 7/8 oz shot, a grey wad, and a #23 Mec bushing (can’t recall the charge weight) in AA cases.  Shoots like a featherlight but more reliable in cold weather, as long as I avoid Fiocchi primers.  Shoots nice despite a lot of unburned powder.

[Sheriff Dill]

2 hours ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

Yes. I'm using 14.4gr since that's what one of my Lee bushings throws, with 7/8 oz shot. Love them.  Very good for WB 45acp also.

If you are using a Lee load all. I started with one of those last year and bought a set of bushings from elite 3d designs website and it gives you 4 powder bushings and 2 shot bushings. Very reasonable pricing and works great. I load 13 grains of perfect pattern with 3/4 oz shot busing. 

[El Chapo]

It'll be fine.  One of our cowboys is running it as light as 9-10 grains with 3/4 oz of shot for his 8 year old son.

[Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971]

According to this powder bottle,  WAA LITE is the powder used in AA low noise, low recoil factory shells.

 

 

The Hodgdon website states WST is used in AA shells.  Unfortunately, WAA LITE is no longer sold to retail customers.  However, Perfect Pattern and Extra-Lite (currently unavailable too) are good choices for lower recoil shells.

 

WST is a great powder.  Many use it for Wild Bunch pistol loads.

Edited December 25, 2025 by Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971
more info

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

I just managed to aquire an 8 lb container of Winchester AA Lite  

Hope to load up some shells using it this Friday for use this weekend

[Wild Eagle]

Thank you to all who took the time to reply.  The comment about the unburned powder makes me think I'll pass on this.  It's hard to find a powder that burns clean at our low pressures, but they do exist. 

[El Sobrante Kid]

16 minutes ago, Wild Eagle said:

Thank you to all who took the time to reply.  The comment about the unburned powder makes me think I'll pass on this.  It's hard to find a powder that burns clean at our low pressures, but they do exist. 

 

My current load is 12.9gr of Perfect Pattern and 7/8oz of shot. Just barely a hint more recoil than Win LNLR and no powder residue.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

3 hours ago, Wild Eagle said:

Thank you to all who took the time to reply.  The comment about the unburned powder makes me think I'll pass on this.  It's hard to find a powder that burns clean at our low pressures, but they do exist. 

??? Nobody in this topic said anything about unburned powder.

[Sam Sackett]

Check out Crisco’s post.  He states that it works good in spite of the unburned powder. 
 

Sam Sackett 

[Toranado, SASS # 58447]

Have tried and a few friends tried and still use.  Does work, say nice light load, BUT lots of unburnt powder.   At one time spoke with manufacture and was told that not designed for lighter loads is what created all the unburnt powder.