doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gauges and payloads

Stan, I agree that a guy oughta use shells appropriate for the gauge. Years ago, I tried 1&7/8 oz TSS turkey loads in my 5 lb 6 oz 20 gauge. The recoil was substantial, but it didn't pattern that great either. I went back to the more gauge appropriate 1&5/8 oz load and have stuck with that one since.

It's good to use the shells that a gun is designed to use.

If you like 3/4 or 7/8 ounce shot then go shoot it and enjoy it. It is all about enjoyment. We are not feeding our families doing this. Shotgun shooter get just a squirrel(ly) as a rifle shooter who stress about that extra 50 fps or worries about the group size being 1.25" in stead of under 1" at 100 yards. I love it when they say that .25" difference, in group size, would be too great at 300 or 400 yards. Heck, most of those guys will never shoot anything at 300 or 400 yards and in the field there are no benches to shoot off. It is all in their heads. Load what you want and shoot it. If you miss I'll tell you you were just behind it anyways.;)

Sad to say Coosa, is that most S X S shooters don't even know if the loads they're shooting regulate in their S X S gun. I've found that lots of vintage S X Ss prefer a certain payload at a certain velocity, and loads a lot faster, lighter, etc. will NOT regulate, but will crossfire badly, or vice versa. I'm certain I have several that would not even come close to being regulated with 3/4 oz. loads, at any reasonable velocity.

I've not had that problem with the vintage guns that I have patterned, which surprises me to some degree. The only double that I have had that would not regulate was a Darne. It would not regulate with anything from 7/8 to 1.5 oz., and all of those were equally awful across a range of velocities below 1300 fps.

I discussed patterning at my club not long ago. The other shooters were all SERIOUS shooters of skeet, trap and sporting clays. None had ever patterned their guns. I pattern all of mine with the loads I intend to use. I have found a few that were off a bit and one that was off a lot. I've not had a problem with light loads but you never know. I'm not too serious since I'll shoot a tightly choked gun at skeet because I just feel like shooting that gun that day. I'm very surprised that these serious shooters who own expensive target guns with expensive chokes screwed in the barrels never test their patterns.

I generally don’t pattern any gun unless I’m not breaking targets. If it breaks targets, it’s good to go.

This is how bad it can be. Several years ago I determined to make a 20 ga. Philly Fox Sterlingworth Ejector my go-to quail and woodcock gun. I had heretofore universally used 7/8 oz. loads in my 20s, so I was determined to do so in the SWE. They cross-fired to the tune of 8" at 25 yards, each. I sent it to Dean Harris to have him work his magic. He called to tell me that it regulated perfectly with 1 oz. loads at about 1150-1165 fps. I was, and am still, amazed that nothing more was needed to get the gun to regulate both barrels. Years later, it still is spot on with those loads, and no others that I have been able to determine. From 8" to dead-on, at 25 yards, is a lot of moving for nothing to have been done but adjust the load.

What percent of shotgunners know that about each of their guns ......... 1 percent? I doubt it.

I know exactly what my Holland was regulated for, it says so on the charge card in the case, 1&1/16th oz of British #6 shot.

In my younger years I would buy a sxs and just go out and shoot birds. I usually did great even with a gun that didn't fit me very well. It wasn't until 25 years later after I became a member of a local gun club that I started testing my reloads in my guns. With some guns I couldn't figure out why I was missing certain birds on skeet. Well...now I know. Like Stan said, certain guns like certain loads. Sometimes you are changing the payload and sometimes you are altering the powder charge, type of powder, etc. How do you find all of this out? Go to the pattern board and also use a chronograph! I owned well over 200 sxs guns and over the years I have only kicked 2 or 3 to the curb. Testing is crucial to get the most out of your gun. On the down side, you might just find out like I did that some of your favorite loads you have been using for 20 years do not perform the way you thought they did! Experimentation is part of the fun in my book.

I don't pattern shotguns.