Does no one load and sell 20 ga. spreader loads besides RST and Polywad? Both of them are at $15 and $15.79 per box, respectively. By the time you add shipping to that, it's a deal killer for me.

I use Fiocchi Interceptor 12 ga. spreaders regularly, at under $9/box shipped. I buy them two flats at the time. Does no other major company load 20 ga. spreaders?

SRH

B & P shows a 20 ga. Dispersante load, but Aerostar doesn't list them for sale.

SRH

If you reload, get some spreadR discs and load your own. They work well. Just have to lower your shot content some. Russ

It looks like that's what I'm going to have to do. But, what Polywad wants for shipping them to me is ridiculous ............ $17.09 for a couple of little bags. And, I'm not 200 miles from them!

Ballistic Products shows a wad with an X post in the middle. I'm almost certain that is how my 12 ga. Fiocchi Interceptors are loaded.

I would be able to load them for a whole lot less than RST and Polywad loads, for sure.

SRH

I have used the Extreme spreaders from BP for loads in my 16ga guns. They work great and are not very expensive. BP even sells a brush wad for your 20ga that when combined with a spreader does open up your patterns well for close range shots. For my 16ga I cut the shot petals off of regular SG16 wad{as recommended by BP) and the loads shoot great without having to reduce the amount of shot.

I use the BP X-treme in 12, and the Polywad insert in 20.

I don't remember the shipping to have been that much. Maybe it was. Just order a bunch, you'll use them eventually.

The RXP20 seems to have been made just for the Polywad application.

I load 3/4oz spreaders with the standard CB 7/8 oz wad and a Polywad insert. International is peachy for that, I seem to recall 12.2 grains makes a 3/4 oz #9 spreader for use on skeet doubles in the left barrel of my Rizzini choked .018". It runs 1150 fps and works fine. It does make that barrel into skeet barrel. Fun!

For the 7/8 oz spread load I use the RXP20 and the Polywad disk. I favor the Remington hulls for this, stoked to 1200 FPS with 20/28 or WSF. #8 breaks the stupid close in wabbits, when I can get the gun to them.

You'll like the Polywad inserts.

Hey Stan,, I haven’t ordered from RST or Polywad in some time but it does appear their prices have gone up a bit as I would have also ‘choked’ at those prices plus freight. Perhaps ORM-D shipping rates have increased as well,, just don’t know. I have never patterned any of my RST or Polywads properly but I’m mostly a grouse and woodcock gunner these days and therefore, don’t burn through my stock too fast and could always rely on grabbing a few boxes in 12-16-20 ga at the Vintagers or other events they attend. Not sure of your intended use (maybe bobwhite quail?), but something got me thinking about safety of the dogs with these spreader loads after hearing/reading of ‘flyers’ out of the pattern they may be more susceptible to produce. Not sure of the reality of this phenomenon, but it made me very (maybe overly) cautious this fall when more than a couple of tightly held birds flushed and didn’t clear the dogs before a safe shot materialized but then was lost in the cover or already rocketing around the backside of a spruce.. I’m probably not articulating this very well but, what I’m trying to say is I now have a slight nagging fear that spreaders may not be too safe over dogs and I hold off more conservatively on snap shots I probably would have taken with just pain old RSTs or Vintagers.. With that comes the decision to shoot tighter chokes or have them opened up a bit - which is obviously a gun-by-gun consideration for most of us that may need to keep things as they left the factories of the Northeast USA back in their day...

I'm probably not going to mess with them at all. Dogs' safety is much more important than any slight edge I might get with a spreader out of an IC choked barrel anyway. Truth is, when I use the Fiocchi Interceptors on those "stupid close-in wabbits", as SJ calls them, I'm not certain the advantage is as important as I sometimes want to believe it is. I shoot two fixed choke .020"s at sporting clays, and do well with it even without the spreaders. My final score on the course is determined much more by which Stan showed up that day than it is by whether or not I remembered to bring a box if spreaders.

I'll likely be much better served to repeat the admonition of the The Patriot to his young son, "Remember, aim small, miss small, as my mantra.

SRH

Good to mention dog safety in a hunting scenario. Whenever I have patterned spreader loads, I've always found a few pellet strikes on the extreme edge of the paper. Something to consider.
A fellow hunter I know had discovered pellets in his dog's hips upon a routine x-ray, a reason I never use spreaders for hunting or when shooting for hunt tests involving dogs. I do feel however they have a legitimate use for clays.
Karl

The spreader shells I have shot (only fiocchi) kick like a mule in 12 ga. Even the 1 oz are pretty brutal. My bud who is a grouse hunting guru says they are bird cripplers on grouse. Personally, I have no experience with them hunting.

Good discussion gentlemen and food for thought, I suppose and I’m going to make the effort to get out and pattern my spreaders. I have a few of the Fiocchi’s in my dove bag too. Never noticed any extra recoil but then again, I have only run those through a 7.5lb Fox with 30” tubes and great balance. It’s my ‘dove gun’ before ducks come in.. I will put up a large area of paper to see just how any fliers may stray out of the pattern. I will not hesitate to use them for dove/pigeon should I choose a tightly choked gun for the day and usually only load them into the left chamber so should be conservatively be able to keep an ample inventory until I bump into RST at one of the future regional events. I stopped reloading several years ago which I enjoyed, but could make economic sense of as I don’t shoot targets except on occasion. Cheers and good hunting,, jmc

Buzz- I also found that spreaders can be cripplers on grouse. I also used a cylinder gun for pheasant and rabbit when I was a teen. The rule is, you have to be very close to the bird to get a killing effect with either cylinder or a spreader. 25 yards is a long way for a spreader.

I did some testing for 12 gauge spreader loads back a few years ago. I loaded shells with polywad spreaders, the X spreader that BPI sells, and one other one that I have forgotten. The polywad gave much more consistent patterns than the others.

I wanted to use a f/m sxs on late season doves and I wound up using a load with an ounce of shot under the polywad and 1/4 oz over it. I found that if I just put the polywad over all the shot it left a hole somewhere in the pattern. Adding shot over the wad seemed to eliminate the hole. I got that idea from a guy on another forum who had done extensive testing with a 16 gauge.

It changed the performance of the gun from f/m to m/ic, and I didn't notice flyers being any worse than a normal shell. I wouldn't have been afraid to hunt over a dog with these shells. It does take a good bit of extra effort to load shells in this manner, so I wouldn't do it except for hunting purposes. I would think you could duplicate it with 20 gauge loads.

I remember an article in either DGJ or Shooting Sportsman about 20 years ago that reported extensive testing on spreaders. The golf tee type insert reported more effective in changing the pattern consistently. The X type insert was not as effective. Also, the more choke the more the change. The spreaders were intended for short range work.

Does anyone else remember this article?

The Fiocchi Interceptors are loaded with the X post in the center, AIR, and they pattern great out of my MX8. I say that after plenty of testing them on my plate. That's the only gun I use them in, and as I said before, only for crazy close rabbits or extremely fast and close droppers.

I hate those kinds of targets anyway. I wouldn't even take a shot on game that close to me, and some target setters persist in putting such stupid presentations out there. I'd rather shoot 50 yard crossers any day than a fast, bouncing rabbit at under 20 feet. It's just poor target setting, IMO.

SRH

What he said!!!

Maybe it's a matter of which Stan sat down at his keyboard.

You want 20 gauge spreaders or not?

If you do, you likely will have to load them.

Even with shipping, the components cost...

(get ready for it).

Peanuts.

SRH

When I was reloading (one-by-one on Mec Jr.) I tried the soda straw method but never maintained the inquisitive attitude it takes to perfect a custom spreader load and ended up buying polywads then, RSTs and Fiocchi’s.. not that anyone asked, just enjoy pulling on this thread.. Peace, jmc

My first 'good double' was a Reilly sleever with M&F chokes. I wanted to use it enough that I bought some Polywad 'doublewides' and thought the shells made it a great quail gun. I've never had any luck at all using spreader on dove though. Past twenty yards and it won't kill anything...Geo

Found a couple of pics to show before and after with the Polywad loads I made up a couple of years ago. These were both shot through the FC barrel of a Beretta 425. The first one is a regular load at 25 yards. There wouldn't be much dove left if you hit him with the center of this pattern:



The next one is the Polywad load; I thought the shells made the gun usable. This is a 28" wide poster board I'm using for a target.