doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com LOW PRESSURE SHELL ADVICE?

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Free shipping for the remainder of today with the code 35HOT.

B&P Competition One 1oz and 7/8oz are listed at 6530 and 5804 psi respectively.[/quote]

Thanks for the code! Saved 14 bucks.

Ithaca1

The downside to flirting with too-low pressures is poor combustion, i.e., unburned powder and marginal performance.

I once believed powder residue was of no concern as long as I was happy with the ballistics. Then I encountered two instances with the same SxS where unburned powder was dumped into the action when I dropped the barrels and extracted the empties. After about 2,000 rds I experienced failure to set of the triggers and, even worse, hair-set triggers causing the gun to fire on closing. Disassembly revealed powder residue, both burned and unburned under the triggers.

It's not hard to avoid dirty ammo, so I do. Pressure is my friend...and I like 8,000 psi as a minimum.

Geo, thanks for the feedback. That has been my experience too.

My hand load that duplicates the B&P 7/8 oz shell is 16.5 of Red Dot and 7/8 oz. It's the lightest load Alliant recommends. In a 7 lb 9 oz Parker 2 frame VH. It burns clean, shoots and feels identical to the factory load.

Looking for something even lighter for a 1 frame 7 lb Parker and & 7 lb Birmingham Hammer gun went under Alliant recommended loads. Dropping to 15.7 it still burns clean, little less report but really no difference in felt recoil. Reducing to 3/4 oz shot and 15.7 it gets dirty and not sure ignition is a good as the heavier load this from the sound only. Might be able to come up with a lighter load using Clays.

Point is working on the bottom end of shot weight and powder charges there are diminishing returns and you can go too far. I gave up on lighter and shoot the 7/8 oz 16.5 load in all my 12 G doubles now.

Other thing worth considering is the choke. Patterning 7/8 oz loads, B&P or my hand loads, in a modern O/U with Cyl chokes it�s patterns too open and inconsistent to suit me. Although lot of our club skeet shooters use 7/8 oz. Seems to me the reason light shot loads work well is the chokes are making up for shot load.

My opinion only.

Boats

I bought a few cases of the B&P 24 gram 12 ga load at Cabela's.
No recoil. Clean barrels.
I am in training for the spring vintage shotgun shoots, and these are a much more economical choice than the RST's.

If they are in fact 5700 psi, I may never bother to reload any 12's.

I use my reloads for pratice B&P for the main event. It's a mental thing use the best for the important one.

Boats

IF it matters, the 7/8 oz. B&P case is a full 2 3/4"

B&P Competition One 7/8 oz. 2 3/4"; Fiocchi 2 11/16"; Fiocchi 2 3/4"; Federal (and Estate) 2 11/16"; Remington Gun Club 2 3/4"; Winchester 2 3/4"; Herter's (Federal) 2 11/16".



All 2 11/16" - Nobel Sport Low Recoil, Remington STS Premier, Remington Nitro, Federal Top Gun, Federal Top Gun



If the case mouth is feathered like the one on left, it probably does matter

Don't forget about Polywad in Roberta, GA, between Columbus and Macon. They have been building low pressure loads as well as other specialty loads for many years and turn out great products. Their "Vintager" loads are what many of use in the South use in our older guns. Freight is often cheaper in the Southern states simply because they are closer. Check them out at www.polywad.com I am not connected in any way to the company, I just enjoy their products.

Polywad does make good stuff. And I've never found anything that spreads like a Polywad spreader.

Polywads are nice shells, but for me at least, the 7/8oz payload is too light for the upland birds up here. Still they are a nice shooting load.

Best,

Greg