doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Need Help - Low Pressure Load Recipe

Hey all, say, I'm looking for a LP load to use for clays. The components I have are 12ga 2 3/4" Remington STS/Gun Club hulls, Win 209 primers and a jug of Promo powder. I can get wads no problem, but I'd like to use the above because I have a ton of them.

I'd like to load 7/8oz and really don't care to much about velocity, but would like to keep the pressure down to that 6500 to 7000 range.

The recipes on the Alliant site gives one at 7000psi, but the primer they state is the Rem 209P and according to the Alliant reps the Win primer would increase the pressure to around 8000.

So....does anyone have a recipe that would meet my requirements?

Thanks so much!

Greg

Greg, there's a STS/Gun club recipe at this site.
https://www.nssa-nsca.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ceretto.pdf

Promo is not a great powder for what you want. It is designed as a full target load at a cheap price. Look at Extra Lite or ClayDot or American Select.

In fact just go to Alliant Powder web site and pick 12 Remington Hull, select shot charge, primer and powder, all, to see your best options. I'd go for a 1 ounce load. The lighter loads tend to have more velocity to get proper powder burning.

1 ounce payload from a Remington hull in a CB-4100-12 wad on top of 16.5 grains of Clays powder ignited by a Win209 primer yields 1125 FPS and a chamber pressure of 5800 psi according to Hodgdon.

I agree Promo is not a good powder for what you want to do.

Dave Myrick

Greg,

As KY Jon suggests: "Promo is not a great powder for what you want. It is designed as a full target load at a cheap price. Look at Extra Lite or ClayDot or American Select."

I use Alliant Extra Lite powder to load 1/2 and 3/4 ounce 12 gauge loads and it performs quite well for in close targets. Pressures are down around 5000 - 6000 psi and speed at around 1300 per testing of my loads by Tom Armbrust.

I use a Claybuster CB0175-12 wad for the 3/4 ounce lead shot load with about 14.3 grains of XL powder and either a Rem or Win 209 primer. For 1/2 ounce lead loads, same thing but 14.0 grains of XL and I put a 1/8" thick card wad in the bottom of the shot cup to take up some space for nicer looking crimps.

I also load 12 gauge 2 1/2" shells using RST hulls to shoot out of my H&H hammer gun that has 2 1/2" chambers.

Nice mild stuff that gets the job done at short to medium distance targets. And actually, out of the left full choke barrel of my A. H. Fox early A, does reasonably well at distance shots too. It might not smoke 'em but a break is a break.

Hope this helps.

Sometimes you can figure out a good low pressure load for yourself, with help from Tom Armbrust. I came by an 8lb. keg of commercial grade Solo 1000, from a small shell manufacturer, some years ago. I had no way of knowing for sure if the burning characteristics were the same as the Solo 1000 anyone can buy. So, I loaded up a few shells with components I chose, just doing some extrapolating from the charts available, and flew them off the Tom. They turned out to be a pretty darned good low pressure load. Lower pressure than I needed, at about 5100 psi, AIR, which left me plenty of room to ease the charge up to get a bit more pressure, and more cold weather dependability.

Just a reminder that there is no danger in trying new loads, Greg, if you have them tested by Tom before using them yourself.

Best of luck, SRH

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/shotgun just plug in your components. Try 12 gauge. 1 oz lead shot. IMR-7625 powder. Case type. I think You'll be happily surprised.

Low pressure 7625 loads are great if you use them in T-shirt weather. When you have to don your Long Johns they can give you squibs & let you down. I found this out in a duck swamp with temps in the low 20's. As I don't do clays except occasionally with a portable thrower for a bit of practise I have bought no more 7625.

Faster powders with a bit higher pressures suit my needs much better. When I pull the trigger I like the gun to go off with a solid Bang rather than a muted Burp.

I have had pretty good results with my low pressure 7625 loads in fairly cold temps, Miller. I've used them in the 20s temperature range, maybe even the 'teens, and have never had a squib load or a weak sounding one. Maybe it has something to do with wad pressure, or weight of shot charge, or primer used, or................?

I am not doubting that you have had issues, I've heard you say so before, just reporting my experiences.

All my best, SRH

I thought 7625 was discontinued. No?

I think it is, Dave, but I bought an 8 lb. can before it was. That much lasts a long time for low pressure duck loads, for me.

SRH

Stan;
I don't recall all the details now but the load was taken directly from a Dupont handloaders guide that was current at the time. I do recall it used Remington SP cases, CCI primers & Rem wads. The load was actually a 1�oz load of #5 shot @ about 7K psi. Velocity was around 1150 fps. After loading some prior to the duck season I left the .22 at home a time or so & tried them on some squirrel. They went off with a solid bang & would knock a squirrel for a loop from the top of the tallest trees in my neck of the woods. Then I carried them on that duck hunt. My son & I had gone to this swamp & were hunting from a Jon Boat. There was a flooded Soybean field we had to break ice to get across to the wooded swamp area. First duck I shot at was a Greenhead Mallard drake. I got that feeble Burp I mentioned, the duck came down but hit the water swimming. My son finished him off with a 20 gauge loaded with an ounce of #6's. I didn't shoot anymore but let my Son shoot his limit. When we got home we examined my mallard closely. All the #5 shot had barely broken the skin while his #6 shot had penetrated well. I did note the next edition of DuPont's guide this load had been eliminated, perhaps I wasn't the only one who had trouble with it.

I would advise anyone using 7625 at any load under 8K to pick a load which uses "Hot" components. Maybe if I had been using Federal primers or AA hulls my results would have been different. The SP was a cooler case as well as the CCI primers were mild. Even though listed in their guide it just didn't work well when the weather turned cold. I have done most of my loading with Green Dot since & have had no problems with it plus it was more economical to boot.

Agree with that list of powders. I've used all of them in Gun Club/STS hulls for light (7/8 or 1 oz) reloads at relatively low pressure. Extra Light is probably my favorite, but it's been hard to find of late. Fortunately, I had most of an 8 pounder of American Select, so I decided to use that up and keep my eyes open for Extra Light. About the only negative with AS compared to XL is that it takes a bit more powder (2 or 3 extra grains). Cost is pretty similar, so that makes XL a bit cheaper.

Thanks everyone for the great advise and recipes! Sure do appreciate the help. I did find a LP load using Promo. Once I use that up, I'll be using Clays powder from now on. Might be a few bucks more, but a lot more recipes to choose from.

Thanks again!

Greg

When I reload for targets I use the STS, Win209, and 7/8 ounce in a Federal 12S0 over 17 grains of Clays. Per Hodgdon's site that comes in at 7700 psi and 1220 fps. If you go with a CB-4100-12 instead, with 18.8 grains of Clays you get 5200 psi (!) and 1200 fps.

The 12S0 load is a nice, soft-shooting one that is economical (esp with the shot) and patterns well.

19.0 grains of 800X blue windjammer wad Winchester AA case and 1 1/8 oz. of shot. Breaks clays and kills birds beautifully out to 40 yards. Pressure is only 4800 psi. This has been a go to load for me for over 12 years. Hope this helps

Forgot to add Rem 209 primer!

I've found when looking for LP loads quite a few had the Rem 209P (now 209PSTS), but I can't find any around here. The places that do carry reloading components can order them, but the cost is $49. Compared to $30 for Win 209 and $27 for Cheddite. For the load I found, I asked Alliant about a primer sub. They said at low pressure you can swap Win 209 primers with no ill effects. He said that you can drop the powder by .5 grain and get about the same pressure. So for me, I'm using Win 209's. Cheaper and available.

Best,

Greg

We buy Cheddite for 117/5000, the Win and Fed are up around 125 to 140. I've been reloading low pressure shells for around 15 years and at 7500psi and under and don't feel there's a problem with subbing in Win, Cheddite, Rem, or CCI's. I've also used many a jug of Promo because it's so much cheaper. Is there a little powder left in the barrel ? Yea, but it goes out the next shot. With a break open gun there's no problem. JMHO