Those SAAMI specs have been in effect for a century. The heaviest 12-gauge shells our North American ammunition manufacturers offered from the 1890s until after WW-I, 3 1/2 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 28-grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite pushing 1 1/4 ounces of shot were higher pressure than SAAMI specs. Those loads didn't move that 1 1/4 ounce of shot as fast as the progressive burning smokeless powder loads that were introduced in 1922, Western Cartridge Co.'s Super-X leading the way, did.
With the North American Nimrod's proclivity to use the hottest loads he could lay his hands on we can be sure that any of these old guns that saw use from the mid-1920s into the 1990s when we see shooters beginning to think about these things, digested plenty of the Western Super-X, Winchester Super-Speed, Remington Express, Peters High Velocity and Federal Hi-Power loads.
Last edited by Researcher; 12/02/25 11:27 PM.
