doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Midway/ Federal Low Pressure 12 gauge loads

Gentlemens:

I just received an email notice from MidwayUSA about a special Federal 12guage loading for vintage guns. Their technical info:

Special Notes:
# This ammunition was produced specifically for MidwayUSA to the following specifications:
Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps
Chamber Pressure: 5000 psi
# These specifications were designed to be kind and gentle to all older break-open shotguns that are safe to shoot with modern ammunition. This ammunition is also ideal for trap and skeet practice and for a light game load - wherever a 20 gauge load would be acceptable. Perfect for light weight game guns and for youth shooting, or anyone sensitive to recoil.
# Will not function most semi-auto actions

Apparently they recognize a market.

http://www.midwayusa.com/static.exe/getstaticpage?page=11120061_page.htm

Glenn

Just as a matter of interest. Eley Two Inch twelve bore #6 cartridges will cycle my Remington 11-87 sporting clays semi auto, much to the disgust of the magpies hanging around my corral. That was a surprise, I thought I'd have to single shoot them.
Mike

The ad says this is a 7/8oz load for 12ga so it really approximates a standard 20ga load. Nice to have the lower pressure published for a change.

Altho the guys at the skeet range are always ragging on me that I can't reload "for the price of those Estates," I take quiet satisfaction knowing I can reload this little pipspeak in 12 ga. for a lot less than 6.50 the box and any shot I want. It is good to know there're enuf of us to constitute a target market.

jack

They went the easy route - 7/8 oz. Its sort of cheating.
The concern I woulkd have would be whether or not the shells would reliably light in cold weather.

For those who still want to load their own, I count no fewer than 12 sub 7600 psi loads on the Alliant website for 1 oz 12g with the STS hull. And Rabbit, by my calculations, using Green Dot, Windjammer Replacement wads, Win 209 primers and local shot at 24 bucks for 25 pounds, I get $4.18 a box of 25 1 oz at 7000 psi, when I reload. The STS hull, is, of course, free.

Still a better deal than any store bought. And, producing the shells means a few hours listening to Mozart or Bach while getting ready for a day afield or on the clays course. What could be better?

Regards

GKT

Thanks for the post, Glenn. I think it is pretty neat and I also think that it comes about in no small part from the open discussions that began taking place in earnest on this board regarding pressures and damascus bbls. shortly if not immediately after Dave opened it.

Too, I do not discount the interest in safe light CAS loads and the fact that there may be no telling what some of those guys were/are shooting in old loose doubles anyway, understanding that the 'for modern shells' part of the statement is for both safety and liability, but reality may be quite dif for some folks.

Having an available factory load that has the pressure as well as the velocity clearly stated may help some less than knowledgable salesmen to steer their customers in a safer direction and it just might get some folks to start to think a bit more about the fact that pressure and velocity are not directly related in any linear sense.

As to the reloading vs. cost of new ammo, there are many arguments on both sides, all quite valid to their owners, but for the non-reloaders it would seem that access to quality low pressure ammuntion has been a larger problem than cost. For perspective, one might consider that in parts of S.A. you can pay anywhere from $9~$11/bx for dove loads that may or may not be consistent or any good. FWIW, I'm a reloader and I enjoy it too .. and at this late stage in life I may have actually amortized the cost of all the reloading acoutrements somewhere toward zero, but more than likely I would be like my brother who used to speak of his winnings ... he NEVER included the costs of guns, entry fees, nor ammunition as he said that he was gonna have and shoot that stuff anyway. It was kind of a ruse, but he was never really fooling himself, it just 'sounded' better to his ego, that's all. Apologize for the tangent, but that's where it went. My inexpensive reloads involve a fair amount of stuff never figured in the calculations. It would be detrimental to my frame of mind to actually know any of the facts regarding true costs. Sorta like the cost of the first fish from a new boat .. with the second one halving that and so forth. $6.50 a box? Sounds like a reasonable price to me, and knowing the pressure should be worth a coupla bucks by itself anyway.

I was one of a group of gun writers that visited Federal several years ago. A couple of us tried to convince them that there was a market for American made, low pressure, 2 1/2" 12ga shells. Looks like they've come at least part way.

You can do some pretty neat things with Gold Medal hulls for vintage guns, including hunting loads with decent ballistics. Just last evening, I cranked out a bunch of pheasant loads for my Army & Navy--1 1/8 oz 6's, 1200 fps, 7300 psi.

It's nice to have another domestic alternative to foreign made: Guccimo, Anglomo,.....Chilipepermo.

Are these 12X65 or 12X70? I cannot read all the information on the box in Midway advertissment and Federal lists only 12X70, 12X76 and 12X89.

Thanks,
Niklas

I also cranked out some 1 1/8 copper 6s for my Army Navy 12 underlever. I like the federals. Guess pheasant season is here.
Dwight