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The heaviest 12-gauge smokeless powder loads offered by our North American ammunition manufacturers from the late 1890s to the early 1920s were 3 1/2 drams of bulk smokeless powders or 28-grains of dense smokeless powders such as Infallible or Ballistite. From the 1905 UMC catalog --





These loads have been reported to be higher pressure than SAAMI specs which came into being circa 1925.

In the early 1920s our ammo companies introduced progressive burning powder, high velocity loads, Western Cartridge Co.'s Super-X leading the way in 1922. Progressive burning smokeless powder moved out the 1 1/4-ounce 12-gauge load at higher velocity with lower pressure than the old bulk and dense smokeless powder loads. The progressive burning powders also allowed the upping of the payload in the 3-inch 12-gauge shell to 1 3/8-ounce at acceptable pressure levels.