Does anyone have experience with the 1 oz or 1.25oz load? Roster talked it up so much in the last SSM, I have ordered a flat from Midway. Supposedly the lead is of a superior uniformity and contains 7% antimony which reduces deformed pellets. Of course this load is not suitable for our vintage guns, but I will try it in some modern barrels.

Merely curious Owen, but why exactly do you say that these shotshells are not suitable for our vintage guns? Pressure perhaps? Thanks in advance for an answer or discussion on this by you or anyone.

Perry, I believe everyone can make their own judgment about what pressure levels are safe in their guns. I attempted to locate the pressure for these shells, but was unable to find any data. If anyone knows the pressure, I would love to have the info. However with a 1250/1300fps 1/1.25 oz load my guess is that the pressures are in the 10,000+ range which I would deem too high for most of my vintage guns.

Quite the turnaround there, Owen.

While I agree completely that we should each make up our mind about that, I'm curious why you think a gun that is in excellent condition in wood and metal, and was built to handle 10,000+ psi loads of the day, wouldn't be suitable for them today. I know of Foxes that are being fed BOSS copper plated bismuth (not the lower pressure 8500 psi loads) annually, and the owners are knowledgeable and careful gun enthusiasts. Then, there's all the vintage pumpguns that were designed to handle loads in that pressure range, and are still going strong.

Maybe you meant to say something like "Of course this load is not suitable for many vintage guns".

If you want to know think about having about having them pressure tested. $40.00 for one test.

Yikes. Just...absolutely no. Everyone can take RESPONSIBILITY for that, but that doesn't mean that have the wisdom to do it with good counsel.

About 7-10 years ago I was on the hunt for the best low pressure options around, as RSTs were getting harder to get. So I put 4-5 shells of about 10 different makes to Tom Armbrust in IL. Tom worked with Sherman Bell on the "Finding Out For Myself" series of articles in the DGJ years ago. Ballistics testing/measurement is WHAT he did.

Suffice it to say, I was shocked at both the disparity of everage pressures, and the range of measurements across just a handful of shells. I included RST falcons as a control, and the only name brand that came even close were a certain Fiocchi load called 7/8s oz "Trainer."

The RSTs were like 5,700, Fiocchi's were like 7,400, and everything else was 9-11,500. Of the maker brands, the Winchesters were both the hottest, and had the widest range.

This made me decide that for hunting purposes in my modern guns, I would absolutely reach for Winchesters...especially for turkey.

But for dusting clays with my Lefevers, I use some of the many flats of Fiocchi trainers I bought. They were about 70% of the price of RSTs. But given all that's happened since, even if the load is available, who knows how they price now.

If he is still around and not retired, find Ballistic Research on the internet and send him a bunch of shells to test.

Gambling is for guys who say "hold my beer" and then jump their pickup over a ravine.

NDG

SAAMI max pressure is listed as 11500 psi for 2 3/4" & 3" shotshells. Assuming that the Winchester Diamond shells are loaded in the USA pressure could be anything up to that level. As has been previously mentioned on this board by many others, having a pressure test done on the shells will be valid only for that particular lot.

Brittany,

You are right, but I was satisfied with the minor 'gamble' of seeing what his pressure tests said, and then ordering a slew of what I wanted in a near term time frame.

The more important point I wanted to make, was that the range can be high, but also that they vary dramatically by maker with no real explanation on the label.

I think I sent 2 Winny loads, one was "AA" of some variation, and the other I cant recall. Both same shot weight and number, both 2-3/4 shells, and neither said anything about being light or heavy.

The pressure difference between then was like 1,500 averaged acroas the 5 shots of each. That's pretty big.

NDG