doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Low pressure 12-ga. 2 3/4" reloading

With PB and 7625 now discontinued what powder(s) are you using and to what pressure and velocity are you getting from your 7/8 and 1 oz. reloads?

Take a look at Clays, Clay Dot, and some Red Dot loads. The 7/8ths Clays can be lower pressure than black powder (see Sherman Bell). MKII

I like 17 grains of RED Dot in a paper Federal. Shoots well but smells better.

bill

Hi, for my 12ga LP loads I use 800-X. This powder meters like crap, so I weigh each powder drop. I only use this powder for my hunting loads, so the weighing is not that big a deal with me. I load 1 1/8oz of shot for a pressure of 5900psi and a velocity of 1200fps. This load really worked well this last season, not one blooper or mis-fire and it dropped the brids good.

Good Luck!

Greg

Clays and Claydot are good choices if you can find them. These loads are directly from the powder site. I use only Federal Paper hulls for low pressure loads. That way I know that if it's not paper it is not low pressure. All my "low" pressure are from 5-7.4 Kpsi. 7.4 is about the max I think of as low pressure and it is a little higher than I like. I sometimes cut the powder back an extra half or whole grain of powder.


I used this load for preserve released pheasant last year. 19 for 25 and the misses were all my fault. Also used them for sporing clays and skeet/trap in several Damascus guns.

Hodgdon
Clays
Rem. 209P
Rem. TGT 12
18.5
6,000 PSI
1,180
Federal Paper, 1 ounce shot

This is another load I have used a fair amount. Patterns well but is about the max I want to shoot in some of my older guns.

2 3/4 Federal Paper Target Shells 1 1/8 - 1,145 Fed 209A Clay Dot CB 6118-12 18 7,390

A slightly gentler load is this one.

2 3/4 Federal Paper Target Shells 1 - 1,200 Fed 209A Clay Dot 12S0 or DRXXL Orange 18 6,770 -

I've only used this on Sporting Clays but it worked well.

You can get tons of information off the powder web sites. Information is not the problem. Finding the specific powder or wads can be but if you search you should be able to find most anything. I no longer just look on line for components I call them directly on my cell phone. About half the time they have stuff not on the web site. Hard to keep inventories up to date on such fluid inventories.

http://www.gamaliel.com/alliantpowder/alliant_clay_dot_powder.asp

Has Claydot listed on their site. Thats where I'd start with a order for wads if you don't have them. One key point substitute absolute nothing without serious thought. Not all primers and wads are equal and your are after low pressure so anything which raises pressure as little as 10% should be avoided.

Per Alliant's Reloading Guide:
American Select 18 gr.
Win 209
Win AA
CB 1100-12
1 oz shot
1145 fps/6,700psi

I shoot the 18.5 gr. version of this recipe (1200 fps/6,900 psi) and it patterns and shots well out of a 30" Brit boxlock.

You can find "book" formulas, using STS/Gun Club hulls, that will run around 6500 psi and mid-1100's fps with 7/8 oz, using either Alliant Extra-Lite or 700X. I prefer Extra-Lite, but it seems to be extra-hard to find these days, so I've been using 700X which does not burn as clean. In both cases, you're dropping less than 15 grains of powder, so they're also good economy-wise.

800X as Greg says will get the job done & may presently have the most low-pressure load data readily available.

I'm of the opinion that Long-Shot could also make for a good low pressure powder in some 12 ga. applications, but there is scarce data available for any low pressure loads using it. Almost all easily accessed load data is for high velocity loads w/attendant higher pressures. You can have loads tested for both pressure and velocity at reasonable cost these days, so it could be a good avenue to pursue.

My low pressure load was nearly identical to KY Jon's first load.

Hi, as a side note, I do use Longshot for my 16ga loads. I found a nice recipe for 1 1/8oz of shot at 1200fps and a pressure of 7000psi. Going to give this one a try this year.

Best!

Greg