Perry, I believe everyone can make their own judgment about what pressure levels are safe in their guns.
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
