shooting upold ammo

[charlie cleveland]

i got my old 3 inch gun out this after noon decided th shoot up several old hand loads and a few factory loadings this evening....the hand loads were 3 inch various makes that i had loaded up last year all roll crimp stuff...5 loads were lead no 6 and theother 3 were steel bb s...plus 2 fatory 3 inch winchester double xx magnum steel shot one was no2 load and the othera no 4 steel shot...then i had one factory remington premier lead no 4... my target was a pop can at 40 steps..gun used a eastern arms double barrel with 32 inch barrels and full and full chokes... i was shooting at the bottom of the can which cannot be more than 2 1/2 inches in diameter....of the no 6 hanloadsthe best shot was 3 pellets... next was the steel bb swith 4 pellets in bottom of can..kinda surprized me on the bb s beating the no 6 s.... next was the factory steel load of 2s and 4s after 3 shots i d only put 1 pellet in the bottom of can and i can say i was let down by there poor paterns plus they liked to have kicked my arm off.. the last shot fired was the premier lead no4 load it put 5 pellets in the bottom of can it won top honors in this shooting match....but of all the shots fired the bb rolled crimped loads really surprized me on there patterning so welland they did not try to tear my arm off either...you fellas that handload ought to try the bb s with roll crimp and you can get the bb s at wal mart... bb gun ammo.... charlie

[Mark Landskov]

Modern factory loads with steel shot are pushing 1400 FPS, or more, at the muzzle. This is for a 12 gauge 3" shell with 1-1/4 ounces of steel shot. I imagine that the recoil would reflect that increase in velocity over a standard lead load with 1200 FPS. That would account for your felt recoil, Charlie!

[charlie cleveland]

yep the steel shot loads are definatly bad on the shoulder.... i even had one of them slip on limb saver pads on the old double it was about all the recoil i wanted.... charlie

[Paul Harm]

You're a better man than me - hell, I won't even shoot 1oz factory loads let alone 1 1/4.
All my loads are my own reloads so I know what's in em. Of course all I'm doing is shooting clays so I got spoilled on 7/8oz at about 1180FPS. Nice and soft - Paul

[charlie cleveland]

i agree paul on those soft loads..they are fine for the shoulder and shooting clays and even small game...but when it comes to a turkey i want at least a 1 1/4 or more probably more i like the 1 1/2 ounce in2 3/4 inch 12 s and the 3 inch i like 2 ounce ...in the 3 1/2 inch 12 i like the 2 1/4 ounce load...in the short ten i like 1 5/8 ounce or if i use gauge mates i like 3 inch 12 ga 2 ounce load and in the 3 1/2 inch 10 i like the2 1/4 ounce load...if i use the 8 ga ilike a2 1/2 ounce of lead....no wonder im gun shy huh....but i do like the low recoil loads espically the 1 ounce 10 ga.... still thinking about the 1/2 ounce 20 ga load..... charlie

[charlie cleveland]

loaded up them 1/2 ounce 20 ga loads today and tried them...all i had were felt wads to load with....i patterned them with a full choke gun first the pattern was terrible....then tried a cly bore and patterned it still bad patterns...my opinion wasting time and lead fooling with 1/2 ounce loads in the 20 ga.... both guns patterned at 40 steps....thew would be ok at 20 yards but i aint to fast on the draw anymore....dont believe a plastic wadding would have done any good but who knows i may try it some day.... charlie

[Paul Harm]

The guys at the club shoot 3/4oz 20ga - seem to be fine - Paul