Light load !
 

Shot skeet Tuesday night at our club . For the first two rounds I used a Circa 1964 Browning Superposed 12 ga 28” that I’ve owned for three years and had yet to shoot other than down thru the woods twice . Anyway I was using a 7/8 ounce load sitting in the CB 3/4 ounce wad and pushed with American Select . I forget how many grains of powder but it was close to whatever the Load manual says for 1150ish . Anyway that load for skeet atleast is a target grinder I crushed 48 of 50 with it . I was quite satisfied to say the least well except for my two uhm indiscretions shall we say :rotf:

If you get a chance try the 3/4 oz. load at skeet and you will see no change in your ability to break targets. A frequent poster on Shotgun world reloading forum got me into light shot charges for skeet and i was shooting with him last week. I asked how many converts he has made in the last decade he has been using them and the answer was zero.
I have made 1, a 30's R.N.who was getting a bruise on her cheek from factory loads and being questioned at work about abuse. She went straight on the first box i gave her and i had to give her dad 2 bags of wads to load for her.
Until you use 3/4 and 7/8 for trap it is hard to believe the effectiveness on clay targets but many say 3/4 is magic in a 28 ga. but the same load in 12 is better.
One last advantage in these times of component shortages is the cost which when buying in bulk comes out to approx. 3.65 a box.

I load 3/4oz. in all gauges. Once you develop confidence in that load you will be amazed at how far you can crush, not break, a target.

It does require tighter chokes but then again most of my vintage guns have them.

Daniel, your giving that RN those lighter loads surely made a difference that day but trying to convince a shooter, usually a male, that he doesn't need a shot charge over 7/8oz. is an exercise in futility.:banghead:

In a decade of us promoting and handing out boxes of shells to people it has been a dismal failure. We hear ''i need all the bb's in the air i can get'' and we answer '' you need them in the right place''

I also hand out samples of my light loads and the reaction I get the most is that they feel they need recoil in a load to break targets. Go figure.

Said by the guy who has a flinch that you wonder how he hits anything!! My friend has developed a 1/2 oz. 12 ga. load which i have tried and it works very well although it needs a filler. If you need all that shot how do you explain the 410 shooters who have incredible runs? They just put it in the right place.

I've tried the 1/2oz. load in 12ga., first given to me by a friend, but could not get the crimp right. They worked well enough. Didn't feel like adjusting my machine but if this component shortage continues I may have to.

Have tried a lot of fillers such as cherrios and found styrofoam meat trays and a punch of the type used in making gaskets to be the best. The punch's are made in sets of different sizes and sheet foam is available in craft stores. They can then be made to a consistent size. Carpet backing made of felt is good in some applications, 16 ga. 7/8 for one.

Going on six years now loading 7/8 oz. 17.5 of clay dot for my 12 ga. Like Daryl said above, "you put the BB's where they are supposed to be and the target breaks. The best part with this load is when I give one to my shooting buddies they say they didn't feel it go off and want to check the barrel to make sure everything came out.

To get nice crimps for those 1/2 ounce loads using the CB 3/4 ounce pink wads (CB0175-12), I put a card board wad in the bottom before adding the shot. Those wads are 0.140" thick, 20 gauge diameter size. I get them from Craig Smith, Circle Fly wads in PA. They cost about a penny apiece purchased in quantity; ie 5,000.

Craig often goes to Ernie's shoot in June. Let him know and he will hand deliver them.

I use 14 grains of Alliant Extra Light powder and have had Tom Armbrust test them. Pressure around 5500 psi and the speed is around 1325 fps. Been loading them for 6 years.

Yep, that standard rule applies: put the shot in the right place.