Charlie, I have noticed there are two different styles of federal 10ga hull. The one's marked "steel" on the head stamp use a hull with thicker ribs. They have slightly less room inside. I like the 1/2" fiber filler wad sold by BPI as it can be split easily to the desired height with a thumbnail. Additionally it is softer and compresses whereas the harder Alcan filler wads don't. If your wad column is a smidge too high the BPI filler is more fogiving in that regard and still gives perfect crimps.
I was reluctant to say the load is effective to 65 yards but it is. I was among the ranks who thought a 1 1/4 ounce load was a 12ga load so what is the big deal. The big deal is the 10ga shoots better patterns heads and tails over most 12's and just flat kills birds better, many many more birds left a plume of feathers in the air indicative of a hard hit. I would not have believed the effectiveness of a 10 bore until I used one for a season.
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