8g Shells

[Mike of the Mountain]

So I've been playing with different recipes for the 8g with Universal and Clays. I have plenty of both so which I choose is not an issue. So far all the recipes break birds, some better than others. I have loaded a bunch of the 1 1/2 oz with 25g Clays and they work fine. Much softer than the 29-30 of some other recipes. I loaded up some of Craig Larter's recipe of 23.9g and they worked great at the VGC. BLING is the thing!! I loaded some up for "longer targets" where I added a sleeve that came out of industrial hulls. Since the shot cup in the recipe is filled with a 1/8" nitro card and a 1/2" fiber wad, there is nothing to hold the shot. I'll test some of these next week on Olympic Bunker targets. I'll let you know how they work.

[Craig Larter]

Very interesting, please provide a picture of the loaded shell with the wrap. Thanks

[6pt-Sika]

Nothing wrong with bling ding ! I’ve killed tower pheasants with both hammer and hammerless Parker 8’s using both Universal Clays and Clays . With the Clays it was the same as my 1 1/2 ounce target load except with 6’s , with the Universal Clays it was 1 3/4 ounce of 6’s . Both brought pheasants and pigeons down with authority .

[6pt-Sika]

Have you tried one of the ones I gave you that was loaded with buckshot ?

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

Have you tried one of the ones I gave you that was loaded with buckshot ?

No I haven’t yet.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Craig Larter

Very interesting, please provide a picture of the loaded shell with the wrap. Thanks

Will post tomorrow. 👍🏻

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Mike Koneski

No I haven’t yet.

They worked in your gun , but I suggest shooting one on paper at 25 yards to see for yourself .

[Mike of the Mountain]

Here are pics of the sleeves. They are approximately 1 1/2" long. I cut them in half to fit above the filler wads and below the crimp.

Gualandi wad, 1/8" 12g nitro card, 1/2" 12g fiber wad and the sleeve on top. Using new uncrimped hulls I don't need an OS card. If I use previously crimped hulls I use an OS card to be certain I don't have that little opening in the crimp that allows some shot to trickle out.

[Jay Oliver]

I recently got my 8ga. converted press and sizing die, though I haven't set it up yet.

Does anyone use 700x? That seems easier to find than Clays. Looking forward to rolling my own soon...

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Jay Oliver

I recently got my 8ga. converted press and sizing die, though I haven't set it up yet.

Does anyone use 700x? That seems easier to find than Clays. Looking forward to rolling my own soon...

Go online and buy Tom Armbrust' book on reloading and shooting the 8g and 4g guns. Filled with reloading data. If you got your press from Ken Burns, he can give you load data too.

Be sure you slow down with the press so as to save your wad-guide fingers. Replacements are very hard to find. I got a price from a local machine shop for them and for them to set it up and run any quantity we're looking at $40/wad guide.