What's everyone using for ammo these days?

[Holeshot]

Bruce, I see that sheet shows 2 loads not recommended by Parker. I like 1 oz. loads in a 16. Do you think it is 2 much for a 16 ga. Dave

[Bruce Day]

That table is from the 1910 Parker Small Bore brochure. While I don't know when ammunition companies started loading 1 oz 16ga loads ( Dave Noreen would know) I am aware that at least by 1920, Parker was patterning 16ga guns with 1 oz loads. The hang tags provide verification. Sometime between 1910 and 1920, they moved from 7/8 to 1 oz. I have not seen any difference in barrel measurements to accompany the change, but then I haven't seen all the Parkers.

As for me personally, I reload 16's with 7/8oz because I like the lighter loads but I use 1 oz on the pheasant and prairie grouse we have out here. I have even shot the 1 1/8 oz loads from my P fluid steel that I have shot for over 40 years ( still tight) but I know that load is on the marginal high side and whacks me and the gun hard, but hey, sometimes I feel like I need to throw lead. Everyone has their personal views. The 1910 brochure 16 load was a 7/8 2 3/4dre whereas the modern Fed load , for example, is a 1 , 2 1/2 . I probably think too much about these matters. A good buddy with a lot of fine guns just buys cases of promo loads from Wal Mart.

Dave, just keep in mind the service load pressures from p.515, TPS.

Here's what is left from a 196, ??? patterning tag, showing a 1 oz 2 1/2 dram load being used by Parker. That's the same load made today by Fed, Win, Rem and RST. I've seen , but do have have, the same load tag for a G dam 16.

[Bruce Day]

meant to say " do not have [the G tag]"

[charlie cleveland]

way i look at it youve got 2 questions here... 1 are we shooting clays or trap with the parker... 2 nd are we hunting.... answer to first question we fire lots of shell at man made targets... lots of shells equal a blued shoulder and pain plus heavy pounding on equipment the gun...thats is if we are shooting heavier loads...now if we shoot lite loads that break the targets as well as heavy loads and dont bruise uor shoulders or dont be to rough on our guns then the natural choice is the liter loaded shells plus lite loads are chearer than heavy loads.... now for hunting loads..when a fellow goes into the field he wants shells that will hit and kill game as far as that gun can...yo take duck hunting or pheasant hunting i want a heavy load that will bring the game down...lite loads will kill birds but they got to be close and then your gonna get lots of cripples...you will have cripples with heavy loads but not near as many as with lite loads...when hunting its rare to have a lot of volume shooting... a fellow that shoots clays a lot in one year will shoot more in one year than a person who hunts game will shoot in a life time this is for the average hunter... this is my personal opinon i like lite loads for targets and heavy loads for game and fowl there is one exception that is dove hunting...the average fellow that hunts doves will shoot a hundred rounds of shells in the morning to get his limit of 15 birds and then go out and shoot close to that many in the evening to get the limit...now some of you are gonna smile or laugh at my figures here but this is the i base my figures on...ive been watching dove hunting all my life some will get a dove almost every shot fired but on a whole a hunter will average 3 to 5 doves for every box of 25 shells shot...only reason i dont use hihg brass shells on doves is cause it gives me a head ache and a bad sore shoulder from shooting so much..... charlie

[Les Van Drie]

Keman and Rio also make 7/8 oz 12 ga loads.