Low Pressure 16 Gauge

[Mike of the Mountain]

One other thing that may affect your crimp. If you are using RST hulls, their crimps seem to have “more plastic in them” than other brands. Not saying RST are bad, it’s just an observation having reloaded A LOT OF THEM. You may have to adjust your wad column(such as adding a 1/8” NC) and/or start and finish crimps.

[John B White]

I’ve three 16’s , all acquired this year. A dolls head Trojan, a refinished VHE, and a well used Sterlingworth. I’m not shooting any of them well, but intend to hunt them in the fall.

So for now…. I’m dancing with each until I find the one I want to marry (while having an occasional tryst with the others).

Probably shoot a lot better if I just stuck with one. But what fun is that?

[Andy]

I’m the outlier. I like to shoot clays with my 16’s. Since I have about a metric ton of longshot and a lot of rst hulls I ahoot one oz loads a lot. And a mix of factory or 2 3/4” cheddite handloads for my sweet 16 and model 31. And a 16 VHE is my number one gun. If I fall into a pile of money then it would be 28’s more but for now 16 does all I need it to. When I ahoot my zoli 28 I feel badly for my 7-8 Parker 16’s then invariably grab one next.

[Keith Doty]

I got a nice 16 ga. load Craig Larter made available to all after testing a while back. I have shot it a lot in my "0" frame Damascus 16 as well as several other 16s I have. Great for clays, quail and dove. I have noticed it burns a bit "dirty" at low temps but I think that's common with low pressure loads and cold weather.
2 1/2" Cheditte hull
209 Cheditte primer
Sporting 16 wad
7/8 oz. 7 1/2 shot
17.4 gr. Longshot
6 pt crimp

[Keith Doty]

Neglected to add Craig's test results.
1145 FPS
5933 psi

[Andy]

I do very similar Keith with 18g longshot and 1oz #8 with the TUWG1816 wad at 1200fps and about 7200 psi as tested. It’s my favorite 16 vintage load because I can get all the stuff

[Keith Doty]

Andy, that's why I started fooling with Longshot....I could get it. I've since discovered it's great for short 10s and 20s. A very versatile powder, cheap and has remained available. I'm still using International in 12 ga. as I have a pretty good stash. If I run low I'll be working up some loads for Longshot I'm sure. May not live long enough to see International or Universal available again!