Picture of the hammer gun and the ever so slightly lighter PH . With that being said both are over 12 pounds .

I knew it, I never forget a gun Craig, especially one like that. I think Phil had 2 ounce loads of 7 1/2 that we were shooting dove with. It's not a gun you just throw up and shoot, that's for sure. No recoil at all. It's was a first for me, Dale and the late Dr. Spratling. I'll never forget that day. It's good knowing it remains in the PGCA family and has a good home!

Chris, AZ

I was shooting 1 1/2 ounce loads at first at sporting clays then I switched to 1 3/4 ounce loads . I do have a box of 2 ounce loads sitting in my 8 gauge stash at the moment I loaded with 7 1/2’s . Also loaded a couple boxes of 1 3/4 ounce 6’s to be used at a Pheasent tower shoot last season . Killed a couple roosters on the first peg and then I used a 12 gauge for most of the other shots . So at present I have a box of 1 3/4 6’s and two boxes with 4’s . Hopefully this season both my cannons can bowl a deer or two over . Be kinda neat to get one with buck one with punkin ball and one with a slug .

Yeah Chris I thinned the herd a little. I still have my WC Scott 8 gauge. Not sure if I brought that one out for a shoot.
For anyone wondering Dove and an 8 gauge?? These were Eurasian dove which are not considered Migratory birds. Pigeons are also fair game.
Actually when I worked with the AZ Game commission to get the 8 gauge approved for hunting in Arizona they approved it for all game except Bison and Migratory birds.

Friday I cast about twenty of the .795” ball , twenty of the .785” ball and ninety of the .415” balls . Think Tuesday I’ll load eight of the .785” balls and four of the .795” balls . The ninety .415” balls will give me enough for ten rounds of 000000 buck . If I have a modicum of success with the punkin balls in my pair of 8 gauge guns I might look into a couple round ball molds for a couple of my 10’s . Doubt I go any lower but one never knows .

I took both those 8 gauge guns to an informal private 5-Stand deal in Fredricksburg VA back a month or so ago as a friend had asked if I’d bring them along . And I had two hundred or so shells . Turns out my friend has an 8 gauge single hammer Jones underlever he’d never fired . So he shot his and seven or eight of the other eleven fellows there all fired an 8 for the first time . Was kinda neat watching folks that thought the guns would pound the heck out of them smile after the fact .

Loaded some of the .785” balls some of the .795” balls and some of the 000000/.415” as well . Both were shot at 30 yards with about a grain more of Universal Clays than I used in the previous loads . First was from the right barrel with 000000 the second was from the left barrel with two shots of the .795” balls . Also used the Italian Gulianni wads with the buckshot loads today .

very good patterns do you think the gudual wads helped....I have used them with buckshot in the 8 ga but could tell no difference...what do you think...charlie

Not really I think the only way they helped is being maybe 1/8” lower in the bottom of the shot cup and it seems to give a slightly better roll crimp . This time I also put a tiny bit of lubrication on the top edge of the hull before hitting it with the roll crimper in the drill press .

Loaded a few more today ! But cut back to the 40A bushing got Universal Clays rather than the 41 bushing I used the other day . I also used the older Remington Corrugated hulls . I’m finding just a minute bit of lubricant on the case Edgar turns out a far better roll crimp . Loaded four of the .785 and six of the .795 . Then when I did the 000000 I put ten pellets and 1 1/2 scoops buffer . Made five with ten pellets and one with eight pellets . The one with eight got 1/4” of 10 gauge nitro card in the shot cup with everything else staying the same . Maybe I can try a couple later this evening on paper .