12-7/8 ounce
 

Somebody included a bag of CB AA12L wads in something I bought in the last couple years . Also a pound or two of Alliant “American Select” . So I thought I’d use both up to make 7/8 ounce #9 skeet/dove loads .

Also been using up an abundance of once fired REM STS 12 hulls . It just amazes me how clutter gets cleared up when you actually put the hulls and wads together lols ! Of course with primers powder and shot as well .

I shot 7/8 ounce 12 gauge loads exclusively for years (hence the handle). They are so easy to shoot, and they will crush clays at astounding distances.

Agree on their performance. Maybe my handle should be 21gram. Don't laugh, they will also crush clays at distances you would not believe possible.

I use that same wad and 7/8 oz load in my 12 ga's for SC.Love the lack of recoil. Claybuster makes the same wad with a "bump" in the shot cup for 3/4 oz loads--the wad is pink. I have not tried it 'cause I bought a bunch of the gray ones from a local gun shop that was going out of business when the owner died.

The pink 3/4 oz. wad works well and sure makes a bag of shot last. Use it for skeet in 12 ga. and it works well. It patterns very well, uniform with very few fliers and a little tight for the choke used.

For the sake of simplicity I settled on using the pink Winchester 1 oz wad (CB1100-12/WAA12L) and Red Dot/Promo (Mec 28 bushing) for 7/8 ounce loads. They crimp nice and perform superbly in all clay target disciplines. If you haven't shot 7/8 ounce 12ga loads as the old commercial used to go; Try 'em, you will like 'em.

If I want to shoot 1 ounce loads I use the same wad and powder (different bushing) in Remington STS hulls.

If I want to shoot 1 1/8 ounce loads I use the same wad and powder (different bushing) in Federal hulls.

How 7/8 ounce loads crimps look with 1 ounce CB1100-12 and Red Dot/Promo below.

I kind of color code my 16 ga shells now.
RST light purple are 7/8 oz loads.
Herters/cheddite cut to 2 1/2" dark purple 3/4 oz
RST black, green, and blue hulls are for 1 oz loads.

Pete, I may try that wad and your suggestions. I used to use Red Dot for my 7/8 oz 12 ga loads

Which MEC bushings do you use for PROMO when pushing 1 ounce and which for 1 1/8 ounce if you don’t mind saying ? In one of my deals somewhere I acquired 8 pounds of Promo . I’d like to use it for ounce and ounce and an eighth loads in STS hulls while using the CB AA wad for the 1 1/8 and the CB AA SL wad for ounce loads .

#29 if the 1 ounce is for target, #30 if for crows (recoil operated autoloader).

#29 for the 1 1/8 ounce which is almost always a crow load, but I seldom use it these days as 1 ounce is plenty.

There are lots of loadings on the Alliant site. Promo and Red Dot are interchangeable, however, Alliant warns that Promo may not drop the same amount with the same bushing as Red Dot. I have yet to find a jug of Promo that was so different I had to change the bushing vs. Red Dot.

I’m okay with Red Dot , Unique and Green Dot and have loads for those powders . But when I looked in the Alliant loadbook brochure thing they had loads listed for Promo but they didn’t have Promo in the bushings chart . Thank you !!! In a conversation with Jimmy Hall earlier today he had told me he had been told the bushings to use were the same as Red Dot also.

In my sorta cleaning up I had an older box of WIN AA12 wads that I used up . And took a pic of the load data on the back of the box . I loved 452AA for the 12 as well as 473AA for the 20 and of course 540 for the 28 . I never loaded anything but 540 in the 28 until in the last seven or eight years .

Bushings often do not drop what is listed for them. I weigh the charge and see then which bushing drops the closest---and then again, it aint rocket science, and in the lower presure mid velocity(<1200fps) loads I shoot, it wouldnt matter that much.

Yeah I was aware of that . Years ago I had a bunch of aluminum slugs cut to make custom bushings for the PW 800C’s I used at that time . After drilling and filing a couple broke me of that PDQ . When I recently started loading the 8 gauge I weighed some bushings with powders that weren’t in the table , a lot more time consuming then I care for .

The other side of the equation is the other side of the MEC charge bar, they almost universally drop a lighter charge of lead than advertised. I have never worried about this as a shotgun is not a rifle where precision of everything is critical.

When I selected the 7/8 ounce Red Dot load I wanted from the Alliant data I was using a #29 bushing after weighing powder. When shooting them there was nothing wrong but I thought the loads were "barking" just a tad. I simply switched to the #28 bushing went back to shooting and thought there that sounds good. Reloading for a shotgun has some science behind it but it also has some seat of the pants feel to it as well.

I just loaded and tried one of the Promo 1 1/8 ounce loads using the CB AA wad and the #29 bushing in an STS hull . Shot the shell in a cut down single barrel into the snail and even in that light gun the recoil wasn’t anything to think about ! That stuff seems to burn very clean also . I’ve had people tell me Red Dot isn’t clean or wasn’t clean , but of all the Red Dot I’ve shot in the last 3-4 years in the 10 gauge guns I’ve never noticed anything overly dirty about it .

I've used Promo before but I would advise mixing the container good before using and checking weight again when starting a new container. The weight varies container to container and lot to lot.

I may be wrong but I suspect I’ll just use up this container and continue on with Red Dot , Green Dot and Unique oh yeah and Universal Clays . When the Obamite was claiming to be a president I bought up anything I thought I could use in anticipation . Now I’m trying to reduce the odds and ends . This jug of Promo came to me when I bought a loader from someone as well as the American Select I used for the 7/8 ounce 12 loads .

I have had excellent results loading 7/8 oz loads in AA cases with MECs #28 bushing with 700X. Slightly lighter than published data but feisty enough to work from 16 to 22 yds at very informal trap evenings.

We shot at Central VA today and I asked about an eighter of Red Dot which he didn’t have . But I got the same in Promo for $135 . I also bought a half case of CB 0175-12 wads . I’ll see if the crimp will flatten out with 7/8 ounce of shot in STS hulls .

Craig, it's not what bushing are you using because different peoples loading technique can throw different charges with the same bushing. It's how much powder are you using for such and such load? Those gray wads are 0178s. CB also makes a 7/8 1oz wad, the 4100, but it has 8 petals and is white. I've used the 0175 3/4oz wad for years now for evreything but trap because I wad given about 500 Federal paper shells and had a bunch of 2100 wads - 7/8oz for straight wall hulls. Daniel, you could be right about the 3/4oz patterning tighter. A writer a couple of years ago claimed at skeet ranges shooting 3/4oz loads he had to load up to 1300fps to get away from hot cores. He also wrote fiber wads or spreaders helped so patterns weren't too tight. I've found shooting SCs out to 35/40 yards that a IC choke with 3/4oz loads broke clay birds just fine.

Yes you are quite correct about charges varying slightly by ones reloading practices .