Recipe Tested 8ga with Gualandi wad
 

With the difficulty obtaining Remington SP-8 wads I decided to develop a target load for my 8ga shooting. I started by just replacing the SP-8 wad with the Gualandi wad, same shot, primer, powder charge. I got the results back and was a shocked because the load using the SP-8 is in the 8500 psi range. The Gualandi load came back 10500psi @1250fps, hot in my opinion. So I dropped the charge of Clays from 30gr to 26gr and it came back 9700psi@1200fps, still to hot for me. Next I dropped the charge to 22.7gr Clays and the load is what I plan to use at 8200psi@1100fps. A copy of the results are below. I am not recommending this load it is for information only. Just show it is reloading roulette when you replace one component and assume your will get the same pressure and speed.

it seems that you have found a nice load for shooting clays with the 8 ga...good on the shoulder and good on the gun...I would never have thought that by just changing a wad it would have made that much difference in pressure...thanks for the info..charlie

From what I know there are 2 different 8 ga Gualandi wads a sporting one and industrial one. I would hazard a guess the industrial one will create higher pressures since they can run a bit oversize according to the guys in the UK.

The ones I have from Ballistic products measure .830 which is n
ot oversized I would guess they would be for sporting guns? Anyhow I have 2500 of them.

I shot this load and one big draw back is significant lead fouling. The issue is the wad shot cut is taken up by the nitro cards so the shot is exposed to the barrel walls. I do not plan to utilize this load and would not recommend it to anyone. Back to the drawing board. Craig

If I understand the nc is for filler? could it go under the wad or over the shot and allow the shot to fill the cup better?

Whether I use 1/8” card wads or some sort of bean to displace space they go in the bottom of the shot cup with the shot on top .

hope you find that magic loadyou will succeed just keep trying.....charlie

I really like the 1 1/2 oz and 30g Clays. I think it shoots soft and turns them into diesel smoke. :cool: I still might test your latest 22.7g load.

Well I finally got the load I wanted after the fourth try. Win 8ga hull 3 1/4", WW 209, 23.7gr Clays, Gualandi 8ga, 1. 1/2" 10ga fiber wad, 1. 1/8" 10ga card wad, 1 1/2oz # 7 1/2, 6 fold crimp. 6835 PSI, 1130fps. Minimal barrel leading.

Less lead fowling?
 

Craig,

Forgive if I’m missing the obvious answer to this question, but what do you attribute the less lead fowling of this load compared to the earlier load?

Thanks,
Stan

Stan: Tom Armbrust suggested the fiber wad. He said on ignition the fiber wad would compress allowing some of the shot to be protected by the wad shot cup and lower the pressure by 1000psi. It did both.
This load is just a back-up load in case Remington SP-8's are not available to reloaders in the future.

Craig, in the right hand column under "Wad", what does it say after Gualandi? I can't decipher it.

Is the fiber wad filling the bottom of the shot-cup or underneath the plastic wad?

Filling the bottom of the shot cup. "Gualandi Hi Capacity"

Correct me if I’m incorrect , but seems to me some yahoo at what’s known as Remington Components pretty much said they had no plans to restart manufacture of SP-8 wads . Now I’d be more than happy if that were incorrect .

Winchester makes a one piece plastic wad for 8ga that they use for solids which may be appropriate for shot. We may gain access to that wad, I will keep everyone in the loop.

Is that a 10g or 12g fiber wad? Looks like a 10g to me.

10ga

Win 8ga hull 3 1/4", WW 209, 23.7gr Clays, Gualandi 8ga wad, 1. 1/2" 10ga fiber wad, 1. 1/8" 10ga card wad, 1 1/2oz # 7 1/2, 6 fold crimp. 6835 PSI, 1130fps. Minimal barrel leading.

So with this load as suggested by Armbrust you have nothing around the shot no shotcup or wrap ?

I'd be quite intrested to see the Winchester wad you mentioned .

I'm thinking Craig cut the petals off the wad for a better visual of how the fiber wad and NC sit in it.

So I took this recipe out to my press. The Gualandi wads are that short and I didn’t remember that the shot cup was short. I didn’t have a 39A bushing but I have a #40 which drops 25g Clays. Still much less than the 30g I was dropping. I didn’t have any 10g fiber wads or NC. I used 12g instead and everything loaded very nicely.

Barrel leading?
 

Craig,
So after you mentioned Barrel leading, I was cleaning guns used at Hausmans and I noticed this in my 8 gauge barrels which I don’t recall seeing before. And yes, I was using Gualandi wads in some of my loads.
The marks/streaks start just forward of the chamber and go maybe 12” +/-, is this lead build up, this area of my barrels does have some pitting.

In a semi related nature , I’ve made a point of getting something around all my buck/slug/ball loads in the 8 and 10 gauges to try and cut down on lead smudges . And I use several things . Masking tape for the punkin balls , mylar for buckshot and the slugs .

Stan yes that looks just like the leading I experienced. I loaded up 25 of my last recipe and I will report on leading. I shot 5 rounds a week ago and the leading seemed much improved from earlier attempts.