Art , FWIW most of my 8 gauge stuff are target loads 1 1/2 ounces of 7 1/2’s pushed with Clays . Same as what Armbrust has in his manual except I use red beans instead of nitro card wads to displace space . I also loaded a fair amount of 1 3/4 ounce loads using Universal Clays they thump a bit more but still work pretty well . I used International Clays some but saw nothing better so Clays and Universal Clays pretty much cover my needs in the 8 gauge . I’d say the heaviest payload I’ve done was maybe a slight bit over 2 ounces when I made up the 000000 buck ten pellet load , seems to me each pellet was about 90 grains so an ounce is 437 grains so 900 grains roughly equates into 2-2 1/8 ounces . I know when you touch that off from the bench or from a treestand it brings you to attention