Goose/Crane Loads

[Scott Chapman]

I have recently acquired a 1926 Trojan 12 gauge with 30" barrels.

I had it inspected by Kirk Merrington and he pronounced her to be tight on face, choked IM and F, chambers are 2 5/8" and minimum wall thickness over 0.040" on both barrels.

After pouring over old threads and scouring the interwebs, I am still looking for the "right" loads to try for lesser Canadas and Sandhill Cranes.

It seems that the Hevi-shot Classic Doubles 12 gauge 2 3/4" #2 offerings are $61.00 per 10 rounds from Bass Pro.

RST is out of stock of 2 1/2" #2 Nice Shot.

I can't find max dram equivalent loads with bismuth larger than #4 or Kent Tungsten Matrix larger than #3. I was trying to steer away from max dram loads to save the stock and my shoulder!

So I am leaning towards trying to load my own. I have found #2, #1, and BB Bismuth loose shot available from Rotometals, as well as, #2 and BB ITX shot from Ballistic Products.

I have zero experience loading anything other than AA trap loads.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Ideas about a good duck load would be helpful as well.

Thanks!!