Longshot powder surprise!

[Cold Spring]

I posted previously that I’d been working up a 20g/2-3/4” load using Hodgdon Longshot rather than my usual Alliant 20/28 powder. I came up with a 7/8 ounce load at about 1150 speed, lighter than typical factory 1200-1210 speed loads. Mine has milder recoil and it reaches out to the farthest clays with authority. All good.

Last week while doing up a new batch of reloads my one pounder of Longshot dated 2006 got to running out and I opened a 8 pound bottle dated 2025 to refill the press canister. I use a MEC 9000 progressive. Then yesterday while shooting sporting clays I found that some of those reloads in the bag had much sharper recoil than others in my Browning 20g CXS o/u. I continued on and shot up most of the bag and the difference in recoil from shell to shell was very apparent.

Today I checked the powder drop averages of the Longshot from the new 8 pounder versus what I’d averaged from the older one pounder. Same press, same powder bushing, same everything except a much newer lot of Longshot. SURPRISE! 5 weightings of the newer Longshot averaged 9.8% heavier; and by AI extrapolation it appears that the speed of those 7/8 ounce loads is about 1250 and possibly more, and pressure is about 3000 psi greater. Then I found that a powder bushing TWO numbers smaller than used with the older lot of Longshot averaged about the same drop weight as previously.

LESSON LEARNED: From now on when I start using a different lot of the same powder I’ll be sure to check for a new average drop. Especially important when using the newer low volume/high energy powders. Yeah I know there will be lot to lot variances but I never thought it could be that great. Fortunately I was doing up a relatively mild load previously; but the result could have been different if I’d been loading top pressure/velocity loads to begin with.