Favorite 12 guage shotshell powder?

LeviSS

New member
I'm starting to reload 12 guage. I have some Herco and Red Dot that I got from my dad. I'll probably mostly be making 1-1 1/4(1 3/8 maybe) ounce target and hunting loads.

From what I've read, these powders are pretty good for my purpose, but wanted to see if there was another favorite that I should try.
 
For my target loads I use Red Dot. I like it because it burns cleaner than some of the other powders . Like the Winchester X powders. Tom.
 
For light 12 gauge loads "7/8 oz,1 oz & 1-1/8 oz", Red Dot will work fine. I use Clays for my 12 gauge light loads

Herco will work good for the 1-1/4 oz loads.

Blue Dot or SR4756 are both good powders for 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 oz loads. If you hunt in real cold weather SR4756 is a better choice than Blue Dot.

I liked Blue Dot because I could load 1-1/4, 1-3/8 and 1-1/2 oz loads with it.
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanFor 1 1/4 oz and heavier, Blue dot rules.

Are you sure that you are going to be shooting 1 3/8oz target loads....OUCH!

No, maybe hunting loads, but I don't know what I'd use it for. 1 1/4 ounce is probably as high as I'll go.
 
My favorite's for overall trap shootin is Unique or Solo powders. Soft shootin. Reddot isn't to recoil friendly if loaded over 3 dram. Herco wouldn't be to bad. Hardly ever here anyone using it any more. I like using 4756 or 800X when shootin protections. If your after some really big boomer's for shootoff's, Blue dot would get it. Double up on your ear plug's. You'll bring em' out of the trap house with that or make em' run to it. LOL You can even feel the earth shake. LOL
 
This may be a dumb question, but here goes...

Do you guys worry about the velocity difference between your target loads and hunting loads regarding leading the target. Is the difference pretty negligible within a couple hundred fps? I would like to start shooting clays some this summer and don't want to get used to shooting one load for clays and then switch to something else for hunting and be all screwed up.

Honestly, I've never payed any attention to velocity much until now. I just grabbed a box of the size and shot that I wanted. Reading in my Lyman manual made me think I should take it into consideration.
 
Don't worry about the shotgun ammo speed difference. The speed difference will not make much difference in your leads on targets and birds. Most misses on flying targets are missed by feet not by inches. The distance the target is away from you will make way more difference on how far you must lead a target than the pellet speed will.

Shotgun pellets do not hold their speed like bullets do. Round shotgun pellets that start out much faster "1300 fps" from the barrel are not going much faster at 40 yards than the pellets that left the barrel at "1150 fps".
 
I used Red Dot for all of my trap loads for a lot of years. I used to shoot at least 500 rounds every week.

It's been a while since I've looked but I don't think Red Dot is suitable for 1 1/4 oz or over loads. I used to use Herco for a 1 1/4 oz of 6's duck load when lead was legal. Worked good.
 
I use IMR 700x, but I only load 1 1/8 oz loads. I shoot skeet, trap and sporting clays. I've gone through 32 pounds of the stuff (about 13,000 rounds), and it's never given me a reason to want to try a different powder. I tried a few others before it. They worked just as well, but were more expensive.

As for your other question, I wouldn't worry much about the velocity difference between target and hunting loads. Any target shooting you do will only improve your wingshooting, and as someone else said, usually when you miss, you miss big. A few extra 100 fps wouldn't have mattered.
 

For clay target shooting, and close upland bird hunting(grouse
and woodcock), I load Hodgdon Universal Clays. Meters well, and
burns clean. And I load it in 12, 20, and 28 gauge. As the
name states, "Universal". It also loads nice target ammo for
9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP.

For hunting ammo, I like Blue Dot, Long Shot, and Steel, for
magnum and waterfowl non-tox loading. For heavy field loads,
800x. I miss HS-7.
frown.gif


I ended up with some Herco and Unique, when my brother passed,
and I have no issues with this powder, other than in my loads,
it seems to burn a bit dirtier.

Squeeze
 
Thanks guys.

I didn't figure the velocity would make much difference.

What's your prefered shot weight for trap loads? Do you shoot lighter loads or stick with something like a 1 1/8 ounce?
 
For my 12ga target loads (1-1/8oz) I use Green Dot and if I want to load a "Live Pigeon" load 3-1/4dram 1-1/4oz I use Unique. These have been my favorites for about 40 or so years now.
 
Originally Posted By: derbyacresbobIf you hunt in real cold weather SR4756 is a better choice than Blue Dot.

How cold is "real cold"? I think I'm going to get a pound of Clays and Blue Dot. I'll try Clays for a trap load and the Blue Dot for the heavy stuff, if it'll well perform in moderately cold weather. I think I'll stick with the Red Dot for my lighter hunting loads.
 
Originally Posted By: LeviSSThanks guys.

I didn't figure the velocity would make much difference.

What's your prefered shot weight for trap loads? Do you shoot lighter loads or stick with something like a 1 1/8 ounce?

I'm a third generation Red Dot user. Like Clay's too.

1 1/8 oz. most of the time but I also use a lot of 1 oz. loads.
 
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