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< 16ga. Ammunition & Reloading ~ Low Pressure 20 gauge load |
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Posted:
Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:02 am
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Member
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 605
Location: Topeka, Kansas
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Yes I know it is heresy for the site, but amidst my five 16's gauges I have two 20's (5 1/4 lb Francotte & LC Smith 5E)
I am looking for a below 7,000 PSI load for 20 gauge 2 3/4 inch
The lowest pressure reload I have found to date was a 1200 FPS/7,000 PSI on the http://www.hodgdon.com/ site for a federal hull use 21.5 gr 4756 powder, Rem. 209P primer, RXP20 wad, 7/8 oz lead, in a federal 2 3/4 hull |
_________________ Michael
Topeka, KS |
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Posted:
Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:00 am
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Member
Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 69
Location: Colorado High Country
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You are going to be hard-pressed to find many, if any, 20 ga. loads under 7000 psi. That said, find a copy of Reloading for Shotgunners, 4th Ed. There are several loads in the 7000 range in it.
You'll find that most of the low pressure loads will occur in poly-formed hulls rather than the compression-formed ones.
Several powders, Unique, 800X, 4756, etc. seem to deliver lower pressures in loads using them.
I do see a couple of loads in the 5900 LUP range in the Fiocchi hull but I think that pressure is suspect as it is far below anything else I see.
I found this in the Lyman 5th Ed.
Fiocchi 20 Ga. 2-3/4 7/8 SR 7625 17.5 CCI 209 Fed 20S11,206.00 6,800.00
Probably the best solution and one I would use would be to find a load close to the pressure I want then download powder and/or lead and send it to Tom Armbrust for pressure and velocity testing. He charges $5/round. Three rounds (with shot and powder weighed for accuracy) should be adequate to get accurate data.
TerryS |
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Posted:
Sat Dec 13, 2008 1:48 pm
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Member
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 104
Location: Northeastern Pa.
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Old Colonel,
There are a few out there but not many. I would have your L.C. Smith 5E checked, unless you or someone had it re-chambered, they came with 2 1/2" chambers until the mid 1930's.
If you find some in 2 3/4" length and want to be safe in your "elsie", cut them to 2 1/2" and roll crimp them, the pressure should be the same or even slightly less than a fold crimp using the same componants. |
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Posted:
Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:16 pm
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Member
Joined: 01 Dec 2008
Posts: 605
Location: Topeka, Kansas
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You are correct LC's 20ga were 2.5 in through the mid 1940"s
In order to avoid issues the chambers and forcing cones have been lengthened. I have verified the dimensions. |
_________________ Michael
Topeka, KS |
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Posted:
Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:41 am
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Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 1
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Hello Old Colonel,
My wife is a small woman- 5 feet tall and 95 pounds. Since we shoot skeet and sporting clays we go through a lot of shells. Further, since her 20 Berretta 391 is her favorite gun we needed a good low pressure load for her.
We tried several loads and here is what we came up with:
From "Reloading for Shotgunners, 5th Ed.":
Federal Plastic hull, Fed 209A, IMR 800X (17.5), RXP20 (7/8 oz) - 7600psi
Remington hulls, Fed 209A, IMR 800X (16.0), RXP20 (7/8 oz) - 9100psi
We couldn't feel a noticable difference between the two loads, but there is a huge difference between both of them and a typical promotional or "off the shelf" load. The Remington shells are preferred because we find them to be more reload-friendly, crimp better, and we just like them.
The load makes enough pressure to reliably cycle our shotguns (her Berratta 391 and my Rem 1100). We shoot 100's of rounds in a day and feel godd when we leave the range. This was not the case when we were buying promo loads.
I did try a couple of other low pressure loads but just didn't like them as much as the Remington load I mention above.
I hope this helps. |
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Posted:
Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:07 pm
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Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Posts: 73
Location: PA Dutch Country
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daburoker, What kind of velocity are those two loads supposed to be producing? Thanks in advance. |
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