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Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Plan on buying a case but would appreciate any feedback-good or bad on these wads--thanks in advance Wink

Guest

Claybuster makes a good product, the difference that I have seen is in the patterning. They have a tendency to shoot a more core dense pattern than the real Winchester AA, but to be honest the percentage is usually 5% or so, kind of a small difference. The Claybuster wads are made from a slightly less pliable plastic, and the colder it gets the more core dense the pattern tends to get, but not sure that it would ever make any real diiference in a hunting or target shooting situation.

I would pattern the load just to be certain.

One real concern is that the AA16 wad was originally introduced when Winchester was still producing the tapered AA style hull in 16 ga. All of the hulls on the markest now are straight wall, some with very large internal diameters. The AA16 wad is very small in diameter and fine grain powder WILL migrate from below the over powder section, where it belongs to above it into the compression section of the wad. If you like powders like PB, 7625 or any other fine grain or ball powder, powder migration is a real concern. I have even seen this happen with powders like Universal Clays.

For target shooting situations the problem doesn't show up, but when loads get shuffled in and out of hunting pockets or get stuffed into the magazine tube and receive a lot of recoil before the shell get used, that is when the problem shows up, as a bad off sounding load.

I would load a few shells with spent primers and toss them around a little, then cut them open. If there is any amount of powder in the compression section of the wad, choose another load.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I plan on using these in the original AA's and the Remmy black--mainly 1oz sporting clays target loads with Universal or Unique

Guest

Lucky you to have enough of those older Winchester 16 Gauge hulls left. My stash is down to about 200, so I had to stop using them for hunting. I use the AA16 wad in the black Remington with Universal also. That's a real nice load for clay targets!!!