16ga.com ~ View topic - 7/8 oz. loads, with a few 3/4 oz. loads thrown in.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

Ever since the DR-16 came out, I have shot quite a lot of 7/8 oz. loads for clay targets with a few 3/4 oz. loads thrown in just for ha-ha's. I am down to the last bag of DR-16's and that will be gone within a month or two.

I kinda like the 7/8 oz. loads, especially for my Model 37. It was made in 1955 and I want to be kind to that almost 70 year old wood.

Yesterday I played around with CB wads trying to find out if 700X, Green Dot, N320 or Unique would migrate by in the Federal and other straight wall hulls......for target loads it mostly doesn't but the powders do migrate enough that I am not comfortable with it.

I have decided to buy a bunch of 28 gauge .125 nitro cards and use them in the bottom of the Z2M16 and SG16 wads and be done with it. I know I could cut all the hulls down but then it would be a Sizemaster project. Yeah well, I'm not interested in loading a couple thousand target loads on a single stage every year.

If anyone has a better and/or different solution for 7/8 oz. and to a lesser degree 3/4 oz. loads, let's talk about it.

Joined: 27 Jan 2016 Posts: 490 Location: Oswego, Kansas

I load 7/8oz loads in Cheddite hulls with SG16 wads with no problem using Green Dot. I don't have to add any filler because all of my hulls are trimmed to 2 5/8" for my old double guns with short chambers.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

I’ve been doing that for a couple years now, loading 2000 2 1/2” with the 600 jr. Yes it’s tedious but not troublesome, given a few tricks I’ve picked up. It’s easier if you have a helper that comes over and sticks his snout in your lap and tells you with his big eyes that it’s time for a break.

B.

Mark,

The easiest, most efficient & consistent way I’ve experimented with is what you describe. I ended up buying another drop tube to shorten it for some loads, but likely you will not need it.

My first use with the nitro cards was with 5/8 oz loads for Clay Dot and CB in an effort to get the lead to last longer , but that is actually more expensive than 3/4 oz lead loads, and I know I had some powder migration. I’ve taken to buying 3/8” cork sheets and punching out 13 mm plugs to put in the SG16 for my 3/4 oz loads. This is simply for economics over the nitro cards, but that is time consuming to a certain extent even though I’ve become pretty fast with the punch. I’ve also tried a few AirSoft pellets over the shot, which works well, but is not as easy as nitro cards.

Unfortunately, I don’t use 7/8 oz for targets, only 3/4 oz for practice and 1 oz for matches, with a few boxes of 1-1/8 oz #8 for very windy match days.

I’m trying to convince myself to try Cocoa Puffs, not very successful yet.

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2349 Location: West MI

Mark, that's a clever & practical work around to the flare the CB cup technique. 2 birds, stack height and powder migration, 1 stone.

Seems to me if cutting your own disks, a couple DIY Over Shot Cards would do the same as the purchased nitro card. I use milk or juice drink carton material = water resistant OSC.

11/16 = .6875", 17mm = .6693"

Get the punch with the round shank, or turn it to round, and mounting in a drill press can make a bunch of cards very quickly.

Side note, in a conversation with one of the Tech's at Precision about a particularly stubborn/troublesome load I was trying to get work. He mentioned how adding an OSC under the wad can sometimes help flatten FPS or Pressure spikes in a given load.

According to the guys at the Parker blog, Kevin has already made a run with more DR16 in the works. Based on that there should be some available to purchase very soon. Shotgun Shell Reloading is the section of the Parker site this is on.

Joined: 09 Feb 2015 Posts: 823

Since most of my shooting is trap playing the games I usually stay with 1oz. I do use 7/8 on the 16 yrd to the 23 yrd just to save on shot. But the 1oz for 24 and on back to where ever shoot of.fs are picked.
Manytime back to 35 yrd or more. It surprises most how well the 16 ga keeps up. I load for the 1250 fps range.

That being said I flare the powder cup and add a filler in the bottom of shot cup. This I have been doing for many years now just to save on cost of wads and has served me well. I have and do loads 5/8 for protection shoots to try and give my partner a larger piece to shoot at.
I no this adds a little time to the loading process but when said and done it give me satisfaction. I don't mind reloading. To me it's enjoyable. I enjoy the competition if their something in it.
During the winter months is when I flare my claybuters for my summer shooting. The savings on wads is very considerable.
Just to let you know the claybuster can be loaded without migration for about half the cost of other wads with no scrubbing in the barrel.

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2170 Location: Florida

Hammer bill

Can you explain your flaring method for the claybuster wad?

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2126 Location: Hudson,Wy

I actually converted my Mac 650 to be able to load 2 1/2" shells. It wasn't as simple as originally thought, but it works well.

I need to look at my ammo supply. I have a bunch of 7/8 oz. #5's I loaded for blue grouse. I recall using the Rem hull, green dot, and a wad other than the DR. I think I used the pink Claybuster, but it could have been the low capacity SG 16 variant. I will let you know.

Joined: 09 Mar 2016 Posts: 755 Location: Mn.

Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 444 Location: WI

I'd like to try some of the DR16 wads, they seem to have a mythical reputation and are always in high demand, yet they are always unavailable. Are they really that much better than anything else out there, and why?

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

Mark,

If your 7/8 shooting is substantially more than 1 oz, might it not make sense to convert the sizemaster to 2 1/2 and use the 600 for 2 3/4?

Now if the DR16 reappears then Bobs your uncle, but if not, fillers, seals, cards etc would seem to be tedious for bulk reloading.

B.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

I won't touch my 9000G, it stays as 2 3/4". I have a short kit for the Sizemaster.

I saw where DownRange is running the DR-16......let's see how they are going to be priced.

I can put a lot of nitro cards in SG16's before I start reloading, for cheap. I haven't paid for Gualandi wads in over 20 years and I have about 4,000 left.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1310 Location: Western WA

Just out of curiosity, how many rounds per hour, at a leisurely pace, can you make with your 9000G, absent any cards, fillers, etc.? With my 600jr I find I can plod along at about 10 min per box, in lots of 100, starting with primed sized hulls. I haven’t clocked my time for preparing the hulls, which I perform separately in bulk lots, but it’s time consuming as it involves inspecting and cleaning/sorting hulls, deprime/prime, supersize, etc.

B.

Joined: 04 Mar 2019 Posts: 1844 Location: Central ND

I can reload 450 to 500 rounds an hour on my 9000G16. I generally reload 3 to 4 flats at a time. You can make a 9000G run 2 1/2" hulls but you will have to disable the auto-advance mechanism. I am not really all that enthusiastic about doing that, because there are a lot of other things to change and adjust. It would probably be at least a 1 1/2 hour change over, and then some adjustments to get things to run correctly.

As far as hulls go, I check all of my range pickups when I get them home. Since they are usually my hulls, that haven't been on the ground for more than 15 minutes, there is no reason to clean them, just make sure there isn't anything inside. I do usually clean hulls I have used for hunting though. I toss them in a vibratory tumbler with corncob and a little Hoppe's #9.