doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 10 Gauge Waterfowl loads... Suggestions?

Before the lead ban, I used 4-1/2 dr Fg and 1-1/2 oz copper plated 4's in my Dewson percussion 10. 6 dr and 2 oz gave me a dull headache after about ten rounds.

Pb is an older powder by DUpont-IMR , Progressive burning, similar to 7625 but faster. Gives low pressures and good velocity.
I use the plastic SB10 wads by Remington.

I recall from an article in the American Rifleman from many years ago on Shotgun Propellants that the PB stood for Porous Base, & had to do with its method of formulation. As to its burn rate it falls in a medium category, more progessive than powders on the order of Red Dot, but less so than those as mentioned 7625, Herco, BlueDot etc which are the true progressive powders. It is a most excellant powder & should serve well indeed for the purpose mentioned & is much less temperature sensitive than 7625.

I SWITCHED TO Pb from 7625 as i had some cold weather bloopers due to ignition with 7625.Pb ignites well and burns clean.

Stallones;
I had problems with 7625 giving bloopers as well. These occoured in a duck swamp with temps in the twenties. The load was supposed to have about 7K pressure in 12ga with 1�oz shot. I wasn't sure if you were saying the PB stood for progressive Burning or nor or just simply stating it was a progressive burning powder, so thought I would throw in the derivative of the name. I am in total agreement with you on its excellence for this purpose.

You mentioned you had just received some Ecotungsten (otherwise known as Nice Shot)to use in reloads. You can load it in place of lead but you must factor in that using Nice Shot in any lead load recipe will increase pressure by 1500 psi. This increase in pressure info is from the manufacturer.

There is one published short ten load using Nice Shot/Ecotungsten I have found, it is here:

http://randywakeman.com/Nice_Shot_Reloading_Data_10_Gauge.htm

Last winter I scoured the internet for hours looking for short ten reloading info, I also bought a bunch of old reloading manauls and put everything I could find into a single spreadsheet which also includes the loads from Sherman Bell. You can find that info here:

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=276661&page=1

Wow! Great stuff!

PM sent, KC, with usual caveats. Good luck working up a load and good hunting.

Regards, Tim

Thanks again!!!

Happy hunting / shooting to all!

Ballistic Products publish a handy loading manual for 10 gauge, (and other manuals cover such things as slugs, buckshot, smaller gauges, bismuth, etc). The 10 gauge one covers the range of possibilities. I don't have the latest revision but those I do have include light to heavy lead loads, steel, bismuth, short loads, different cases, powders, primers, buffer, you name it. Perhaps not black powder. They also sell what you need such as 10 gauge wads.

Some items added to a shot column add little or no pressure to the load and so some fillers like cork or cardboard can be added to take up the space of the subtracted shot. In that way you still get a good crimp on a light load. If you're using a Mec loader, you can purchase a shim to load short loads without having to adjust the loader itself.

2 ounces of lead-BB's is a good Canada goose load. Loads like 1,1/2oz is a good off season one for rabbits and similar to help you get used to swinging the heavy barrel/s. I've only used factory steel loads but I have loaded bismuth in 12 gauge which included making by own bismuth shot.