doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shells for vintage guns

What shells do you recomend for the weekend clay shooter who shoots vintage English guns? Both mine are 2 3/4" guns.
I have shot B&P Comp1's amd RST's. But wonder if there are any out there that are not so expensive and cam be shot in early 20's sidelocks?
My friend says you need to stay under 8K chamber pressure. Most Shell manufactuers do not list chamber pressure.
Need advice.

Might want to look into Mexican Aguila I think those are CIP rated if I recall correctly. Even if so rated the 20br offerings are likely to be quite "juicy".

RST and Polywad are two very popular choices. From what I have read, the proprietors of the two companies have no problem sharing specs when people call them.

Check out Jay Menefee's shells at Polywad. I use them and have always been very impressed. I don't know how the prices compare with RST. Just took delivery on a flat of 16 ga. low pressure spreaders.

http://www.polywad.com/

All my best, SRH

I think the 20's reference was to the age of his Guns, not 20 bore
What bore are they Palunc
Loading your own is great fun, n there are "Loads" of good low psi recipes..if you just shoot a few boxes a cheap single stage mec might do you??
cheers
franc

Buy a used MEC 600 single stage loader, a can of powder, a little shot, and a few primers and you'll be able to produce top grade ammunition perfectly suited for your guns. With the high price of factory stuff you'll be far ahead shortly.

If you are roll crimping you can even get away without the MEC.
One nneeds to have a powder scale anyway to check the drops for smokeless low pressure loads , so with a few basic hand tools you can load some very good shotshells.
Takes a bit more time than using a press , though.
If using black powder you can use a simple black powder measure however.
Going volume of shot for volume of black powder gives you a light shot load that is very effective.
Using a scale however you can load some very potent black powder loads that are effective for waterfowl or upland game and still easy on the gun and your shoulder.
Davide

I've never used a scale for BP loads. Black powder is measured by volume. I've been a life member of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Ass. for 42 years and shot on the national range for 30 and have never seen anyone use a scale - it's always been volume. The old, or even new plastic adjustable measures will work just fine. I to would buy a Mec Jr [ 600 ] - they're cheap and it's fun to load your own. That way you're not trying to fine expensive loads. Shotgun world is a web site that has a reloading forum that's very helpful for a first timer. Good luck - Paul

The Winchester Featherlite should be perfect. The reloading data published to duplicate that load indicates 5,600 PSI. Not much doubt that the actual factory load is well under 8,000 PSI.

I've been using handloads to duplicate the Featherlite with good success.

New AA Featherlight shells should sell for approximately $80 per flat... if you can find any.

If you were reffering to my preious post Paul,
I was reffering to the shot charge , not the powder charge.
When I load my BP cartridges I use a measure- either a cheap adjustable or a scoop style, or on with a Lyman 55 or harrel.
My shot charge is always weighted however, because I have found years ago that the larger the shot, the less weight for a gven measured charge.
DT