I'm interested in finding low pressure 16ga 2 1/2" formulas. Currently reloading to Hodgdon spec about 7100 psi. My old shotgun is proofed to handle this psi but I would like to go lower to be more on the safe side. Thanks!
I'm having difficulty visualizing a 16 that's safe to shoot with anything, but in which you need to use sub-7K psi loads. You go too low in pressure and you start having problems with reliable performance if it gets very cold.
He's in Alabama, Larry, Alabama. Same latitude as me roughly. No problems with loads as low as 5100 psi, even with IMR 7625, here, winter or not. Doesn't get "
very" cold down here.
SRH
Note that I said " . . . NEED to use sub-7K psi loads . . . " Pressure isn't directly related to recoil, so you aren't going to reduce recoil by reducing pressure (unless you also reduce velocity and/or shot charge). The danger from pressure is either catastrophic failure (blown barrel, cracked frame, etc) or maybe, over a long period of time, causing the gun to shoot loose sooner than it would with lower pressure loads. But please identify for me, with reference to proof or service pressure standards, any gun in which a load developing 7K psi isn't well under its service pressure limit. I note that a 7,000 psi load is already almost 4,000 psi under the service pressure standard for CIP "standard proof" shotguns. Drew Hause has pointed out, with reference to contemporary data, that vintage guns didn't have service pressure limits significantly lower than modern guns--which means that 7,000 psi already provides a very significant "safety cushion". Looking for a lower pressure load to give you even more of a safety cushion, you might well end up with a load that's not as satisfactory as the one you've been using.
