doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Has anyone tried 3/4 oz 12 ga loads

I like shooting old sxs and having low recoil. I usually shoot 7/8 oz loads but recently saw something on 3/4 oz 12 ga and thought wow what a great idea. Most of the targets I shoot on sporting courses are within 30-35 yards.

I think these super light loads have a place if the shot result is inconsequential. If you are a contestant in a competition where some or more $$ is on the line I am sure most will upgrade the amount of pellets headed at the target!! Even if you have high confidence it is really hard to bull shit a target (or ZZ bird)

Our local sporting clay shoot sometimes offers 21 gram (3/4 ounce) cartridges.

I find that I can shoot just as badly with them as with 28 gram loads.

My friend has shot 3/4 oz loads for skeet and sporting clays out of his lightweight French 12 bore for years. He is a pretty good shot and it never seems to hold him back. He loads red dot in a Win AA or REM STS with the claybuster pink wads.

Link to the data http://www.claybusterwads.com/index.php/winchester-style/53-cb0175-12-load-data

I was loading and shooting 3/4 ounce 12 gauge loads several years ago and they shot fine.

I went a step further, actually lesser, and started loading and shooting 1/2 ounce 12 gauge loads.

I had them tested about 8 years ago by Tom Armbrust. Pressure around 5500 psi and the speed is about 1350 fps.

I use 14.0 grains of Alliant Extra Light powder, Claybuster CB0175-12 pink wads for 3/4 ounce with a 0.620" diameter (20 gauge) by 0.135" thick nitro card in the bottom. Remington Gun Clubs, STS's, Nitro Golds and/or Win AACF hulls. Any available primer.

I get those nitro cards from Craig Smith of Circle Fly Wads in PA.

They crimp and shoot fine. Sound OK too. Pretty much no recoil.

A very good trap shooter was at the club and usually shoots 25 straight. I had him try a box of my 1/2 ounce loads, #8's. He got 24 out of 25 and said he couldn't blame the miss on the ammo.

I've probably loaded and shot around 20,000+ of them in the last 8 years.

PS: I shoot with Kutter above who shoots his 5/8 ounce loads. Amazing how well they shoot. And him.

Almost 40 years ago the rangemaster at a local military skeet range gave me a recipe for 2.75" and 3/4 oz. that I used to teach a 12 year old boy to shoot. To show it wasn't just a boy's load, I used it when we shot doves out of a 3200. It was deadly and a pleasure to shoot out of an 8 lbs. gun. Only specific component I recall was Win AA hulls, solid brass heads. Gil

I've used 3/4 oz loads in everything I load for the last time the price of shot went up. Easy to do with 12 and 20 with the Claybuster wads. It fits well in AA hulls. Great at skeet and 16 yd trap. I haven't tried it with the 12 but with a 20 with modified choke I locked a trap for straight away and got back to the 23 yard line before the breaks got iffy.

Hard to believe that when I first started shooting clays and then reloading, 1 1/8 Oz was the only thing I ever shot, bought or loaded up. I was under the spell of more must be better for long time. Of course a bag of shot cost anywhere from $9 to $12 back then. Powder & primers were cheap and more importantly, available. Times sure have changed haven’t they?
Nowadays, the only shells I load using an 1 1/8 Oz + are bismuth duck loads. 7/8 to 1 oz for 99% of my hunting loads and 3/4 oz loads for clays.

I started about 5-6 years ago reloading 12 ga. in 3/4 oz. It shoots just fine and I am happy with the results. My favorite hull is Remington Gun Clubs, powder 15.0 grs. Titewad, Claybuster CB0175-12 and Cheddite primer. Reload calls for 15.0 grs. but my Mec 24 bushing throws on average 14.8 grs. PSI 7200 and velocity 1150 fps.
With using Titewad and Remington hulls (Gun Club, Nitro, etc) and using Mec bushings 24 and 25 the difference in pressure using Cheddite and Fed 209A primers is 700 psi. The Cheddite 209 with 14.8 grs. is 7200 psi and the Federal 209A with a 25 bushing (15.4 grs) is 7900 psi. Many people state the Federal 209A is a hot primer but it all depends on what it is pushing powder-wise.