Powder choice

[William Yanda]

I realize that currently, the powder on the shelf might be the best choice for slug and buckshot loads. Can anyone here direct me to a discussion of what makes a given powder the best choice for a certain shotgun load? To date my google foo has not cooperated.

[megasupermagnum]

Just like pistol and rifle cartridges, shotguns have different powders for different things. There are fast target powders, ideal for light target loads, and reduced recoil loads. There are slow powders for maximum payload, and some for maximum speed. Then there are mid range powders, that split the difference.

Target powders would include red dot, 700x, and American Select. Mid range powders would be green dot or Unique. Slow powders would be blue dot, 800x, and Longshot. Of course there are many more of each.

It also depends on what gauge you are shooting. Bluedot is one of the slowest powders in 12 gauge, but is almost considered very fast in .410. Lets say you are asking about 12 gauge. Any of the fast powders would be a top choice for your basic 1 1/8 oz target load. The mid range powders like Unique have a very narrow working range in 12 gauge, although it is often right where people like it. Unique excells at 1 1/8 oz and 1 1/4 oz payloads at decent velocities. It doesn't work great with heavier or lighter loads. The slow powders have the widest range they work in, but they are not the choice for light loads. Bluedot for example would not be the choice for any 1 1/8 oz 12 gauge load, unless you wanted to send it extremely fast, like a slug load. Where Bluedot shines is 1 3/8 oz all the way to 2 1/4 ounce loads. Longshot is a bit of an odd duck. I would not use Longshot for the super heavy 1 5/8 oz+, but where Longshot works great is modest payloads, like 1 1/8oz to 1 1/2 oz at very high velocities.

[gpidaho]

William: MSM pretty much covered it. Different powders for different applications. Do yourself a big favor and buy a Lyman shotgun reloading manual and follow the data to the T until you feel comfortable with your knowledge of loading for shotguns and then don't stray far as shotguns are much easier to damage than rifles with over charges. Don't skip right to the data pages, it really pays to read all the instructions. Gp