12 gauge 3/4 oz loads

[sandman228]

I recently started making my own shot with an affordable shot maker I bought on e bay. so even though im making shot so much cheaper I still wanna make it go as far as possible. I load 1 oz now in win ,rem and federal hulls usually with 700x powder. I was on hodgdons web sight the other day and was seeing data for 3/4 oz 12 gauge loads with same powder(s) I usually use , so to save on my lead stash I thought I would give it a try. I only load shot shells for recreational shooting mostly clay pigeons, I also play around with and load for 2 410 shotguns I own I use them for clay pigeons as well so I figure if I can blow a clay pigeon out of the sky with a 1/2 oz 410 load then I should also be able to with a 3/4 oz 12 gauge load .i plan on taking a ride to a place near me that sells reloading supplies in the next week or so for some 209 primers and a couple bags of claybuster wads i thought maybe i would pick up a bag of 3/4 oz wads while i was there to try out . i just wanted some opinions on 3/4 oz 12 gauge loads

[bandsmoyer]

I have tried 3/4oz loads and they worked ok for clay birds, but i think the 1oz is a little more forgiving.

[DIRT Farmer]

Unless it is a hunting load, my 12 ga loads are 7/8th oz. When I shoot skeet compation , 4 gauges, I shoot the 12,20 and 28 ga stages with the 28 ga with 3/4 oz. It breakes every clay that I am on, otherwise they break when they hit the ground.

[dverna]

This is coming from a competitive trap shooter. YOU WILL MISS MORE BIRDS!! There is no question - absolutely none.

Common sense tells you this. You have less soldiers going to battle. Prove it by putting up a sheet of paper and shooting some patterns. Look at the holes in the pattern.

I practice with 1 oz loads sometimes, but always use 1 1/8 in competition.

Opinions are nice but facts are facts. You already know the answer but want someone to tell you 3/4 oz is a great load. It is not. Put it this way. You are challenged to shoot a 50 bird event. Every bird you miss is going to cost you $10. What will you shoot?

I use 7/8 oz loads for Cowboy action shooting because the targets are so close and impossible to miss; and lower recoil means faster times. It is the only time I use a light payload.

For informal clay shooting, any load you are happy with is fine. Just realize you will miss more - that is the cost of saving lead.

Don Verna

[MarkP]

I load 3/4 oz in my 12 ga I love them, I can even get my 11-87 Super Mag to cycle reliably in cold weather with a higher velocity load. The silver Clay Buster (AA - super lite equiv) wads work well. I had the luxury of shooting (4) loads for pressure and velocity, the loads that cycled the super mag reliably were around 7,400 psi and 1,400 ish, other load that I use in my clays gun was 6,700 psi and 1,275 fps. (it cycles reliably)
I have recentely been using the Pink Down Range wads in AA hulls mainly, I have tried reloading some of the cheap promo shells that I picked up at the sporting clays range's trash can just to see and they seem to work well. (I hate leaving my AA's)
When I shot alot I would to shoot my 28's better than my 12's on rocks out to about 30 yds or so. I started shooting 7/8 oz 12ga in the mid 90's for sporting clays and trap league. I switched to 3/4 oz loads about 5 years ago, however I do not shoot as much a I did, scores are lower now but not from the 3/4 oz load. For what you are doing I think you will be fine. Pheasants and game birds are different than rocks.

[ksfowler166]

Dverna, you did see where the op said he only recreationally shoots clays? I have both a 28ga as well as a 12ga that I shoot well and I have yet to be able to tell the difference between the two. Actually my highest scores on both trap and skeet are the same for both guns and the average is about the same too. You will be fine with 3/4oz of shot on the 16 yard trap line (have not shot further with the 28ga), skeet field, and the sporting clays course. My initial experience with switching from the 12ga to the 28ga was that at least at trap and skeet I did not loose birds due to having less shot, in fact the second time I shot the 28ga I shot my highest score at skeet ever. If you would like more info on 12ga 3/4oz performance and load data I would try www.shotgunworld.com there is lots of knowledge on that subject.

[Frosty Boolit]

I couldn't tell the difference on 16 yard trap with the 7/8th oz. load. there were no dusts though like there are with 1-1/8th loads. I like the reduced recoil but like Verna said if you was shooting for $ get more lead in the air. I would definitely get a bag to try. that is what I did!

[sandman228]

yes its totally recreational, no team, no score its me and sometimes my son and father inlaw with a 30$ pigeon thrower that I mounted to a piece of plywood and spike to the ground with rebar. I fabricated a foot pedal for it so I can throw and shoot alone if need be .hell I don't even own a good clay pigeon gun I use a benelli nova pump 12 gauge , a Mossberg 500 pump 410 and sometimes I break out the stoegar o/u 410. im supprised no one commented on the 410's lol . im hitting most of the birds I throw even with 1/2 oz 410 loads . as far as 12 gauge hulls yes I like win AA hulls and I have 100 or so of them here but for the most part believe it or not I like the cheapies. I mostly prefer Remington gun club with a cb1100-12 wad or federal top gun hulls with a cb2100-12 wad even if I only get 4-5 reloads out of them ive got a large Rubbermaid tote here full of them and there pretty plentifull in the throw away bin at the range I shoot at .and I can get claybuster wads of pretty much every size and gauge for 8$ per bag of 500 locally.

[dverna]

I just hate these kinds of discussions.

First, I posted with my name. Don Verna - look up Donald Verna on the ATA web site and look at my averages (just shy of 98 on 16's). I shoot about 15,000 rounds a year between registered and practice targets. I would stop shooting trap if all I could do is "hit most of my targets".

I have run 100 a few times with a 1 oz load in practice, but would still not shoot 1 oz when it counts. YMMV

If saving money is your priority, by all means use 3/4 oz. Just do not try to tell someone who knows better that less shot will get you the same scores (at least in trap). Like I said, put up a sheet of paper at 30 yards (where most 16 yard trap targets are hit) and look at it with 3/4 oz loads.

You do not need to ask others this question - do the test a learn for yourself. Use different chokes and see what happens. Shoot at least 3 patterns with each. Yep, a bit of work. But that is how you learn. Not listening to others who have not done the work either.

One other thing, you can lose a perfectly pointed bird with 3/4 oz of shot due to holes in the pattern (as you will discover). This can play in your head "Why did I miss??" If you shoot 3/4 oz, use a full choke to get as good a pattern density as possible. It is better to miss because you have not pointed the bird perfectly, than to point perfectly and miss due to holes in the pattern. At least if developing proficiency is your goal.

Skeet is a different game. I will let others carry the ball on that. At shorter ranges, less shot will have minimal effect plus you can reduce shot size thereby filling in the holes.

Smaller shot does not work as well in trap as the energy falls off with increased range. So you may hit the bird and not break it.

BTW, at $40/bag, the cost of shot in a box of 25 is as follows:
1 1/8 oz - $3.16
1 oz $2.81
7/8 oz $2.46
3/4 oz - $2.11

Saving $.35 a box by using 1 oz of shot made no sense to me. I shoot 10 rounds a day. Cost of Targets $50. Savings by shooting 1 oz. was $3.50/day - not significant. If you are making your own shot, the savings are significantly less.

Don Verna

[rking22]

For skeet and general clay bird shooting 3/4 is great. Will not debate trap competition, but on the rare occasions I shoot trap targets I use what ever I have that day and choke accordingly. I do not have the personality to shoot many trap targets so I miss more to getting "mind drift" than any load issue. We shoot 125 to 150 a day several days a week in international skeet practice , in that game 7/8 is the standard and really can't tell the difference between the two. We always compete with the standard load for the game being played. Recreationally we shoot 3/4 or 7/8 at everything including sporting clays. Like trap ,I shoot 1 1/8 in sporting competition. That dollar a box adds up! Most NSSA shooters will use the 20 ga tube set in 12 ga (and doubles)as the gun feel is worth more than the extra 1/4 oz of shot at the 21 yards the targets are broken. I fully agree about wanting confidence that if a target doesn't break it was my pointing erorr, choke up on sporting targets.

[375RUGER]

This may or may not help you. I load 6-00 buck, 3/4oz for my wife's behind-the-door-shotgun. 17.0g Bullseye. PT1205 wad which holds 7/8 oz of shot. Federal pink hulls. 1300fps it's zippy enough for buck shot and light recoil.
If you load 7/8 oz you will get 100 more loads per bag than 1-1/8 oz.

[southpaw]

Thats what I would do (load the 3/4 oz loads). You are just shooting for fun and the lighter loads will be more pleasent to shoot. Also, if you shoot 100 rounds a week for half the year (26 weeks ) you will save about 61 pounds of lead for the year (2600 * .375 = 975 oz / 16 = 60.9#'s).

My game is sporting clays. I shoot in the mid to high eighties and once in a while low 90's. I do this with one ounce homemade shot. I guess to move to the next level I would have to go to 1.125 oz loads and get a much higher $$$ gun. Some day that might happen but unless I win the lottery that will have to wait till the kids are out of college.

One guy I have had the pleasure shooting with (master class shooter, level 3 instructer) said that there isn't a bird on the course you can't break with a cylender choke. I still shoot ic and lm but I don't worry about choke any more. Just load and shoot. 90% of the game is in your head. Forget about the load and choke, clear your head and break the bird.

Have fun shooting with your sone and FIL and may you win sometimes.

Jerry Jr.