16ga.com ~ View topic - 16 ga Steel-shot Fit test: PT1680 vs. CSD16 in cheddite hull

Joined: 13 Oct 2015 Posts: 348

Thought I'd test the two steel wads out in the most available large-volume straight wall hull out there right now, the Herter's cheddite hull. I couldn't get the image to post here no matter how I did it, so I posted this on my blog and copied it here...

6 one half dozen the other between these two wads...
I've got both right here. They both have the same ID.
CSD16 is 1.65 oal and shotcup depth is 1.364".
VP80 is 1.62 oal and shotcup depth is 1.390".

So the VP80 (PT1680) is a bit shorter and has a deeper shotcup-- it thus should be able to fit a bit more payload. However, I loaded up #3 steel in each and in reality they will both hold 420-434 grains of steel without overflowing, depending on what pressure you exert. You should be able to go 1/2 pellet or even 1 full row above the shotcup and get sufficient setback that they all are in the shotcup in the barrel; so in truth I think you can get a full 437 grains in either and be OK.

That being said, the 1680 has a thinner over-powder cup lip, with a flat bottom, and the plastic is a bit thicker and stiffer than the CSD16. The CSD 16 has an over-powder cup with a thick flat lip, and a convex "forcing cone" bottom, which may take up a bit more powder space.

If you look at the recipes for 16ga steel, of which I find only Lyman and BPI, you'll find that 7/8oz steel is the most of any recipe... anything else you have to test. The max speed is 1550 in cheddite, with 27.5gr A-steel and VP80. JUST FOR FIT TESTING, since we know any heavier payload will have less powder, I loaded up two Herters 16ga "cheddite" shells (with spent primers) and 27.5 gr Asteel powder (max steel powder I found for published load, which is 7/8oz---THIS IS NOT A VALID LOAD, just for fit testing!!!) , and 437.5gr #3 steel (152 pellets per the tables, but I weighed it). One hull on the left with the thicker pt 1680/ vp80 wad, and the hull on the right with CSD16.

16ga Herters w/ 1oz #3 steel on a-steel powder, PT1680 on left CSD16 on right. Fit test.

As you can see, both wads are about equal and both WILL HOLD 437.5gr of #3 steel without pellets above the wad more than 1/2 diam. The PT1680 actually sits a wee bit lower in the hull, about 1/16" lower than the CSD I think... however, BOTH of them are well below the crimp line and crimping these up nicely would be no problem

I also loaded 7/8oz and 15/16oz just to look at it for test, of course both are below the wad line and would be no problem.

Final analysis-- Either wad looks excellent for published loads or slightly more for personal testing. I don't know about patterning, but I have heard uniformly good reports about the entire CSD series of wads from B&P. I'd guess which one to use depends on your gun.
edit-- actually got some bad reports today on CSD16 wad, looks like some pin-holing of the petals. Looks like the VP80 held up better for some folks that were patterning both.

*Last edited by skeettx on Mon May 09, 2016 8:45 am; edited 1 time in total*

Thank you for sharing and the effort
Mike

Joined: 13 Oct 2015 Posts: 348

Thx Mike. Looks like my source URL had ?w=656 tagged on the end and that messed up the [img] parsing code on this site, looks like you have to delete any mods and have the URL end with .jpg here... so hard to remember the details from site to site when you have to tweak the URL code-- Glad for your help on that!

Don't know how many folks are loading steel shot here, but if they are, the Herters & VP80 combo looks like the way to go.

Dave

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3177 Location: NCWa

Just because I don't have a shotgun rated for steel doesn't mean that I can't appreciate your efforts. Thanks for being considerate enough of us that you are willing to complete the project and post the results. Smile

Guest

Good work, Dave! I'd also like to hear any ongoing developments.

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 287 Location: missouri

I didn't have real great luck with the B&P 16 ga wads in my steel loads.
16 ga can be quite effective on ducks, these were shot in a 2003 run Remington 1100 with Remchokes, makes quite the effective duck gun.
1 oz #4 steel 1450 fps BPI MM/VP80 wad 40 yards

[URL=http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/Joe_Speroni/media/IMG_0063_zpszzhzy7mr.jpg.html]

[/URL]

7/8 oz #3 steel 1580 fps 35 yards
[URL=http://s1218.photobucket.com/user/Joe_Speroni/media/IMG_0007_zps75d5a4bb.jpg.html]

[/URL]

Guest

Looks good to me. Ducks bagged with a 16 gauge taste better. Wink

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 287 Location: missouri

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 287 Location: missouri

I tested the 1 oz load myself on my Pressure Trace unit, came out mid 11,000 psi range. I have to send it out to a lab and get an official pressure testing on it.

Joined: 13 Oct 2015 Posts: 348

I've got some loaded up and ready to send for testing. Still working on some other loads for the shipment though, 20ga HW stuff. Probably send off next week, will post results.

Joined: 15 Dec 2005 Posts: 287 Location: missouri