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Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 44 Location: Troy, MI

Hey all; what powders do you like to use for reloading the 16 gauge, both for target and hunting loads?
I like Blue dot, HS6, & 800-X for heavy hunting loads....just bought some longshot and will be trying that out this year.
For light field and target loads, I like Unique, Universal, and Herco. I will also use green dot in a pinch.

Member Joined: 16 Aug 2004 Posts: 317

Member Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 401 Location: Tennessee

Another vote for Solo 1250. It makes ultra-low pressure target loads that are consistent even in cold weather, in my experience. YMMV.
Bill

I've been using HERCO! I first started uising this for my .357 Ruger Blackhawk. This was my 1st reloading endeavor, and I've always had HERCO on hand ever since! I've used it for my 12ga hunting loads, 20ga target/ field loads, and for all my 16ga loads. Mostly I've been loading HERCO with Fiocchi hulls and Ballistic Products SG16 wads. with #8 and #6 shot.

I am running a little low, and just got a good buy on 15# Hi-Skor 800x, which also has target and field loads listed for 12, 16 and 20 ga.
I know someone who uses 800-X exclusively, and seems to like it.

*Last edited by 16gaugeguy on Thu Feb 16, 2006 6:05 am; edited 1 time in total*

I have been using Alliant/Hercules powders for a long time now. For 3/4 and 7/8 oz. loads, Green Dot is hard to beat. It has the perfect burning rate and pressure range for these light loads and the recoil is very mild. It acts much like Red Dot does in 12 ga. light target loads. it is both easy to ignite and clean burning with standard primers and is good in cold weather. It meters very consistantly in my MEC grabber progressive press.

Unique has been a standby powder for 16 ga. 1 oz. loads for nearly 3/4 of a century now. It has been and still is used in a number of factory loads as a non-canister powder. It is also clean burning, has good cold weather preformance characteristics, and the perfect pressure range for 1150 to 1275 FPS range loads. It also meters very consistantly in my progressive press.

Blue Dot is the number one high velocity heavy load champ for 1-1/8 and 1-1/4 oz 16 gauge loads. Again, it has the perfect burn rate for loads over 1200 FPS with these weight loads and gives good cold weather performance. I tend to use the hottest standard primers in the winter, but have found no need to use magnums. I throw all my high velocity hunting load powder charges seperately from a standard, baffled pistol powder measure. Blue dot is very consistant and never varies more than plus or minus 1/10th grain with this technique.

I have tried 800X for very fast 1 0z. loads at 1300 FPS plus with good results. It also shows promise for fast 1-1/8 oz. loads too. it has a very flexible and progressive burn rate. I have also found it wonderful for high velocity 3/4 oz, 28 gauge loads However, it is a disc flaked powder with very large discs and does not meter nearly as well as the Alliant powders above. I use my pistol powder measure and scale to throw a more consistant charge than my baffled powder measure can alone. I reserve 800X for special high speed hunting loads only and do not use a progressive press for any of these fast and heavy loads anyway.

I have tried WW 571 Ball / Hodgden HS-7 (same stuff) for heavy charges in the past, but have had cold weather ignition problems with many of the ball powders, even with magnum primers. This powder is no exception. Perhaps if I lived in a warmer climate, it would be OK, but New England weather is both unpredictable and has severe temperature swings. I use what works and the Alliant powders have been consistantly both reliable and predictable. They are also very well distributed nation wide, reasonably priced, and easy to find in most places. What more can one ask for.

For the 16, 20, and 28, I use Unique exclusively. I buy it by the 8 pound kegs. For the 12 ga, I have found Hogdon Titewad to be inexpensive and clean burning.
XVI

Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 4 Location: east Tennessee

Just started reloading shotgun. Long time rifle loader. Lots to learn. Was advised Clays is too fast and Herco on the other end of the scale, for heavy loads. My problem is finding combos for all the hulls and wads out there. Guess I'll keep reading posts until I learn enough to ask questions I can understand the answers to.

Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 56 Location: tulsa

In the past, I loaded the discontinued Hodgdon trap 100 for 16 and loved it. It metered great. I have used the mentioned Alliant powders, 700x and Longshot. To the poster who just bought a lot of 800x, I hope you have good luck with it. As mentioned it is not for a progressive press. My experience with it in 20 ga loads is you have to reach a certain bushing size before it will drop consistantly. I gave up on 28 ga with it. In 16 ga, it appears you use enough of it so it flows ok. Be sure and move the handle five or six times or whatever would be normal on your press between powder dumps then weigh the charge. If you just move the bar back and forth it will no way be near what the charge is during the real reloading cycle. Lot of the manuals have very good loads with 800x, but you have to have a way to get a consistant powder charge to achieve that. I will be glad when I have used up the big can of it I was given.

Tulsey, I use 800x for 1300 fps plus 3/4 oz. loads in the28 ga. for pass shooting dove and for pats and chukers with # 7.5 shot. Loading lawrence #7 magnum or live bird/pidgeon shot as it is known to take out close-in early pheasant kills them very effectively and does not tear them up as much as some heavier loads do. The extra speed really seems to make the difference in the 28 ga. for tougher birds than quail. these Hi speed 800x loads pattern beautifully with nice even shot spreads out of skeet and IC chokes to about 35-40 yards. WW28 or Remington PT 28 wads work about the same in the older AA hulls or STS hulls. The powder is very flexible

Using a pistol powder measure set for 1/10 less than your nominal charge, and a properly dampened scale with a trickler to top up the charge if needed works well. About half the charges I throw this way need no adjustment. It is a little slower to be sure, but loading one or two boxes of hunting rounds for the season on a single stage MEC is not a big deal. I find it to be well worth the extra time in satisfactory results. Don't give up on the stuff. Its too useful.

Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 44 Location: Troy, MI

Just for the record, I weigh ALL my hunting loads on a scale; both powder & shot.....cuts down on the variation between shells and gives more consistant results, IMHO.

Joined: 18 Jan 2005 Posts: 56 Location: tulsa

You guys have found the text book way to use 800X. Many of the manuals like the Lyman number four list many 800x loads with notation about them being the most consistent loads for that gauge. They also note in another section that many people weigh each charge with 800x. as you do I am happy it works so well for you.

Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 4 Location: east Tennessee

Hearing the rave... I gave Longshot a try. Used a load from Hogdon. This powder takes 24.5-27gr for a 16 ga. Fit nicely in a Federal Hull with SG16 wad and a 20 ga undershot felt under 1oz #9.
I have to say, I broke more skeet with my old double with this load than I usually do. Seems to burn a bit dirty which I didn't think mattered, but the front sight keeps getting sooted, and smoked up back about 1 inch from the muzzel. Just my experience.
At 25gr +/- it's a bit more expensive per shell than most. Very dense powder. Only 70% the volume needed for the same weight of Herco or Unique. My 2 cents. Have to like it if I break more birds.

leadman

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Have used blue dot and unique but now have settled on universal clays.clean burning for my semi-autos and not bad when it comes to charge weight 19gr compared to 29.5 of blue dot. Laughing

Member Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 665 Location: Louisiana

There certainly are newer propellants out there--probably some very good ones-- but I have tended to stick with older powders and develop loads that fit hulls without fillers, etc.
SR4756 is a very 'forgiving' powder with a wide range of application--I use it in Federal and S&W hulls; the SR7625 is another, somewhat faster fuel that is useful for the lighter 3/4 & 7/8oz. loads.
I've been at this long enough to remember Trap 100, AL-5 & AL-7,etc. and I guess most of this is really personal preference and economics but I have discovered for myself that every shotgun barrel is a law unto itself and many seem to need 'personalized' loads to perform at their maximum efficiency.
As I look over my shop and see all the 'stuff' accumulated in a lifetime of playing this game I realize that roll crimping, loading all brass UMC's, spreader loads, plated shot and the 1&3/8oz. load are just not as much fun to fool with anymore and not a very productive use of my time---get a load you like and stick with it--that reduced the possibility of errors at the bench and puts you in the field/on the range more.
Just an opinion which, with an additional 75cents, will get you a cup of coffee and very little else.
Ron

I just wanted to offer an update on what I have found using IMR 800X powder:

For 16ga, I am using a Fiocchi 2 9/16" [65mm] load found on the Low Pressure Group's spreadsheet.
For 12ga trap, I am using a load found on IMR's website.

It does have very large flakes. I use it in a single stage press, a MEC 600Jr for 16ga and a 12ga Sizemaster. If I keep the powder bottle no more than 1/4 full, and tap the bottle a couple of times between shells, I get very consistant loads with no bloopers. It is very easy to work the tap into the loading seqence and rhythm.

I have indeed found this powder to leave a lot of residue in the barrel after a shooting session with any break open action gun, such as my LC Smith Field 16ga, H&R/NEF Pardner 16ga and Iver Johnson Champion 12ga MatRib grade trap gun.

When shooting this in either of my Browning Auto-5 16ga guns, I have found very little fouling left behind, and the polychoke on one of these cleans up easily.

After dumping the empties into a cardboard box to reload later, I have found a considerable amount of unburned flakes in the bottom of the box.

My perception of the recoil with 800X as opposed to PROMO, Herco, and Blue Dot is that of a smoothness somewhat akin to that found in a black powder load.
I suppose this may be why it was so very popular some time ago among trap shooters. I suspect the dirty burn is what may be contributing to its
current lack of popularity. That and the care that has to be taken in the powder drop in a loader.

I started using 800X because I initially found a good purchase deal on 3 leftover 5# cans after Hodgdon bought the company. I had also found practical hunting and target loads listed in 12, 16, and 20 ga on the website loading guide.

I am considering maintaining a supply of this for all my shotshell shooting after my PROMO and HERCO supplies are used up, though I will keep some Blue Dot on hand for various high power loads.