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Joined: 24 Jun 2022 Posts: 6 Location: United States

I found a 16ga load on Hodgdon data site
Rem. SP hulls (RGL) 7/8 oz. Ched. primer, 18.7 gr. Win 572, DR 16 wad
1200 FPS 7100 PSI
the problem is my hulls measure 2 1/2" to 2 11/16" and everything in between
the majority are 2 5/8" this load does not give me enough room for a fold crimp and barely enough for a roll crimp, my question is if I roll crimp will the ballistics stay the same or will the pressure increase
thanks RES

Joined: 28 Jan 2007 Posts: 184 Location: Grampian, PA

Pressure will be lower w/ a roll crimp

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3526 Location: Illinois

True-----but you can always back the powder down.

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2545 Location: West MI

Agree with Tom Schaffer that in general rolling lowers pressure. And when I did load a lot of RGL's their inconsistent length was a pain when it came to consistent crimps. Trimming to average batch length helped a little but not solve.

Is the goal a low pressure load? at 7k any loss in pressure is likely going to effect FPS pretty dramatically especially in cold weather.

I find most Hodgdon data reliable and usually working without too much fussing. Did you try and "break the legs" of the DR16 with enough seating pressure to create some head room for the shot drop?

Joined: 16 Jul 2015 Posts: 2179 Location: Hudson,Wy

If the goal is not low pressure, just substitute a shorter wad. At 7k pressure, you have a lot of leeway. Of course...it is 572 powder. The stuff is totally erratic as temperatures drop into the cool range, let alone cold. Literally the worst powder I have ever used in 16, 20, and 28 ga. loadings. Even with Fed 209A primers igniting 13 grains of the stuff in AA 28 ga. hulls I will get several weak or even dud loads out of a box of 25 in weather colder than 50 degrees F. I'm using it up in dove-quail-practice loads, warm weather activities.

Joined: 24 Jun 2022 Posts: 6 Location: United States

Thanks for the info
yes low-pressure is important as I use these in vintage side-by-side, I have trimmed the hulls to 2 5/8 inches and that helps a lot, I no longer do any hunting so all the shooting I do is target shooting mostly in the summer, and in the winter I have three clubs nearby with indoor five stands
I've been using 572 in other loads for four years and never had a problem I suppose it's because I don't go out in the cold
thanks for the info I really appreciate it RES

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2247 Location: Florida

IMO the Dr wad is not the best choice for a 7/8 oz load in anything but a full 2 3/4" hull the sg16 wad is way easier to work with in shorter hulls.

The crush section of the Dr 16 allows great flexibility , light loads 1/2 oz through 13/16 oz in straight sided cases use no wad pressure.

Heavier payload use the design to your advantage , the crush section gives the most load flexibility of any wad component available for the 16 bore.

The wad will load 1/2 oz through 1 oz in any of the hulls we have available to us.

I unfortunately cannot give load data that I use due to the legal system prohibiting this.

Happy holidays to everyone.

Regards Nick