16ga.com ~ View topic

Years ago I done this to get a grasp of how many reloaders were out in 16 ga. Land .

I put forth this question once again , how many folks actually reload and use the DR 16 wad , if you would sound off I will see if my estimate is correct or not " the numbers are very low ".

Everyone is clambering about things not being exciting anymore, well I always found that one has to create their own excitement.

If you would sound off , let the excitement begin.

Regards , Nick

Hey Mikey I appreciate our conversation concerning the mold all those years. ( Our collective consciousness is all connected so I know his thoughts still reside with us ).

I reload 16 ga almost exclusively. The Dr16 is my practice wad so I typically go through about a case a year.

You would think with that volume of shooting I could back off, but it’s a perishable skill, more so as I age.

Joined: 10 Aug 2010 Posts: 30 Location: Tennessee

I’ve loaded 16 ga for about 30 years but I primarily load low velocity/pressure 1 oz loads for a LC Smjth to use on doves. I bought a bag of DR16’s a while back to load some shells for Sporting Clays but have yet to pick a load and actually load them.

Joined: 21 May 2024 Posts: 102 Location: Eastern Tennessee

I don’t like to load forward more than a year (turkey the exception):

1-1/4 #6 buffered for turkey - Usually do about 12 rounds every 2 or 3 years using Ched1628 or 1632 wads

1-1/8 #5 - Usually a box or 2 a year (pheasant) using Z16 or SP16

1 oz #6 - Got so much factory it will be years before I reload this.

1 oz #8/7.5 usually 20 boxes a year using SG16

7/8 oz #8/9 usually 50 boxes a year (sporting) using DR16 or CB078

3/4 oz #8/9 usually 20 boxes a year (sporting) using DR16

1 oz Bismuth usually 2 boxes a year (waterfowl & public pheasant) using SP16, CB100, SG16

7/8 oz Steel usually 8 boxes a year (dove & waterfowl) using VP80

Joined: 27 Jan 2016 Posts: 536 Location: Oswego, Kansas

I have been reloading for my 16ga guns since 1986 when my Grandpa gave me his Steven's 94 single shot. I shot my first pheasants with that gun and have collected several more sixteens since, sxs guns, a Win M12 and a Rem M11. I have used the DR16 wads once back in 2016 when I got some from a fell9w selling loading supplies at a sporting clays shoot. The same guy told me about this site and I joined when I got home that day. Most loading that I do for hunting loads is 1oz shot over fiber wads while target loads are 7/8oz over the claybuster 7/8oz wads in RP hulls.

Reload all my 16ga. ammo, target and hunting, about 2K rounds a year. Also reload 12 & 28 gauge. Don't own a 20 or .410.

Only have 500 of the real Rem. cases left and after that all my target loads will be Cheddites/ Winchesters loaded with the DR16 as long as it's available. Have gone thru over 3 cases of DR16's in the past. Reloaded a bunch of Herters and Winnies. Hope the new French Winnies are as good as the Aussie hulls were.

Agree with Citori16 100%. It seems as I get older, I have to shoot more to maintain my skill level. Sad

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1183

During bird hunting/preserve hunting season of September through April, I use the DR-16 wad for my 7/8 ounce practice loads shooting clays from my wobble trap before bird hunting. I leave my MEC Sizemaster set up on the bench and go through about 60 rounds a week to keep sharp for bird hunting.

I also reload all my skeet 20 ga for the summer skeet league and practice. I occasionally reload 12 ga, 28 ga and .410 as needed.

I started reloading my 16 gauge 870 in 1970 using the lee hand reloader. Once the DR-16 was created, I have been using it for almost all my loads. Great wad!

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

I load probably two thousand 16's/year.Health problems notwithstanding total of around 4000/year.Down from 45,000/yr---back in the day.ZERO Dr's used,lucky enough to have a stsh of compression formed WW's and the OLD Remmie's,

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2246 Location: Florida

The loads I use in my 16ga-es are almost exclusively re-loads.

Some years I shoot more clays than other.

For hunting I usually shoot about the same every 500-600 rounds give or take.

So, on average 2000 plus rounds a year.

As far the Dr wad is concerned about half what I shoot is with that wad.

I just bought a couple really light English guns, so I see more light loads using the Dr wad in my future.

I even developed a 5/8th oz load using TSS #9 with Dr16 wad.

Joined: 13 Oct 2015 Posts: 163 Location: SE Ks

I've used a bunch of the DR-16 in my Dickinson Estate for 7/8 oz practice loads here at home. With nothing but straight wall hulls readily available these days I wish they were larger diameter to better fit especially with all the fine grained powders on the shelf at the stores.

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 1047 Location: Minnesota

I reload for my two 16 ga shotguns, but only 5-10 boxes per year. I don’t use the DR wad. My use of the ammo I load is mostly doves and some sporting clays, and some pheasant hunting.

I load DR 16 in Chedite hulls.

Joined: 22 May 2020 Posts: 350 Location: Ky

I reload 16 and 12s. I have sizemasters with short kits and Texan progressives in both.

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3298 Location: NCWa

I load 12, 16 & 20 ga and .410. Most of my shooting is with the 16 and for most of it I use DR16 wads, having just resupplied with a case purchased when I read that DR was ceasing production. I have been working up loads along the line that Nick recommends with light loads of small shot at higher velocities. These loads are for the Parker 0 frames where I'm cautious as to heavy recoil effects on the hundred + year old stocks.