Shotgun Powder Availability

[iride]

Anybody have any recommendations for best powder to use for 12ga 1200fps with a 1/18oz load that takes the least powder to get that velocity and is relatively readily available at this point? 

[Sinister4]

Good luck  not much shotgun powder lately anywhere,

[Farmer]

Keep an eye out for Clays, ClayDot, Red Dot/Promo, E3, Ramshot Competition, Win Super Target, Hodgdon Tightwad and even 700X. Haven’t seen any Alliant stuff lately but some of the Winchester and Hodgdon have appeared. Most run 16-19 grains per shell using tapered hulls, ie Rem & WW-AA. On my pest control loads I’ve cut back to 1 oz and am still milking a pound of TightWad. So far results are similar to the heavier loads. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Farmer
Added

[iride]

23 minutes ago, Farmer said:

Yeah hogdon stuff has been making a comeback lately. I'm loading mostly for 3 gun and occasionally sporting clays so especially for 3 gun lighter loads are not going to help me but if one powder over another saves a couple grains it adds up! 

 

[NETim]

About the only powder I can find consistently these days is talcum.   

 

Get yourself on a mailing list/waiting list somewhere and hope.   Given current market conditions, ANY shotgun powder is good powder.  

 

I'd rather load 20 grains of PB than 16 grains of nothing.   

Edited December 3, 2021 by NETim

[Farmer]

13 minutes ago, iride said:

 

Saw some Tightwad, WW ST and 700X a couple of weeks ago at PV. Goes fast. Tightwad is really clean and more for 1oz but will work to 1 1/8. The only thing I don’t like about it is the static cling onto everything. International Clays works good too and isn’t real popular so may be easier to find.  
2X on what Tim said also. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Farmer
Punc

[iride]

Definitely in for using what I can get my hands on. I got a steady stream of alerts coming in just not sure what to hunt for in them so that helps a lot. Hogdon stuff has been fairly consistent lately, other stuff is kinda hit and miss but if you're quick you can jump on it. 

[AHI]

You just missed the forth quarter release. Alliant has delivered all their powder. Hodgdon powders are held up in shipping. So this is what I suggest. Research data for the hulls/ wads/ primers you have. Make a list. Go a little outside the box so to speak. Did you know you could use Shooters World clean shot?   Not popular but there is data.

Ck the shotgun reloading components sites.  https://www.precisionreloading.com/cart.php#!c=1    /  https://www.ballisticproducts.com/default.asp . They are going to get

powder/primers just for shotgun in amounts that you may actually have time to order. midsouth shooters supply has been my best source for shotgun powder as of late.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/              When powder is available order the max not one pound.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Good Luck           Tim     (AHI)

[iride]

Actually I did know I could use clean shot. I use it for my 9mm. Or at least I have been until I ran out and can't find anymore. I'll do my homework and see what I can find. Haven't gotten wads yet so that gives me a little more flexibility. Still new to shotgun loading but I've been doing pistol and rifle for years. I've got a bunch of hulls I've been saving, mostly AA. Also a mix of about 8k primers. 

[AHI]

A lot of wads are as hard to get as powder and primers.

[iride]

Yeah, I've heard that. Looks like I may go with titegroup if I can't find titewad. I already use titegroup for my 9mm so I know I can generally get it. I'll probably go with the WAA12 wads. I've sort of got a mix of primers between cheddite, fiocchi and Winchester but there seem to be loads in the same ballpark for all those combinations and since I'm nowhere near pushing any limits at 1200fps I can make a pretty educated guess on powder charge and do some chrono work and figure it out. 

[Farmer]

I think Midsouth has some Claybuster wads in stock. They make replacements for AA, Fig8, and Fed and work just fine with sometimes less psi. I’ve exchanged Cheddite and WW primers with no problems on target loads, BUT they are larger in diameter. If you use them in a once fired or tight hull they will stretch the primer hole and a WW, Fed or Rem will fit loose. I generally use WW until the pockets get loose and then switch to Cheddite’s if the hull’s still good.  Fiocchi’s are even a little bigger and also a bit hotter. 
WW AA hull, WAA12 wad, Win209 primer, 16.5g Nitro100 = 1198 @ 10200 psi. 
Grafs has Nitro 100. 
The Lyman shot shell reloading manual is quite handy too. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by Farmer

[iride]

Good to know about the primer sizes. I'll start with the smaller stuff and work my way up. Maybe when availability gets better I can be a bit more picky. I snagged what I could this spring when they popped up at 3.5 cents each. Scored the aa12 wads on powder valley who surprisingly had them and the site didn't crash. Now I just gotta track down more powder and lead. I suspect the lead will be the harder one to get. 

[Farmer]

59 minutes ago, iride said:

Good to know about the primer sizes. I'll start with the smaller stuff and work my way up. Maybe when availability gets better I can be a bit more picky. I snagged what I could this spring when they popped up at 3.5 cents each. Scored the aa12 wads on powder valley who surprisingly had them and the site didn't crash. Now I just gotta track down more powder and lead. I suspect the lead will be the harder one to get. 

If you have a shotgun club close check with them to see if they have any re-claimed shot for sale. Don’t know what size you’re looking for, most re-claim is 7 1/2-8 and can be a mix. I just had my cousin pick some up for me that was washed & cleaned and was about $25 a bag instead of $50.    I have gotten some new from RotoMetals,

https://www.rotometals.com/
but like everything else their not cheap but generally better than Ballistic Products.

[iride]

Hmmm, I know of a place about a half hour from me that allows some clay shooting indoors. If anybody is getting the lead back it's them. Everywhere else around me is either slug only indoor or outdoor and I know they aren't trying to get shot back out of the woods! Yeah, it's not gonna be cheap but with cheap primers and free hulls it's still cheaper than buying new shells. I'm hunting 7.5.

[AHI]

Spend some time hear    https://www.shotgunworld.com/forums/shotshell-reloading.13/

best place for information.   Alerts on availability. Wear to get stuff etc. On primer size

their  saying and in my own measuring . Current Cheddites and Winchesters are the same size.

win 209s are .0005 larger than Remington and Federal. Finocchi are definitely larger than Winchester

(.001 )

 

[Farmer]

Found my list when I measured them all. The Cheddite’s I have are from about 5 years ago in the yellow pack.  

Fio -     .2433-2443
Ched - .2432-.2440

WW -    .2426-.2430

Rem -   .2398-.2407

Fed -    .2396-.2413

 

Of course none of them are perfectly round and all have different points of largest diameter. Some of the Fio’s actually were the same at the tip as at the base. I do know that if you install a Ched primer in a Fed hull, remove it you can push a Fed primer in with your thumb. I’ve also had WW primers fall out or are pushed out slightly when reloading a hull during crimping that’s had a Ched or Fio primer previously installed. These numbers aren’t written in stone and everyone will get different measurements. It’s just something to keep in mind because a pocket or magazine full of powder isn’t my idea of a good time. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by Farmer

[iride]

Definitely good info on the primer size. I've had a primer fall out of a 9mm before and opened a box of ammo and found it full of powder instead! I scored 10lbs of titewad off midsouth today. I think they still have some along with other hogdon powders too if anybody is looking still. It's about half what I need to load the primers I had but 10lbs of any one powder is all they'd let me have so it'll get me started and I'll snag some more soon. I got 8k hulls coming too. Now I just need to find shot and I'll at least have all the materials. Then I just have to figure out the load I want so that'll take some testing but having the materials is a good start. 

[AHI]

7:10pm 12/9/21

Midway USA has Clay Dot (8lb) in stock. They also have Hodgen Clays (4lb) and Universal(4lb).

CCI small and large pistol primers.

Edited December 10, 2021 by AHI

[EEH]

Haven’t seen clays in a long time.

[iride]

Powder valley also dropped clays this morning. 

[Farmer]

Pretty much all gone now. Really makes you wonder what’s going on. 

[Sarge]

3 hours ago, Farmer said:

Pretty much all gone now. Really makes you wonder what’s going on. 

People were caught unprepared AGAIN. PV sets strict limits,. People are just buying it up as soon as it hits. I don't think anything is "going on" per say. It always gets this way whenever anything disturbs the norm.

I kept clicking on PV all day and they had Clays for most of the day. You just have to act fast and be willing to pay the price right now.

Edited December 11, 2021 by Sarge

[Farmer]

7 hours ago, Sarge said:

People were caught unprepared AGAIN. PV sets strict limits,. People are just buying it up as soon as it hits. I don't think anything is "going on" per say. It always gets this way whenever anything disturbs the norm.

I kept clicking on PV all day and they had Clays for most of the day. You just have to act fast and be willing to pay the price right now.

Yeah I suppose, just seems strange that it has taken longer than the last two times. I guess with the internet buying VS having to go store to store that makes it worse. I’m sitting ok, just have some friends that didn’t heed my warnings about stocking up and now they’re whining. Oh well……

[iride]

I got caught a bit but I've managed with the right tools doing my hunting for me. Primers have been the worst of it so far for me. Biggest issue with PV is their site is terrible and crashes all the time when they release stuff so nobody can get in!