Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Discussion of the Remington 870 for hunting.
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Scorpion8
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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by Scorpion8 » Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:18 am

efriedrich wrote:
Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:54 pm
I use 7.5 shot 1 1/8 weight 1200 fps Walmart special bs and crows are quite a bit bigger than grouse and usually pretty high up performing all sorts of acrobatics and it does just "ok" (I need practice also). Last time out I was using a #6 1 1/4 heavy field and it slammed the black buggers like a hammer. So, try both and see which one works best for your hunting.
Thanks, good info. I'm just finishing the rebuild on my MEC 600 Jr and plan on starting to reload with some 12-GA once-fired hulls, 1 to 1-1/8 oz load of #7-1/2 shot. I may drop some in #6 shot also. Right off my main loads will be factory Federal, Winchester and Estate game loads mostly in #7-1/2 shot until I can get the hang of reloading.
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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by couliewalker » Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:54 am

My dad at the young age of 74 started reloading.I set up his 600 Jr. With 1 1/8 oz 700x aa wad in a Winchester aa hull.
Made it easy as pie for him.Other than change shot size from 6 to 7 1/2 depending on what he's shooting at,it covers everything from doves,pigeons,to pheasant,rabbit squirrel woodcock and grouse.His load is a standard trap load at a standard trap velocity of approx 1200 fps.All he has to do is refill the hoppers.The more I read on reloading and the more I shoot,the more I realize how potent a trap load with the correct size shot is on game.

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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by Synchronizor » Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:09 am

700X is a great propellant, I use it all the time. Its fast-burning characteristics make it an efficient propellant that generates enough pressure for reliably-performing light-to-midweight 12ga loads without requiring a heavy charge or being particularly sensitive to temperature or projectile mass. And with its reasonable price tag and ability to get the job done with small doses, it's very cost-effective. Less propellant mass also means a little bit less recoil. I use it for everything from 3/4-ounce to 1 1/8-ounce shot loads, as well as lighter slug and buckshot shells. It's a bit smoky in my experience, but certainly cleaner than most of the off-the-shelf ammo I use.

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John A.
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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by John A. » Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:09 am

Thanks for that synchronizer. I've not used 700x. I appreciate first hand accounts.

I've used several different powders and have a few favorites that I keep going back to for particular things.

Longshot is good for high velocity/heavy loads. A bit dirty, but about on par with most commercial high brass loads.

Titegroup is good for light handicap loads (maybe not a good choice in some autoloaders)

Clays is alright for a general purpose hunting or plinking shell. But meters about as well as dry concrete mix :lol:
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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by Synchronizor » Mon Jan 15, 2018 4:53 am

Yeah, I've used Longshot for heavy loads too. Seems to work well, and be less sensitive to cold & pressure than others like Blue Dot. I don't do a ton of heavy loads, though. The heaviest I load & shoot in large quantities is a 1 1/4-ounce training & recoil test load designed to mimic the recoil of typical 12ga express buckshot loads like 9-pellet 00B & 27-pellet #4B. I use 800X for that, since the load's a bit light & slow (about 1305 FPS) for something like Longshot.

I've looked at Clays a bit, but never tried it out. From what I understand, it's very similar to 700X's burn characteristics. 700X seemed to be a tiny bit more efficient (how many grains are needed for a given velocity/pressure) going by the load data, and a bit more versatile for 1 1/8-ounce handicap loads since it's just a hair slower, so that's the one I picked when I started loading. Plus, everyone seems to carry 700X around here. If I get low, I can stop by whatever shooting/hunting store is convenient with my errands that day, and find it for the same price. Never had much motivation to spend the money & time experimenting with another propellant that wasn't going to do anything my current go-to didn't already do. I've heard Clays is cleaner though, which might be more beneficial for folks who are shooting semi-autos. My 870 doesn't give a rip.

Since you mention metering, I will add that 700X isn't the best-metering propellant out there either. It's a flake-type propellant, and while the flakes aren't as big or sticky as some others I've tried, it's still not the most well-behaved when measured by volume. However, I prefer to weigh out most of my powder charges by hand using a dipper & trickler. I never spent a lot of time trying to get my charge bar dialed in, so I'm sure it can be done well enough, especially if you're not worried about keeping charges ultra-consistent.

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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by John A. » Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:21 pm

Clays is also flake propellant.

It's about the texture of goldfish food, though is green.

If you ever get a chance to use titegroup for your low recoil loads, where anything but an autoloader is involved, it is very good. I don't mind sharing some good recipes with you if you'd like.

I often use it for my low recoil slug and buckshot loads. Truth is, my old body just can't handle a lot of magnum loads anymore so I rarely shoot them these days.

But titegroup burns out rather quickly in the barrel which is why it's a little weak for most autoloaders, but it has a lot to offer with little smoke, fouling, and a hair under 1200 fps with 1-1/8 oz payloads.

It's also really good for loading many common pistol cartridges too. I'm using just 2.8 gr in my 165 gr 9mm loads. It just works so well for so many things.
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Re: Grouse Hunting - What shot?

Post by Synchronizor » Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:22 am

I think 700X is a bit more efficient & versatile for low-recoil loads, though just looking through Hodgdon's data, Titegroup seems capable of running lighter 1-ounce and 7/8-ounce loads faster than 700X. Not seeing a ton of shotshell data for it though, and none of my books mention it, which is odd, because it's not that new. Maybe it's intended to be more of a pistol propellant.

I bought some International Clays a little while back, and have been meaning to try it with 7/8-ounce home-cast slugs. Seems similar to Titegroup, though a little slower still, and a lot more data out there. I've found 7/8-ounce data up to 1500 FPS with the hulls & wads I use for slugs. Normally I use 700X for those slugs, but the data tops out in the low 1300s. That's a nice recoil level for recreational shooting, but I'd like to work out some faster loads that could potentially be used for hunting.

It is nice to have a shotshell propellant that works for pistol rounds too. I load a ton of .38 Special wadcutter rounds with 700X. For .357 Magnum though, I've been impressed with VihtaVuori N110. Meters, loads, and burns well, and doesn't have much flash or blast, even though it can really be hot-rodded in the .357. It's kinda pricey, but I don't feed my classic S&W 19 a steady diet of magnums anyway.

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