What would be your choice of powder for use in 7/8 and 1 oz. 12 ga. target loads? (Win AA & Rem. STS hulls.)

I like useing Red Dot.

Around these parts 700X is popular and the most economical.

I like 800X as the operating pressures are substantially lower.

cheers, Mike

I use Hodgdon Clays for those loads - very clean burning.

I agree with Trigger on the use of Hodgdon Clays -- it's the cleanest burning. But nowadays when I can get it I use Hodgdon Titewad because it works out to being the least expensive per load.

Unless cost is not a factor for you, I'd use the powder that I could get at the least cost per load.

I've used them all for 12 ga. target loads -- Red Dot, Green Dot, 700X, PB, Winchester Super Target, Hodgdon Clays, Hodgdon Titewad, and probably some others I've forgotten. I can't tell any differences in the quality of the loads I produce from them, although some are cleaner burning than others, and some are finer grained and others are coarser. (Red Dot is the coarsest grained -- it takes up more space in the case for a given charge weight -- and also the dirtiest burning. But it is completely reliable and has probably been used in more 12 ga. target loads than any other powder.)

[This message has been edited by LE270 (edited 05-09-2002).]

I use NM-04 . It is a military surplus type powder that I get from G.I Brass. It loads with the same data as PB , is very economical and it burns fairly clean.