Some info I thought others might be interested in.

Remington Gun Club vs STS vs Nitro 27

After purchasing two boxes of each load, five shells were sacrificed to examine the internal components and the other 45 shells of each were shot at the patterning board to evaluate their performance potential.

LOADS EVALUATED
12ga Remington Gun Club Target load with 1 1/8-ounce of #7 ½ lead shot at a listed 1,200 fps.
12ga Remington Premier STS Light Handicap load with 1 1/8-ounce of #7 ½ lead shot at 3 DE (1,200 fps).
12ga Remington Premier Nitro 27 Handicap load with 1 1/8-ounce of #7 ½ lead shot at a listed 1,235 fps.

SHELL COMPONENTS
Hulls
Gun Club “One-Piece STS Hull”, lightly ribbed green hull, silver steel head.
STS “Premier STS Body”, smooth metallic-green hull, brass head.
Nitro “Premier Unibody “, smooth metallic-gold hull, brass head.

Primers
Gun Club “Premier STS Primer Mix”, it looks like an R209P primer.
STS “#209 Primer”, it looks like an R209P primer.
Nitro “Premier R209P STS Primer”.

Powders
Gun Club Medium-sized gray flakes (16.8 grains, + or - .45 grains).
STS Medium-sized gray flakes with green flakes (17.4 grains, + or - .15 grains).
Nitro “New Ball Powder”, fine ball powder (19.1 grains, + or - .15 grains).

Wads
Gun Club “Power Piston” RXP style wad.
STS FIG8S wad.
Nitro TGT12S wad.

Lead Shot
Gun Club “Hard Gun Club Shot”, #7 ½ ( 375 pellets / 485.5 grains).
STS “High Antimony Hard Lead Shot”, #7 ½ (408 pellets / 492.2 grains).
Nitro “High Antimony STS Magnum Shot”, #7 ½ (420 pellets / 503.1 grains).

When I weighed out 492.2 grains of shot (1 1/8-ounce) and then counted the pellets to establish the “true” 1 1/8-ounce pellet count by weight, the Gun Club’s came in at 380 pellets/1 1/8-ounce (492.0 grains), the STS’s came in at 408 pellets/1 1/8-ounce (exactly 492.2 grains), and the Nitro’s had 411 pellets/1 1/8-ounce (491.8 grains). It would appear from the true pellet count that the pellets in the Gun Club’s are of a lower antimony content than the STS’s and Nitro’s. This would account for some of the lower pellet count in the Gun Club’s payload. The STS’s and Nitro’s must be very similar in antimony content since their true pellet count numbers were very close. Knowing that pellet size also influences pellet counts, I checked the diameter on 10 pellets from each load to get an average pellet size and all were within + or - .005" of the expected .095" diameter for #7 ½ lead shot.

PATTERNING PERFORMANCE
Of course, what matters most is how they perform so here are the pattern numbers from a 12-gauge Browning Citori w/ 28" Invector-Plus barrels and Briley flush chokes to allow for performance comparisons (patterns average of five, 30" post-shot scribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

40 YARDS / LM
Gun Club 216 (58%)
STS 277 (68%)
Nitro 267 (64%)

40 YARDS / M
Gun Club 236 (63%)
STS 293 (72%)
Nitro 302 (72%)

40 YARDS / IM
Gun Club 260 (69%)
STS 295 (72%)
Nitro 307 (73%)

40 YARDS / LF
Gun Club 263 (70%)
STS 313 (77%)
Nitro 309 (74%)

40 YARDS / F
Gun Club 272 (73%)
STS 321 (79%)
Nitro 321 (76%)

I’m just the messenger so you can be the judge. Which load was "best"!

Good luck.

Such tests can be misleading. Remember, you can change your chokes. If you know how a particular load performs in your gun, you can tailor the pattern for the desired density. These are your numbers listed in a different order.


Gun Club (IM) 260 (69%)
STS (LM) 277 (68%)
Nitro (LM) 267 (64%)


Gun Club (F) 272 (73%)
STS (M) 293 (72%)
Nitro (M) 302 (72%)


Gun Club (F) 272 (73%)
STS (IM) 295 (72%)
Nitro (IM) 307 (73%)

Gun Club (XF) ??? (??%)
STS (LF) 313 (77%)
Nitro (LF) 309 (74%)


Gun Club (XXF) ??? (??%)
STS (F) 321 (79%)
Nitro (F) 321 (76%)

If the lower antimony content of the Gun Club makes each pellet heavier, then which load's pellets are going to retain more velocity and energy at 40 yards? Are you any better off shooting the STS or Nitro at those targets using a Mod choke instead of the Gun Club with a Full choke?

Don't really know what is misleading about it?

Anyway yes, you can adjust your choke and load for the desired pattern density. That's pretty difficult to do until you know what they are really doing in your gun and chokes.

Low antimony pellets weigh more. That difference is insignificant as far as retained pellet energy and velocity.

Good luck.

Good testing! I almost always buy the STS's or Nitro's. They are excellent for reloading too. Work as good on birds and they do on clays.

God Bless, Louis

quote:

Originally posted by Grenadier:
Such tests can be misleading. Remember, you can change your chokes.

Not all guns have choke tubes.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Hunter:
Don't really know what is misleading about it?

Your test is very informative. I wasn't suggesting that you were misleading anyone. But some people might take a look at that data as presented and presume that to shoot further out they would need to shoot STS and Nitro instead of the Gun Club loads.

quote:

Originally posted by Ohiosam:
Not all guns have choke tubes.

Yes, and this test highlights why it is important to know what a load will do in the gun you have. Based on these results, if I had a single barrel trap gun with a full choke I would choose the Gun Club over STS or Nitro. If the gun had a modified choke I would choose the other way around.

Good post Joe!

Joe,
Great post and analysis. I think we spend a lot of time playing with chokes and often overlooking ammunition differences. I’ve used the STS’s in a number of my shotguns and I like the loads and I especially like the cases for reloading. Thanks for taking the time to do the work and pass on the data.
Good shooting,
Paul

quote:

Yes, and this test highlights why it is important to know what a load will do in the gun you have. Based on these results, if I had a single barrel trap gun with a full choke I would choose the Gun Club over STS or Nitro. If the gun had a modified choke I would choose the other way around.

You've got more than 5% fewer pellets and a worse pattern. Not the choice that most trap shooters would make for competition. While not mentioned in the above, very informative post, it is also likely that the Gun Club has a less evenly distributed pattern with more holes in the perimeter.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
You've got more than 5% fewer pellets and a worse pattern. Not the choice that most trap shooters would make for competition. While not mentioned in the above, very informative post, it is also likely that the Gun Club has a less evenly distributed pattern with more holes in the perimeter.

No argument there but, in my opinion, it beats shooting patterns that are overly tight. I was offering a solution to a hypothetical situation where the shooter had a gun with fixed chokes. It is better to be able to change chokes and, for that matter, to have more than just three cartridges to choose from.

I shoot both Remington Gun Clubs and STS ammo and found that in a wide variety of shotguns that I can depend on the STS shells (where compared to similar Gun Club loads) will pattern at least 5% tighter. If you cut a couple open and look at the shot used the reason is fairly evident.

Dear Joe Hunter:

Thank you for the detailed testing.

I use STS and Nitro 27 hulls to reload 90% of my hunting rounds. I'm not really into trap, except to sharpen up for hunting season.

The rest are 3" Win./Rem. and old single piece AA's for a special loading in a Browning Auto 5.

I'm building my first patterning board, and when I restock two shotguns, I'll actually use it.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis