With 20-28 powder being so short in supply, we have tried 800X only to find out it does not meter very well in Mec loader, AND.. it seems to be temperature sensitive.

because in cold..( below freezing temps) ignition sucks, lots of unburned power in barrel and odd sounding reports.

Anyone else ever had this?

800X has the deserved reputation of not metering well. The Red PC Powder baffle only seems to make it worse. Tapping the bottle or bar after each cycle helps some. I have found my RCBS Uniflow powder measurer does well enough with it. It's just the nature of the beast.

As for poor cold temperature properties I have not had that problem. Could it be your powder fluctuations causing your issues? If your drops are light your pressure will be less also resulting in poor burns, leaving unburned powder and off reports. Many switch to a hotter primer in the winter with temperature sensitive powders. You could look toward using CCI 209M or Fed 209A if your recipe allows.

I too have run out of 20/28 and currently have pressed some Green Dot into use and hope that things will improve soon.

Thanks for your help.

Keep your powder hopper at least 3/4 full. It will measure good enough then. None of the flake powders measure like a ball powder. Try magnum primers for cold weather.

Shot some yesterday that were nice and warm, and they worked fine...

For what it's worth Hodgdon has said it is discontinuing production of the following by the end of this year; SR4756, SR4759, SR7625, PB, Pyrodex Pellets, IMR 4007, Winchester 780 and Winchester AA Lite. You might have issues finding SR4756 if you do not already have some.

Good to know, thanks for the tip.

Wow,sorry to hear about discontinuing 4756. That's been my go-to powder for 28ga since I got disgusted with the inconsistency I had with 800X a few years back. With overall powder shortages the past couple of years, I was not surprised to not find 4756 either - think I've only got a couple of pounds left. Assuming I don't find more 4756, anybody have recommendations for another good metering and clean burning substitute..? I use AAHS hulls and wads with Win 209 primers.

Thanks,

I am really liking Alliant's 20/28; clean, meters well, low charge weights and dense enough to give good crimps in the AAHS hull. Great powder too for 20 ga reloads as the name implies. But like any powder in the burning range useful for 28 ga reloading, it's hard to find.