What have you found to be the best formula for low recoil in a 12 ga skeet load?

I have a boat load of wAA and STS hulls and was thinking of a 1 oz shot load.

Steve

I use the Claybuster clone of the WAA12SL wad (for 1 oz. of shot) and a powder charge that gives between 1125 and 1150 f.p.s. You don't need more velocity than that for skeet and the lower velocity doesn't pound you around so much, meaning that you don't get tired as quickly in long strings of shots.

I find that I can treat the Winchester AA (old style -- not the new ones) and the Remington STS hulls as if they are interchangeable; i.e. I use the same wad, primer, powder charge, shot charge, and loading machine crimp adjustment for both.

Many powders will work very well for this: Hodgdon Titewad (my favorite) or Clays. IMR 700X. Alliant (formerly Hercules) Red Dot. Winchester Super Target. And some others.

Get the loading manual of the powder manufacturer for the powder you are using and find a load using your combination of hull, primer, wad, shot load, and powder charge that will give you this velocity.

An advantage of using the Hodgdon powders is that Hodgdon's loading manual is the most extensive -- giving the largest set of possible combinations -- of any I've seen.

My preferred load for this, using the AA or STS hulls, and Winchester 209 or Remington 209P primers, Claybuster WAA12SL wad, and 1 oz. of #9 shot, is 15.5 to 16 gr. of Hodgdon Titewad or 16 to 16.5 gr. of Hodgdon Clays.

quote:

Originally posted by onemsumba:
What have you found to be the best formula for low recoil in a 12 ga skeet load?

I have a boat load of wAA and STS hulls and was thinking of a 1 oz shot load.

Steve

Steve,

My light skeet load for my 12 gauge Rem 1187 semi-auto is: Win case, Pattern Control 1oz wad, 1oz #9 shot, and #38 MEC bushing of Green dot.

I started my son out with at 9 years old with a 12 gauge Rem 870 turkey gun with a 23" barrel. Cut the stock down to fit him but all the 12 gauge 1oz "light" factory loads were too much recoil for him to handle. So I loaded up the following 7/8oz 12 gauge loads for him: Win case, win WAA12L (grey) wad, 7/8oz #9 shot, #30 MEC bushing of Hodgon Clays. This load will not work any of my semi-autos but did great for his 870 pump and my O/U. He learned to shoot skeet at an early age with this load. Also used it with #7&1/2 shot for him to shoot doves. He's bigger than I am now! The stock on the 870 has been put back together and even a extra 3/4" recoil pad has been added to fit him. He's purchased a 30" barrel to go along with the 23" turkey barrel. But he still wants me to keep loading that 7/8oz load for dove hunting. They will flat kill some doves.