I came up with this idea, and all morning the hodgdon site seems will not load. Otherwise I'd take a moment a browse all the light loads and give myself an idea where to start

 

Does grandma not have access to a 410? Problem solved

 

Its heavier than this junky Stevens 301 I bought. Then I cut the barrel down to 18.125". So its very light and easier to handle then the heavier longer choked 410.


I see oodles and oodles of 3/4oz loads (not from hodgdon) Curious if anyone has pushed half ounces with the 12ga.

 

I have seen a few push 5/8 with so-so results in a 12; somewhat better results in a 20 or 28
That said, the Aguila Mini shells come closest with 5/8 oz of 7.5 running 1200 fps; if you were to go lower in weight, you'd most likely have to go up in velocity, so that might be a consideration

 

 

Fps isn't a concern. If 1900 is needed to reliability and cleanly push 1/2oz, that's fine.

I was thinking starting with 18-19 grain, fiber wads for shims, and literally a pinch of #Bs ontop.

Only need a box. Probably last a year.

 

Fps should be a concern if your grandma is firing it; 1900 will have some pretty decent recoil and there's no need for that for *****, skunks, possums, rabbits, etc.

 

The 1900 was sarcasm. I did find some winchester 1760 1oz slugs. 5/8oz it is.

 

I had my local lab test some 1/2oz 12G load many years ago. Winchester CF hulls, Win Primer, Win AA wad (with overshot card) with ADI AS30N (Clays) powder.

I'll go through my files and dig out the data sheets.

Memory was very low pressures, but I never did load many to test. I was perfectly happy with 3/4oz loads.

Clays s a reasonably fast and clean powder, but probably not fast enough for such a super light load in the 12G. More recently I have been using Vectan BA10 powder with 3/4oz 12 gauge skeet and also subsonic 1oz loads. It s faster and probably more suitable for 1/2oz 12G loads.

 

Ba10 seems exotic on this side of the mud puddle

 

And yet it is more primitive in that it is a 'single base' powder.

 

I hear you on the red dot, you better break axles and snap ujoints racing to get it.

Earlier this summer I scarfed up 8 kegs of red dot and 10 kegs of PP.

I really wanted some e3, but #1, i didn't find any, #2, the wife punches hard.


For the record, I did make some 11/16oz 12ga loads, and they patterned quite nice, no recoil. I tested one last night on a **** around the chicken barn.

 

Found it!

The accompanying letter says it was 1998.

ADI AS30N = Hdgedon Clays

The wad is B&P T2 H27.

I am pretty sure you would get virtually the same results with the Claybuster 3/4oz wad (I will do a test and try them as I happen to have some) and using the Winchester Primer instead of the Fio 616. Likewise with the newer Winchester HS case.

 

That was an interesting way to pass half and hour.

I loaded 5 hulls with 17 Gn AS30N, using the components listed above.

Since I dont have a 1/2 oz bar to fit my 12G press, I hand weighed the shot. (And the powder actually) And, I am embarrassed to say I got it wrong. I thought I set my scale to 220 Grains for the shot, but when I looked closely at the end with more care it was at 225 Grains, so about 5 or 6 extra #9 shot. For me that is close enough for this test anyhow.

I seated the B&P wads by finger pressure, checking with a bright globe to make sure the wads were seated on the powder. This left the petals of the wads slightly overlapping up into the crimp, but they still crimped very well in my MEC 650.

I will test them on some skeet targets tomorrow.

I started to load some with 16 Gn of Vectan BA10 and the Claybuster wad, but ran into a problem that coincided with dinner call.

The issue is that the clay buster 3/4oz wad sits slightly deeper and the crimp dished in just a bit too far. (Denser powder and perhaps a slightly larger shot cup?)

I tried putting a card in the base of the shot cup for the next one, but the 'button' in the floor of the cup prevents the card from sitting flat. Thats when I came into the house looking for some cereal or similar to bulk up the load and got the Dinner bell.

I could not find any suitable cereal so I am thinking I will try a couple of polystyrene beads.

To be continued......

 

That was an interesting way to pass half and hour.

I loaded 5 hulls with 17 Gn AS30N, using the components listed above.

Since I dont have a 1/2 oz bar to fit my 12G press, I hand weighed the shot. (And the powder actually) And, I am embarrassed to say I got it wrong. I thought I set my scale to 220 Grains for the shot, but when I looked closely at the end with more care it was at 225 Grains, so about 5 or 6 extra #9 shot. For me that is close enough for this test anyhow.

I seated the B&P wads by finger pressure, checking with a bright globe to make sure the wads were seated on the powder. This left the petals of the wads slightly overlapping up into the crimp, but they still crimped very well in my MEC 650.

View attachment 19867

I will test them on some skeet targets tomorrow.

I started to load some with 16 Gn of Vectan BA10 and the Claybuster wad, but ran into a problem that coincided with dinner call.

The issue is that the clay buster 3/4oz wad sits slightly deeper and the crimp dished in just a bit too far. (Denser powder and perhaps a slightly larger shot cup?)

I tried putting a card in the base of the shot cup for the next one, but the 'button' in the floor of the cup prevents the card from sitting flat. Thats when I came into the house looking for some cereal or similar to bulk up the load and got the Dinner bell.

I could not find any suitable cereal so I am thinking I will try a couple of polystyrene beads.

To be continued......

Honey Nut Cheerios gives off a nice aroma when fired...........................

 

19 grain of PP, nitro card, 4 1/2inch fiber wads, a fuzz under .650oz, they fold decently.

They don't recoil bad, but sure seems the FPS is a bit quick.

Pattern very nice too. I loaded one with #9s and out a card shooter choke, .640", it was plenty score ready at the meets

 

Continuing on my 1/2oz tests:

I gave up on the Claybuster wads. They are not long enough and polystyrene bean bag beans dont work. They are far too light! They just blow out of the top of the hull at the pre-crimp!

"Cherio's" dont exist here and I didnt have any other potential Cereals in the house. :-(

The only thing that worked for me was an over-shot card, (second from the right) and I dont really like that idea at all, with the high potential to disrupt the pattern of the small shot load. The right one has the card under the shot, but the button in the bottom of the shot cup cants it sideways making the load lopsided. Probably not ideal!

 

Vegemite Mate Weet-Bix or Honey Poppas . I resided as well as worked down under eons ago .

 

No Cheerios? Use some split peas or small beans

 

Thanks oneonceload. Split peas or small beans a great tip, but I'll just work with the B&P wads as they work easily in their own.
I tried the 5 shells on skeet today and they worked better than I did. I missed one each way from station4, but got both singles from Station 6 and smacked the incomer at 7. Those 3 broke quite well, so I am assuming it was just my bad at Station 4. If I can find a 1/2oz MEC 650 bar (or modify one of my spare bars) I will try a few full rounds. But I have a very limited supply of AS30N left, so I will probably try the BA10 instead. It works very well with 3/4oz.

 

Thanks oneonceload. Split peas or small beans a great tip, but I'll just work with the B&P wads as they work easily in their own.
I tried the 5 shells on skeet today and they worked better than I did. I missed one each way from station4, but got both singles from Station 6 and smacked the incomer at 7. Those 3 broke quite well, so I am assuming it was just my bad at Station 4. If I can find a 1/2oz MEC 650 bar (or modify one of my spare bars) I will try a few full rounds. But I have a very limited supply of AS30N left, so I will probably try the BA10 instead. It works very well with 3/4oz.

I would either modify a bar you no longer use, which can be done with tape or similar if the hole is too large, or look for a Universal Charge Bar which lets you set whatever you want for shot and powder

 

@Aussieblackduck, have you ever considered trying Vihtavuori N310 in this application? Between BA10 and N310 the one with the lowest density may have an advantage due merely to that characteristic.

 

I have thought of that and would like to try it, but it's difficult and expensive to source here.

 

Airsoft pellets work nicely also.

 

I made a few with some e3, and they didn't turn out too bad. I use fiber wads to make the stack decent and easily avoided an overshot card. I did make a few with a card, and according to the paper they patterned decently.