Hey folks,
I'm in California where everything has to be non-lead regardless of location or game pursued, and of course there's no ammo available anywhere. Thus I've started making my own shotshells for Dove/Quail hunts this year.
I have been following the Load Data for my particular hulls/primers/wads/powder/shot. Spread seems acceptable (Sept dove season worked out fine) but I'm getting a lot of unburned powder left in my barrel compared to when I shoot factory shells. Does this mean I'm not achieving high enough pressure during ignition? I'm roll crimping...

Recipe is:
Cheddite Hull and Primer
25gr IMR Blue
appropriate wad
3/4 oz #5 steel shot
cardstock overshot card
Roll Crimp

Anyone have any insight on this? I feel like either my powder sucks (I know IMR Blue was discontinued) or my crimps are not creating enough pressure. Or I need a hotter primer, but swapping primers seems... ill advised from what I've heard.
Thanks,
Crow

I have no experience with IMR Blue, but IMR doesn't make crap powder. A quick look at the powder burn chart shows it to be a bit on the slow side for a shotgun powder. Probably meant for 3" or 3.5" magnum shells with heavy loads of shot. Your load is very light for 12ga. That powder and that payload seems like a bit of a mismatch. I would think 1 1/8oz would be the starting place for a powder like that. Is this a published load from a reliable source? If you're using a published load, it should be good. If this isn't a published load...there's your problem.

If it is a published load...
Go back to your loading procedure. There is no primer mentioned. How much pressure are you using to seat the wad, and is that what the recipe calls for? Roll crimp is interesting for such a light load, any reason you're not doing a star crimp?

FrontSight wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:26 pm I have no experience with IMR Blue, but IMR doesn't make crap powder. A quick look at the powder burn chart shows it to be a bit on the slow side for a shotgun powder. Probably meant for 3" or 3.5" magnum shells with heavy loads of shot. Your load is very light for 12ga. That powder and that payload seems like a bit of a mismatch. I would think 1 1/8oz would be the starting place for a powder like that. Is this a published load from a reliable source? If you're using a published load, it should be good. If this isn't a published load...there's your problem.

If it is a published load...
Go back to your loading procedure. There is no primer mentioned. How much pressure are you using to seat the wad, and is that what the recipe calls for? Roll crimp is interesting for such a light load, any reason you're not doing a star crimp?

Hey thanks for the reply.
I neglected to mention that this is a 20ga load.
Yes, it's a published load, in the Steel Shot guide from Precision.
Cheddite Hull and Cheddite 209 primer.
No info in the load data on how much pressure to put on the wad. I'm just seating it on top of the powder... any advice on that?
Roll crimp because I don't have a good star crimper and I like to be able to put load info on the overshot card for reference.
-Crow

I would start with about 20lbs compression of the wad and see where that gets you. That slow powder needs some resistance to get it burning evenly.
So what equipment are you using to load this shell? Is it a Lee loader? If so, you can set the shell on a bathroom scale and press the wad in to get your wad pressure.

I kinda suspected this might be a 20ga load.... I had a 50/50 shot and of course I got it wrong. One other thing I would investigate... Can you find a 1oz load with the same components? The heavier shot load should help that powder get going. Just some thoughts.

FrontSight wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:21 am I would start with about 20lbs compression of the wad and see where that gets you. That slow powder needs some resistance to get it burning evenly.
So what equipment are you using to load this shell? Is it a Lee loader? If so, you can set the shell on a bathroom scale and press the wad in to get your wad pressure.
I kinda suspected this might be a 20ga load.... I had a 50/50 shot and of course I got it wrong. One other thing I would investigate... Can you find a 1oz load with the same components? The heavier shot load should help that powder get going. Just some thoughts.

I use a Lee LoadAll to deprime/resize/prime but I throw the shot and powder by hand on a digital scale... the Loader doesn't throw particularly consistently and I've been unhappy with the crimp it provides, which is why I've been roll crimping instead. There aren't any 1oz loads listed in the steel shot data, but there are a couple 7/8oz loads I could try. I'll also try compressing the powder under the wad to 20lbs... I didn't realize you had to do that, although I'm not sure my wad will actually stay compressed with the Cheddite hulls- it slides in without much effort. Is the wad compression mainly about evenly distributing the powder and eliminating any possible air pockets?
Thanks for the advice. I really dislike loading shotshells compared to centerfire ammo, haha.
Crow

When you compress the wad, you're actually just compressing the powder down. It doesn't actually place the wad in there under pressure, the wad just becomes a pusher for the powder. So don't worry about that, it's the powder compression you're after. Does your load all have something to put the wads in with compression, it should? Check the instructions.
Then when you get a chance, pick up a used MEC and life will become so much easier.

papajim2jordan wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 12:36 pm https://www.precisionreloading.com/docs ... site-2.pdf

Yep. Load # 243 is what I'm making
Crow

FrontSight wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:10 am When you compress the wad, you're actually just compressing the powder down. It doesn't actually place the wad in there under pressure, the wad just becomes a pusher for the powder. So don't worry about that, it's the powder compression you're after. Does your load all have something to put the wads in with compression, it should? Check the instructions.
Then when you get a chance, pick up a used MEC and life will become so much easier.

That makes sense. Yes, my LeeLoadall has a wad seating station. I have a 20lb dumbell I can set on the lever, haha.
Crow

With wad pressure consistency is more important than weight (within reason of course). So any consistent process that works for you should work just fine.

Thanks for the info here... I think I'll try making a few of the 3/4oz loads with consistent pressure and I'll try some 7/8oz loads as well. I'll test them and report back.
Crow