Good morning everyone. I’m getting ready to start reloading the 20 gauge 2-3/4” and I’m trying to decide on a couple of powders to start with. At this point in my life I prefer to buy 8 lb or 4 lb vessels. So I don’t really want to get stuck with something not very useful.
So here goes. Of the currently available powders What do you recommend?
Thanks
I used Unique for 20 ga but there are a lot of good powders. Unique is tough to get now.
My suggestion is to use a powder that you will also use for pistol or reduced rifle loads.
The way things are right now, you may need to use whatever is available.
If you have the Lyman Shotshell manual, list the powders that will work for you. Hodgdon site is a good source as well.
Good luck!
Don Verna
Thank you Sir. Great advice as always.
Locally there’s not much available between Longshot and TiteWad. If I’m gonna pay hazmat, might as well make it worthwhile.
Alliant powders are only supposed to get more difficult to find according to another thread.
I have been using international clays for light 3/4 oz loads that kids and bride can shoot all day and break clay’s out to 60 yards just fine.
And Longshot for 7/8 oz or 1oz hunting loads.
Both powders seem available nowadays.
I have never used any but Green Dot... serves very well indeed. I avoid other uses so I will have Green Dot for my 20ga!!!!
I wish I could find Green Dot. Been looking for a couple of years.
Haven’t found anything clays in a long time either. Heard from the owner of a class 3 shop that the equipment to produce it was damaged and they are so busy producing other powder, they aren’t going to fix it anytime soon.
Maybe I should study what can be loaded with Longshot in 20 gauge. I’ve already got some on hand for strong 12 gauge loads.
Originally Posted by Barry54
If you find it, be friend and tell me where....if you leave any behind. I've been looking too with NO luck. I've covered every shop from Dickson, columbia & franklin...to nashvegas and Mt. Juliet. Nothing.
Isaiah 45 - I AM the Lord and there is none else
I got the final pound of Unique from a shop in St. Louis a couple of months ago.
Where do you find components in Franklin now that the Franklin gun shop changed ownership?
Academy has a few things but selection is mind numbingly boring. Haven't been there in a while. I have good friend that makes the circuit for any shop within 100 miles of williamson county on a monthly basis. I gave him a list. Every once in a while he gets lucky. There's a shop in Columbia with a good selection but they are not the cheapest. I don't fancy paying $55 bucks for a pound of H4350 but it is what it is....I cannot find a better load for 6,5x55 so you gotta pay to play. ...it's either King's or Dunhams's...can't recall....as i said, I buy/shop by proxy more often than not.
By the way...the Longshot you mentioned is a good buy if you find it. I don't bother with shotguns much ....although I am a 20g guy; all my shotguns are 20g....I use Longshot for full throttle 9mm carbine loads and mostly I use it for 10mm....it makes some beastly loads for 1 centimeter automatic. I would bet it would do very well in any magnum handgun...it is pretty close to blue dot in burn rate.
Last edited by Nines&Twos; 05-10-2024 at 11:21 AM.
Isaiah 45 - I AM the Lord and there is none else
Skeet loads or field loads? I use Green Dot for skeet loads and Longshot & ProReach for slugs and heavier loads. Also 20/28 and Clays Universal for faster target loads.
all of these powders are pretty clean burning --- used to use SR7625 worked well but was dirty. Also loved the smell of fired hulls.
Thumbed through my newest Lyman manual. Plenty of Longshot recipes. Some WSF and HS-6 loads as well. One recipe for N330 but only in Remington hulls, which I have none. But those powders stood out as what’s currently available.
BPI 6th edition has some data for Alliant 20/28 but it’s almost entirely for brush wads.
BPI 10th edition adds a handful of loads of Alliant Pro Reach to the mix.
So looking at my printed manuals, I can do a lot with the HS-6 and Longshot I already keep a supply of.
Last edited by Barry54; 05-10-2024 at 02:50 PM.
Longshot is my go to for 7/8 and 1 oz loads and seems to be readily available.
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Green Dot! And, you'll find it is an excellent 12 ga. powder as well.
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unknown
Thanks. Not sure what rock you’re living under, but yeah, I’d take a bunker full of Green Dot if I could find it!
I'D look at data for IMR-700X. It is among the cleanest-burning of shotgun powders and seems to give wonderful consistency. Because it is on the faster-burning end of the scale, it will be quite economical, but it may not deliver the maximum performance available from other, slower-burning propellants.
The recommendation to decide on a propellant that can also be used in pistol calibers is a wise one, but it depends on which pistol calibers you intend to reload. Hodgdon Universal would likely enable you to load most pistol calibers from 9mmP to .45 Colt with excellent results. I would expect it to work no LESS well as a propellant for 20 gauge. It might even be more useful than 700X for magnum duck/goose/pheasant loads.
Since Alliant decided to cease domestic propellant production, all of my favorite choices for answering your question are gone. I would look closely at AA#5, also promulgated by Hodgdon, as a candidate propellant. I am unsure of how well it will work in the milder 20 gauge loads, but it provides maximum or near-maximum performance in pistol cartridges as divergent as .32 ACP to .44 Magnum, and usually burns very cleanly. It should deliver 85% of maximum performance or more in all of them.
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He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool become servant to the wise of heart. Proverbs 11:29
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Carpe SCOTCH!
Some of y’all obviously haven’t tried to buy powder in this decade.
The most recent listing for 700X is in Nebraska on swapping and selling FTF sale 773 miles away. (I considered it)
Last edited by Barry54; 05-12-2024 at 08:01 AM.
I've been very happy with Longshot in Remington hulls for my 7/8oz loads in 20 gauge.
Might take a look here, say on line, that they have Green Dot in stock 8# at $230 also found 1# cans at $45 but saying and doing today may be two different things.
https://midwestreloads.com/product/green-dot-powder/
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I’m pretty sure that is a scam website.
It says at the bottom of the page they take Visa, Master and offer cod. No brick and mortar address though, that always makes me nervous.
Deplorable infidel
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