Shotgun chrono

[85MikeTPI]

Has anyone used a chronograph for shotgun loads? I started looking into shotgun loading because of having excess 800x powder, but I'm finding that working SG recipes backwards from powder isn't as easy as with metallic reloading. So I find myself having to experiment some, but need outcome verification data. (I.E. gun doesn't blow up, primer does not flatten, wad exits the barrel, etc. and of course the chrono data.)

I found an article with an interesting protector that looks like a custodians wet floor cone, but very thick and hard plastic construction. Unfortuanately the article doesn't mention what that protector was made from:

Chronograph for Shotgun - Practical-Shotgun.com

Chronographing shotgun ammunition requires a slightly different approach from the method used for pistol and rifle ammunition.

www.practical-shotgun.com

Has anyone been successful with chrono'ing SG loads ?

 

[E.Shell]

LabRadar?

Get a good shotgun loading manual (or go online) and follow the recipes exactly. 800x is/was a popular powder and you should be able to find decent data for almost any component combination. I have been loading shotgun shells since 1971 and this has always worked well for me.

Shotgun loading is very different from metallics and does not offer incremental 'pressure signs'. Your first sign of high pressure may be high-speed disassembly, with the possible bonus of personal injury.

 

[4g64loser]

Labradar. Never tried shot loads but it worked for working up hotrod slug loads in my friends bolt action 12ga

 

[85MikeTPI]

Yes, labradar.. Perhaps if I was starting to reload new, but I already have a shootover chrono and a Magnetospeed. I don't see a ROI on a labradar for this.

 

[85MikeTPI]

Get a good shotgun loading manual (or go online) and follow the recipes exactly. 800x is/was a popular powder and you should be able to find decent data for almost any component combination. I have been loading shotgun shells since 1971 and this has always worked well for me.

I picked up the Lyman 5th addition hoping for some guidance, but it spends a lot of time talking safety and not to mix&match components, but then going to the buckshot section and STS hulls have one 800x load using #1 buckshot, and WinAA has no 800x loads. Federal gold hulls have a few, but you can't mix&match....

I've read several articles saying it's OK to match one loads weight with a similar weight (so Rem + 1oz #1buck will work with Rem + 1oz #00buck) but I want to verify this with the chrono, etc..

 

[Doco Overboard]

Townsends book Vol.II external ballistics goes into info for determination of shot speeds.
Off the top of my head becuase its a string, that alone created a measure of difficulty for obtaining reliable figures to some degree.
Without re-reading, becuase of the arsenal equipment used during the period ballistics studies were undertaken and the way shotshells/guns work no further developmental studies were deemed necessary at the time.

 

[jr355]

Have you looked at the Hodgdon Reloading site? Great source for loading data.

 

[Blacksmith101]

The IMR Handloader's Guide (circa 2003 I think) had numerous Hi Skor 800-X recipes from 10 to 20 gauge.

Link to PDF file:

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/imr_reloading.pdf

 

[E.Shell]

Townsends book Vol.II external ballistics goes into info for determination of shot speeds.
Off the top of my head becuase its a string, that alone created a measure of difficulty for obtaining reliable figures to some degree.
Without re-reading, becuase of the arsenal equipment used during the period ballistics studies were undertaken and the way shotshells/guns work no further developmental studies were deemed necessary at the time.

Agreed. That's why I suggest a LabRadar, it will use the Doppler effect vs a window/trigger.

 

[85MikeTPI]

The IMR Handloader's Guide (circa 2003 I think) had numerous Hi Skor 800-X recipes from 10 to 20 gauge.

Link to PDF file:

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/imr_reloading.pdf

Thanks for the link. It seems to closely mirror the Hodgdon online data. No buckshot or slug data. I was looking to just use the shot weight data for equivalent buckshot and slug, but then I saw the Lyman manual had much larger charge weights for weight equivalent buckshot and slugs

 

[Blacksmith101]

Thanks for the link. It seems to closely mirror the Hodgdon online data. No buckshot or slug data. I was looking to just use the shot weight data for equivalent buckshot and slug, but then I saw the Lyman manual had much larger charge weights for weight equivalent buckshot and slugs

Remember when loading shotgun shells for shot to hit a moving target the loads are crafted to get specific velocities that meet "Dram Equivalent" velocities originally achieved with black powder so the shot string would be in the same place so the target lead would remain the same. If you are shooting buckshot or slugs at a standing target you don't have to tailor velocity to the lead on a moving target you can load for penetration and expansion instead.

You are in Cecil Co. where do you shoot? I am a member at SLCFSA.

 

[85MikeTPI]

Remember when loading shotgun shells for shot to hit a moving target the loads are crafted to get specific velocities that meet "Dram Equivalent" velocities originally achieved with black powder so the shot string would be in the same place so the target lead would remain the same. If you are shooting buckshot or slugs at a standing target you don't have to tailor velocity to the lead on a moving target you can load for penetration and expansion instead.

You are in Cecil Co. where do you shoot? I am a member at SLCFSA.

Thanks!! Ive never seen it explained that way and now makes sense. I was hung up on the safety aspect of the load data because of all the warnings. I never thought that the accuracy issue that shot has is the driving factor.

Ive been a guest at SLCFSA, and I have a friend in western Chester county we shoot at sometimes, but mostly I shoot at my property in western PA.