[striper]

This time of year in Ga is crow season and I try and do that every day I can. Before I realized I did not have to shoot at 1400 or higher I purchased 8lbs of Longshot. Well I found out that actually your patterns are more consistent at much slower fps. So my question is can I lower the grains in the shells down from say 30 gr in 1 1/8 # 8 shot to say 20 grains and still have an effective load. I do not have to shoot hot loads. I have no idea what the fps would be but it would be a lot less than 1400 and still kill them. Is that safe opinions please?

 

[Trap4]

In the Hodgon reloading manual the smallest amount of powder of Longshot they list for 1 1/8 of shot is 29.4 gr at 1420fps. I personally would not go below that amount. Why not give Universal a try or 7625 which I think would do very good. Just my opinion.

Trap-4

 

[ec90t]

striper,

The problem with loading down Longshot is the lack of chamber pressure to get a sufficient burn of the powder load.

That being said, you can load down Longshot to about 28 grains in a tapered hull (Remington/Winchester) and 28.5 in a straight hull and get consistant loads with a 1 1/8 oz of shot. You can lighten the powder load a bit more if you use a heavier load (1 3/16 oz or more). This additional payload will create sufficient enough pressure for a consistant burn.

My pet 1 1/8 oz load for Longshot is:

Remington hull

28.5 grains of Longshot

Downrange Versalite or Remington Fig 8 wad. (I like both for this load) Stay away from the cheaper substitutes as they don't deal with the speed very well.

Winchester 209 primer. In the warmer months you can use a Remington 209 to soften the "bite" a little, but seems to be a little cool for sub 50 degree temps. Speed chronos nearly the same, at 1350fps, using both primers.

1 1/8 oz of your favorite shot.

This load crimps up very nice and is way down on the pressure curve.

I find it to be a very managable load to shoot and using 6's really drops them crows out at distance.

BTW this load is great for back-ups when game shooting.

ec90t