When one buys shotshells w/#8 shot ..

[FoghornLeghorn]

.. why are some loaded with 1 1/8 oz shot, and some with 1 oz shot? Purpose? Application?

[Virginian]

Price, recoil, any number of reasons. Registered target games permit 1-1/8 ounces of shot, maximum. Some people want all the advantage they can get. Some don't. Some want the least expensive, or softer recoiling, or whatever.

[FoghornLeghorn]

Holy moly. Post #666? ^^^^^^ Post again dude. Break the spell!

[Lucas McCain]

Trap and Skeet loads generally are 1 oz. at the starting mark. When you have to shoot handi-cap, then you can use 1-1/8 oz loads.
Same for game loads. If your shooting small upland game, squirrel, Bobwhite quail, dove, Hungarian partridge I use 1 oz. loads. That load don't grind them up at the short ranges like a heavier load will. For rabbits, ruffed grouse, chukars I use 1-1/8 oz. loads.

[Virginian]

You are observant. Done.

[darkgael]

Nowadays lighter loads are a way of getting more loads per pound of shot.
Lately, I have been loading 3/4 ounce of shot into my Trap loads. There is no big change in my scores....I hit/miss the same.
BTW... about Trap loads.... virtually all factory loads for ATA Trap are 1 1/8th ounce of shot...... my club orders by the truckload.... all 1 1/8th.
For handicap, they change the choke and/or the velocity of the load, not the shot charge.
Pete

[BigJimP]

My go to load for 12ga.....has been 1 oz of 8's for a long time @ about 1225 fps....and I use that load for Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clays. I haven't shot 1 1/8 oz loads in over 20 yrs.../ and I've been shooting a fair amount of 7/8 oz loads in 12ga as well lately with the price of shot up / and I just picked up some wads for 3/4 oz in the 12ga ...and I'll still use 8's.

There were some experts...a few yrs ago...that claimed 1 oz loads vs 1 1/8oz loads patterened better with fewer "flyers" out of the pattern....but so much of that depends on the hardness and quality of the shot...its hard to really tell in my opinion.
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My go to load in 20ga has been 7/8 oz of 8's for a long time as well...and I use it in Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clays too....
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I will load some 9's in 28ga ....and some 8's ( all 3/4 oz ) ....and I only load 9's in the .410...
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less shot ....reduces the cost...
less shot ....reduces the recoil..
less velocity ...reduces the recoil..

for any given weight of gun...

[darkgael]

I've been shooting a fair amount of 7/8 oz loads in 12ga as well lately with the price of shot up / and I just picked up some wads for 3/4 oz in the 12ga ...and I'll still use 8's.

BigJim; Have you patterned the 3/4oz loads for comparison to one ounce loads? I have not yet done this and so am curious.
Pete

[BigJimP]

I've patterned a few of them yes, not on paper where I can really study them ....but on the steel pattern board at the club...and they're fine for Skeet practice.../ and I took a look at them alongside my stand alone 28ga reloads as well....and they're comparable. Both had a good effective 30" pattern at 21 yds with a Skeet choke. ( we were testing my buddies shells/he gave me a box to test/...but it'll be the same recipe that I'll use ).

3/4 oz of 8's ...whether its out of a 28ga or a 12ga....gives you about 307 pellets.

7/8 oz ( of 8's ) is about 358 pellets ...and 1 oz is about 409 pellets...
( and if you can't break it with 307 # 8's....then it probably won't matter if you throw 409 pellets out there at them ....)...???
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The reason I'm playing around with 3/4 oz in 12ga and 20ga both...( to save money on shot, sure )....but it gives me two other guns to shoot, rather than just the 28ga...and while I really like my 28ga gun ( its identical to my 20ga over under )....the 28ga hulls are brittle, prone to cracking, some of the STS hulls are breaking at the shot cup even after 1 or 2 firings..../ so using a STS hull in 20ga or 12ga...with 3/4 oz of shot at around 1225 fps....will give those hulls almost an infinite life...and less recoil..and save money on shot.
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A lot of my buddies shoot 7/8 oz almost exclusively for 12ga...for Trap, Skeet, etc.....

and shooting 3/4 oz ...for some of the older retired guys at our club...means they can still afford to shoot, even though they're on fixed incomes...with the price of shot well over $ 40 for a 25 lb bag these days....and cost of targets ..and gas...etc....

The 3/4 oz shells in a 20ga or 12ga.....give me some other loads for the grandkids to shoot as well...make sure they are not affected by recoil on heavier payload shells.
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I have a Benelli Super Sport semi-auto in 12ga and a 20ga ...( synthetic stock, clays guns, comfort tech systems in them ...Inertia guns )....and both the 12ga and 20g guns, so far, ran fine with my test loads 3/4 oz at 1225 fps or so....and I was happy that both of those guns ran well, because I use them as training guns for the young teenage grand kids that don't have a lot of upper body strength yet....because they're real light guns.
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12ga load 3/4oz of 8's, Hodgdon Clays 17.2 gr, wad is CB-0175-12 and win 209 primer - velocity is about 1225 fps....

20ga load 3/4 oz of 8's, Hodgdon International 14.4 gr , wad is CB 1034-20 and velocity is about 1225 fps and pressure is about 11,000 psi

both using Rem 2 3/4" STS hulls..

[darkgael]

Jim: Thanks for that info.

Pete

[BigJimP]

Sure, and drop me a private note, if you want more detail.