Finally got setup to reload 12 gauge skeet loads...

[Ridgerunner665]

Tired of the 1 1/8th oz. at 1200 fps pounding on my shoulder...

Got an MEC Sizemaster.... Been neck deep in research the past couple days, spent most of today at the loading bench and pattern board.

Ended up with:
Remington hulls
CB 0178-12 wads
W209 primer
7/8ths oz. #8 hard shot
15.8 grains of E3 powder (#29 bushing)

1,235 fps average for 10 rounds....ES 8, SD 4

21 yard pattern is a nice evenly spaced 28".... No holes.... Carlson flush fit skeet choke (.005" constriction)

The #30 bushing threw 16.5 grains of E3 for 1,280 fps...ES 12, SD6.... Same 28" pattern.

I loaded 62 rounds of the 1,235 fps loads... And if nothing changes, I can see myself loading thousands more in the coming years.

All loads fired through the FN built Winchester 101 Field.

 

[tjen]

Sounds like a great load, 359 #8 pellets at 1225 fps will get the job done at skeet distances. During the warm months try some #8.5 shot. The biodegrade pigeons can get hard when the temps drop near freezing. I do not load for the 12 gauge just the 20/28/410.

 

[HTDUCK]

Our practice loads are 7/8ths at 1300 with reclaimed shot.
We use them for skeet, 5 stand and sporting clays.
Tournaments we switch to 1 oz hard shot at 1300.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

150 rounds of the 7/8 ounce loads today (6 rounds of skeet)... My shoulder feels fine.

Within 1.5 hours of getting home from the range.... All 150 shells were reloaded and ready to go again.

I'm liking the Remington American Clay & Field hulls the best....3 loads on some of them now, they are going to outlast the Gun Club hulls by a large margin.

This clay shooting bug has got me good!

I'm getting better at skeet with every round I shoot... And can hold my own at trap pretty good.

 

[tjen]

The REM STS are the best for reloading (12&20ga) with solid brass for easy resizing and +10 reloading. I have 10 on some 20 ga STS and they look like 15-20 is not out of the question.

I do use the Rem STS-209P primers that are a bit pricey. The bulk of my shooting is with the 28 & 410 where Win Hulls are the best and the cheaper WIN209 primers help on cost.

 

[Guy Miner]

Sounds good!

 

[billydixon]

I loved the 7/8 load in 12ga for Skeet and sporting clays. It was kinda of funny but using 7/8 for sporting clays my scores increased by 10 targets. I went to my first state shoot in Maryland shooting 4 guns. I ran them in 12 ga. using 7/8. I went to the world twice when it was in Savannah, Ga. there u have to shoot 250 12 ga targets on two days and ran a 125 12 ga targets with the 7/8 load. It rained so hard I thought we were going to get struck by lightning. The second time I went it was perfect but didn't run any 12 ga targets but ran my 28 ga. targets. Remington just gave me a beautiful hat. After that hundred it had about 500 holes thru it. I shot a Remington 3200 tubed with brilley tubes. I hunt with 2 97's in South Dakota.

 

[billydixon]

I forgot my load a AA hull, Win. 209 primer, 18 grains of 700x, a S 0 wad. I loaded on a MEC 650 I'd put a 5 gallon bucket between my legs turn up the music with some Zeppelin and start cranking I could load 500 12 ga shells per hour. I won't say what year it was but we were buying lead by the ton delivered for $9/bag.

 

[Polaris]

Sounds like a good all around skeet load. If you're serious about taking all advantages, you may still want to run a few of the 1 1/8 oz loads or work up a 1oz on the long straights. Pretty narrow target profile at some distance on those 8 shots. Use a different colored hull to differentiate. Another option to improve your hit probability would be 81/2 shot if you can find it.

I've been shooting 1 oz 81/2 loads for both 16 yard trap and skeet for some years now. Have had to use a variety of powders. Reloading shotshells has really been a pain the last few years with limited powder availability. Kind of had to use what I can find rather than the "best" powder. Just glommed onto a large quantity of the old standard Red Dot, so I should be good to go for now. Maybe not the "best" powder, but it works well for all my applications and breaks a lot of birds.