Why does is seem like a lot longer than 4 years? And I recall the days when you were flogging MAXAM powders as the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.

This is pretty much my sporting clays tournament load except I use 7.5 shot and a cb-1100 wad.

People can learn and change their opinion when something better comes along. That shows that they are willing to make improvements rather than being stuck.
All of which is no good reason for others to get critical, don't you agree?

Critical? I wasn't criticizing.

Little over 5 years now with the Vectan AS product...... price is good, performance is great, burns clean. Temperature spread here is 100°+ to -20°F. No problems...... using data from Europe and GB there are some nice 32gram loads also..... Larry

Proly because you were sick of me promoting the Vectan's when you buying that expensive IMR "Red" stuff ?


It WAS the second coming of Jesus Christ !!

Maxam's CSB-5 was by far, the cleanest, best performing OEM propellant that I ever had the pleasure of loading :



But we can't get CSB-5 anymore.

Vectan's A-S is just as clean, always available, and cheaper than anything out there.

That makes it the best.

i`ve some of that csb5 stuff.

its used for cheap 24g steel loads.

“Best” means different things to different folks. The best 1 oz powder for me is the 16 lbs of Red Dot that I presently have on hand. Why is it “best”? Well because it was given to me and as such, it was “free”. So, I’ll just have to suffer with it until it’s all gone then try some Vectan maybe

red dot and promo goes bang for me

And Promo gives lots of bang for buck.

Just my 2 cents......there is no such thing as the 'best' powder. It is only opinion, as there is no definitive proof of 'best'. Best might be what makes a person happy, because they broke a 25 in skeet 5 years ago with it. Best in some cases is a set of components that work well together. Best could be because a persons shotgun stays clean longer when using a certain powder. Best in another case might be when a guys wallet is welded to his a** and for him cheap is 'best'.

I haven't seen anyone prove 'best' powder yet.

With few exceptions, you could use e3, promo, Red Dot, American Select, 700-X, IMR Red, Clays, Clay Dot, Titewad, AS, Prima V, 206V, GM3, D20, Nitro 100, WST and probably many others and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference on the scorecard, if we were given 2 lifetimes to figure it out.

The 'best' powder is what we feel most comfortable using. If you ask me I would say 700-X. Why? Because I can load 1 1/8, 1 and 7/8 oz. loads and not have any issues, either reloading with it or how it cycles my Benelli SS. Is that going to make everyone happy? I doubt it.

I have tried this Vectan stuff, it is OK, but it is bulky and I ended up having to use 1 1/8 oz. wads to get some 1 oz. loads to fit. It chronographs for consistency OK but nothing fantastic. It does burn clean and it is cheap. Never broke a fantastic score with it. Like I said for me it is OK.

I think if I ever gave up on 700-X, I would go to American Select or e3. Probablty e3, but if you ask others they would say no because it doesn't meter well enough for their liking.

I have a 4 month old pup and the one thing is, he will stop whining about nothing in about 2 months, where as this stupid bunch of whining will continue well past all reason.

i run straights every time i go out either 50 out of 50 or il drop one bird if I shoot 100 in a row ....all I load is promo and 7/8oz loads

Have to agree with Mark and I also have a 4 month old pup..and I am thinking the pup will have me trained about the time it quits the whining.
Sort of seems about 17 grains of anything will work with about any wad, primer, shot weight or hull. Get Lymans #5, read it and have fun.......... Larry

I am a shooter first and reloader second. When I find something that is published, breaks targets and is economical that's my main concern. I enjoy shooting more than reloading. I load 700X because it's always available at a good price and goes bang. I don't spend time micromanaging the reloading process. Rather be shooting. YMMV.

Agree w/it0016, but there was a time when 700X wasn't readily available years back, when Promo was first introduced, so went that direction for many 8# canisters and got a very satisfactory result at a great price. If you are concerned about ash/residue in the bbl. after firing & some folks are ,E3 is among the cleaner burning powders.

Today, I am seeing no real difference in price for 8#'s of Promo vs. 8#'s of 700X, so will be shifting back to 700X as soon as this last canister of Promo I have on hand is consumed. Performance is similar w/either in the light [24gram~28gram/1oz.] loads, but you will use a bit less 700X to get them in the 1150~1200 fps velocity range.

Do recommend that you shoot some patterns on a grease plate w/whatever you decide to use, published recipe wise. As cookoff says, some of them will likely pattern tighter than you would expect at those velocity levels. Bunker shooters came to that same conclusion as well. OTOH, if you want ink spots when practicing gun pointing for skeet, they could be just the ticket.

I know this particular thread is over a year old but it's been informative.

I'm getting back into skeet after a 20 year hiatus. I have shells that were loaded back then that I'm using now (had about 6 cases of loaded shells left over). They are loaded as follows:

Winchester AA (non-HS)
Cheddite 209
Titewad powder (I am unable to remember the actual loading as the loader is long gone; I think it was 18gr.)
WAA12SL
1oz #9

The gun I shoot is slightly tricked (lengthened forcing cones and ported). I say this because that gun is LOUD. Perhaps that is due to others I shoot with use 20 or 28 gauge guns. The recoil is there, but not nearly like a 1-1/8 oz load. I once used 700-X but switched at some point to Titewad.

However, since I'm back into it, I've considered changing the load to a 7/8 oz. The recipe I've settled on is:

Winchester AA or Rem STS
Cheddite 209 (still have 3/4 of a brick)
Titewad 17 gr
WAA12L
7/8oz #9.

I think this will lighten the recoil a small bit and not drop too many birds...although I'm still shaking off the rust. I've only managed to get to the range twice with my new gun. On the 3rd round of my second visit, I ran an "unorthodox" 25. Unorthodox as the first bird of the #6 and #7 double broke up and hit the incoming second bird. I broke a single incoming but I really do not count that as a true 25. The next round tendered a 23. As I said, smoothing things out.

When you run out of Titewad, you should seriously consider Alliant Extra-Lite for 7/8 or even 3/4 if you try that load as well. It works well.

My go to 1 oz skeet load is CCI 209, WAA12SL, 21 grains of Internat'l. Gets me 1275-1290ish fps with #9s.

However, I have switched over to 7/8 oz for everything other than some sporting clay loads. Still use Internat'l for those loads also.

Dittos!!!