I use it, it's a great powder. I just got 12 lbs in the other day. Tons of data and with Cheddite primers, too. It's fine for skeet loads.

 

Thanks! Yea, I seen the price for a 8lb jug. Half the price of others!

 

Where? Do they take credit cards or do they want Zelle, Venmo, etc? Likely a scam if it's half the price. I got mine from Powder Valley.

 

No my local gun store here has some 8lb jugs for 160 other powders are almost double that 250+

 

I've been using it for one ounce 12 gauge loads. Seems to work well.

Ric

 

Buy two. Great price, especially with no shipping and hazmat fees.

 

We had 30, 8 lb. jugs of it and it sat around forever. Finally, with the shortage it sold and Eureka! it turned out to be a good powder for 12 gauge.

 

It goes bang and will push your shot. But it's not my favorite. It handles much like WST. Small particle size so it's prone to charge bar dribbling. Affected by static. Prone to migration past the powder cup. Look for unburnt powder in your barrel as a telltale sign. Lots of loads though in the Western Powder v8.

 

I found Competition to be much as stated above except even worse than WST. I ended up using what I had for 45 ACP. Worked great for it! The jars were also 12 oz rather than 16 oz which was not as low priced as it first appeared. If I needed powder I would definitely consider an 8# keg of Competition at that price.

 

Powder "dribble" is not a fault of the powder, it's a fault of the reloader's design. There are lots of ball powders out there now and the reloader people need to step up and improve the designs of their equipment. It's caused by slop between the charge bar and the reservoir. Don't blame the powder.

I had this problem on my Spolar and I upgraded the charge bar to the one Jim Skeel makes and it eliminated the problem.

The comment about static above is off base because static affects all powders.

Same with migration past the overpowder cup. This is not a problem and does not leave unburned powder in the barrel. Think about it, assuming powder migrated past the powder cup, the obturating effect of the overpowder cup would push it out the barrel. The assertion is hogwash.

 

Other than WST and many commonly used in the 410, I haven't had much issue regarding ball/sherical shotshell powders. Competition has been the most onerous one I've run into, though, beating out the previously mentioned ones as well as the many others by Winchester, Hodgdon, Alcan, Scot, Accurate, and others I have forgotten that I've used since the mid-1970s.

As long as I have other options available I'll pass on Competition for use in shotshells. It has performed well in the 45 ACP and I suspect it would be a very good powder in smaller capacity pistol cases from 25 ACP up to 9mm Parabellum. That Competition is so fine grained allows it to meter fantastically and it takes up little room in the case allowing for less compaction.

 

I only have three problems with Competition. It's tough to find around here, when it shows up it's in those less than a pound bottles, and in the days of yore when running it slow, it got a little dirty - but nothing that can't be cleaned out by running another shell through the gun. A buddy currently uses it and says it's really clean.

During the pre-COVID days I tried it in cheddite hulls and like WST it migrated like my ancestors. I put the blame for dirty barrels after that batch on the notion that pressures may have dropped slightly due to migration - and the burn while complete, just left some schmutz behind. I moved to using AA and STS hulls, and it went right back to normal cleanliness. The problem was not the powder but my wishful choice of wad and hull. Lesson for me was use a straight wall wad with a straight wall hull. (That makes me wonder what's going to happen when I finally break open my bottle of shooters choice - those pressures are in the basement. I bet I'll have to shopvac the bore.)

Skeel makes some pretty neat stuff, thought about getting his bar but sort of balked because suspected without something similar to the dog bone, that it would quickly wear.

 

I just started loading 12 ga with Competition powder and I like it. I'm loading on a MEC 600 Jr and just use the MEC brass powder washer to keep the powder from migrating out along the charge bar. I'm loading 1oz of #9s in Gun Club and AA hulls, dropping 18 grs and using CB4100-12B Windjammer style wads and Fiocchi 616 primers. There was no unburned powder or noticeable fouling in the barrels. According to the Hodgdon reloading data this is approx a 1200 fps load and under 9000 psi. I wasn't sure I was going to like it so I started off with just 3 small bottles of powder and 1,000 wads and just ordered another 8 lbs and 2000 wads.

 

Started reloading with it on advice from another shooter’s father. Said it was a “happy wife load”! Cheddite primer, Claybuster 7/8 ounce wad, and whatever amount of powder that sends the shot out @1,250fps. Daughter absolutely loved the load! I like it too!☺

 

Started reloading with it on advice from another shooter’s father. Said it was a “happy wife load”! Cheddite primer, Claybuster 7/8 ounce wad, and whatever amount of powder that sends the shot out @1,250fps. Daughter absolutely loved the load! I like it too!☺

I have used it and like it - Ramshot published data available. I was warned about low pressure loads and found that good information so keep that in mind. There are a few 7/8 oz loads published and I have this - not tested:
7/8 oz, Federal GM, 19.0 gr,, PT1205 or Lightning78 wad, CH209.

I would not hesitate to buy more when it comes available locally.

 

I have shot many rounds with Ramshot/Compition. Great powder with low GN for power and runs clean.

 

I noticed a local seller had it for $30, which worked out to $40 a pound. Very good for Canadian prices. So I looked it up, it's been around for awhile. It's St. Marks #37 . I could be wrong about the number, it's 30 something, anyway. . Winchester sold it for a short time.
I'm new to shotshell reloading, but I found it to be messy with my MEC 600jr compared to Clays. About as clean as Clays, but that could be just the pressure differences of those loads. The 1 oz load in my Winchester 1400 full choke patterned very tight .

 

Powder Valley currently has it in stock in 12 oz bottles or 4 lb jugs. I worked up an order for 4 of the 4 lb jugs and it worked out to be $31.59/lb delivered to my house. Buying an equivalent amount (22 bottles for 16 lbs, 8 oz) in 12 oz bottles makes it cost $38.86/lb. Neither order was flagged as being an over-limit order. Smaller orders would up the cost/lb slightly due to a flat HAZMAT cost. Since I already have over 20 lbs of 12 GA powders in stock, I'm still holding out for some Clays or Clay Dot.

 

What gauge are y‘all loading in. 12 only??

 

The Ramshot Compitition powder is basically a 12 GA powder and the Ramshot & Hodgdon reloading data only lists 12 GA recipes in 7/8, 1, and 1 1/8 ounce lead-shot loadings.

 

I just burnt the last of my WST and just got started on my first keg of Competition. I really like how it drops, I get 18.2 gr every single time. I know that doesn’t statistically matter but I like it.
It definitely leaks more than WST but it doesn’t have a strong smell like WST or other powders have and seems to burn clean. Pretty good 1 oz powder.