Setback and pellet deformation

For those that dont know, setback occurs when the powder charge is ignited and the wad is pushed into the shot, since the pellets in a target load are lead they can be deformed into all sorts of odd shapes as they are mashed together.

I was wandering around past the trap house looking for some wads from some 1oz loads that I had tried and found a Rem fig 8 style wad that still had pellets embedded in it. The 2-3 that were in the base of the wad were very angular and misshapen. This could have been a factory handicap or someones hot reload but either way the shooter lost some of the pellets in the wad and if those were representative of the rest of the shot charge there is no telling what the pattern would look like.

I had decided to try some 1oz loads in the 1125-1150fps range and was very pleased with the results, both with the targets breaking just as well as a 1-1/8th oz 1200fps load and with significantly less recoil. I broke 23,21,24,23 in the first 100 which is an increase of about 8-10 targets over the last 2 weeks shooting. I also tried Titewad powder and I feel it is as good as the Clays or International Clays with the reduced cost and a drop of about 3gr less of powder per shell.

TITEWAD™ Through advanced technology, Hodgdon Powder Co. has produced a superior flattened spherical shotgun powder. Unlike spherical propellants in the past, TITEWAD features low charge weights, mild muzzle report, minimum recoil and reduced residue for optimum ballistic performance. This outstanding propellant designed for 12 gauge only, meters superbly and is ideal for 7/8, 1 and 1 1/8 ounce loads. As the name implies, "a little goes a long way!"

http://www.hodgdon.com

and if you would like to take a look at what the technoid has to say relative to shotstrings etc...

http://www.shotgunreport.com/TechTech/T ... tring.html