12 Gauge Ammunition

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pilotguybb

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Im new to shotguns and have a question regarding ammunition.

I have a 12 ga mossberg 500 and i play on shooting skeet with it.

Anyway...As long as i match the 2 3/4" / 12 ga ammunition, do i need to worry about the other numbers on top of the ammo box?
 
YES!

1. You need to know what size of shot it is using. If you are doing to shoot trap, stay around 7 1/2, if you are going to shoot skeet, look at 9. If you are going to do a little of both, go for #8. The larger the number, the smaller the shot.

2. You need to know how much shot it has in it. This will come as either 7/8 ounce, 1 ounce, 1 1/8 ounce, and a few others. Stick to 1 ounce loads for non-formal practice shooting. They are a good compromise between performance and recoil.

That's just the basics you should look at; there are a few others that are helpful, but not really needed if you aren't too serious about it right now. Dram. Equiv. will let you know (with a little math) the feet per second of the load.
 
Stick to 1 ounce loads for non-formal practice shooting. They are a good compromise between performance and recoil.
Click to expand...

I hope this doesn't sound too stupid, but do heavier loads kick more or less? You'd think more but I heard some things before that got me confused.
 
Loads with more lead, or more speed kick more. Loads with both more lead and speed kick a lot.

If you can find them, Winchester makes a 7/8 oz load that has enough moxie to bust clays but is a creampuff to shoot. Fiocchi makes a version also.
 
Recoil...

One further note, of which I learned the hard way....A heavier gun will not recoil as hard as a lighter gun with the exact same ammo....I have a stoeger O/U and it weighs only 7.5 lbs...A factory skeet load 1 1/8 ounce at 1450 fps has a whopping 23.5 ftlb of kick! Since I have a reloader, I customize my loads to 7/8 oz and about 1150 pfs....It translates to about 13.5 ftlb of kick...much more reasonable:D
 
Recoil usually isn't a big problem on a 12 ga if you have limbsaver on it and are shooting factory ammo. What you need to do is find a good choke/ammo combo that fits your gun well. I do have to say though, if you don't take recoil well you don't have the best of shotguns...lol
 
I'm still waiting to see how 12 gauges kick. The store had to order my Remington 870 cause nobody has left handed anything in stock. They should get it by today so my 10 days should start. (Such a long time to wait) I've never fired a shotgun so I'll just have to see if I need anything like a limb saver recoil pad. I keep reassuring myself that the kick won't be too bad, being that I'm 5'10", 215 lbs and played middle linebacker for 3 years. (even though it's not the same kind of shoulder abuse as shooting) I've read lots about 12 gauge recoil so it's getting into my head. I'm really excited to see how it feels.
 
recoil on the 12ga is not that bad.

i ahve had my sg for about a 2 weeks and ahve put 500rds of birdshot,
and 150rds of buckshots, 25rds of reduced recoil, and 25slugs.

shoulder was sore the first day only. i love the shotgun.

when you finally shot it you will be like this is what everybody is complaining about.

i have just started shooting 3in mags. love them.
 
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