Dram Equivalent - What is it?

S

sig-9

New member
Can some one tell me about Dram Equivalent in 12 ga. shotshells?
What does it have to do with recoil?

I have Remington Gun Club Target 12 ga. - 2 3/4" - 1 1/8 oz - 7 1/2 shot.
They are 1145 FPS with a Dram Equivalent 2 3/4.

I have seen DR of 2 3/4 & also 3.
how do these differ?
 
Back in the days when shotshells were loaded with black powder, the load in the shell was indicated by the amount of shot in ounces and the amount of black powder in drams.

When nitro or smokeless powder came into use, the drams of powder was replaced with "dram equivilent".

The higher the dram equivilent, the more powerful the shell is and the harder it kicks.

A dram is 1/16 of an ounce or 27.34 grains so a 3 dram load of black powder would be 82 grains. I usually put 70 grains in my black powder shells making them about 2.5 drams.
 
DRAM EQUIVALENT
The accepted method of correlating relative velocities of shotshells loaded with smokeless propellant to shotshells loaded with black powder. The reference black powder load chosen was a 3 dram charge of black powder, with 1 1/8 oz. of shot and a velocity of 1200 fps. Therefore, a 3 dram equivalent load using smokeless powder would be with 1 1/8 oz. of shot having a velocity of 1200 fps. or 1 1/4 oz. of shot and a velocity of 1165 fps. A 3 1/4 dram equivalent load might have 1 1/8 oz. of shot and a velocity of 1255 fps. Abbreviated Dram Equiv.

Source
http://www.saami.org/Glossary/display.cfm?letter=D


Adding weight to a shotgun will reduce the felt recoil .

These weigh more https://www.berettausa.com/e2wshopp...d=3100001366&parentLink=2100000084:3100001366 than these https://www.berettausa.com/e2wshopp...0&parentLink=2100000084:3100001316:3100001320 by 1 to 2 lbs. or so.
 
Last edited:
Dram Equivalent speaks to the relative power a shotgun shell produces by equating its load to the velocity produced by an equivalent load in black powder (in drams). One dram = 1/16 of an ounce or 27.34 grains (1.77 grams) in the U.S. Customary System.
 
Actually, the Dram Equivalency labeling seems to be on it's way out, in a hundred years from now it will probably be gone. You may have you noticed, more and more shell boxes have the velocity as well as the DE indicated.

Near the end of the 19th century, when folks were acclimated to black powder loads, telling them the dram equivalency of a new smokeless powder load made sense, and eased the transition from black to the new powders. From my perspective, the transition period could have ended years ago. Of course, now we have a new dilemma: if we're gonna label shot shells with just the velocity and omit the DE, then shall we use feet per second or the international meters/second? We could do both, and some day in the future someone will post in a similar forum, "What's 'feet per second' mean?"
 
You've gotten the technical answer ....

but make it easy - equate 2 3/4 Dram to about 1150 fps
and equate 3 Dram to about 1200 fps

So a 3 Dram shell is faster than a 2 3/4 Dram shell.

( put the velocity, weight of shot, weight of gun in the recoil formula that OneOunce and I both gave you yesterday - and weight of wad ) and calcuate the recoil...
 
Near the end of the 19th century, when folks were acclimated to black powder loads, telling them the dram equivalency of a new smokeless powder load made sense, and eased the transition from black to the new powders. From my perspective, the transition period could have ended years ago. Of course, now we have a new dilemma: if we're gonna label shot shells with just the velocity and omit the DE, then shall we use feet per second or the international meters/second? We could do both, and some day in the future someone will post in a similar forum, "What's 'feet per second' mean?"
__________________
Click to expand...

I dunno, I bet it will be a long time before everybody calls a "12 gauge" shotgun a "18.5 mm" shotgun.
 
( put the velocity, weight of shot, weight of gun in the recoil formula that OneOunce and I both gave you yesterday - and weight of wad ) and calcuate the recoil...
Click to expand...

How do I knw what off the rack Remington Gun Club Target wad weights are in factory loads?
 
How do I knw what off the rack Remington Gun Club Target wad weights are in factory loads?
Click to expand...

A Winchester WAA12L that I happened to have handy weighs 40.7 grains.

Even if that's not exactly what the Remington wad weighs, it's probably close enough for recoil estimation. Really, most brands of the same shot weight and dram eq. kick about the same.

Assume that the powder weighs about 20 grains.

It'll be close enough for a ballpark estimation.

Also, one ounce = 437.5 grains
one pound = 7000 grains
 
So using a gun weight of about 8.5, I come up with RECOIL ENERGY of 15.76 for the 1 1/8 oz @ 1145fps & about 13% less 13.67 for the 1 oz 1180fps load.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top