Mec JR reloading quiestion

[dovehunter]

Originally Posted by Duffy

...One question: What makes shot "target grade"? Is #8 West Coast shot, 5% antimony much the same?...

The place where I buy my shot now carries only the Lawrence brand. They used to carry Remington too. In both brands the store stocked two kinds of shot: essentially hunting shot (don't remember what it was called) and extra-hard target grade shot. Both brands had "Target Grade" and "Extra Hard" stamped on the bag. Obviously the target grade was more expensive so, being a tight was, when I first started loading I used the cheaper shot. Once when I needed shot they only had the more expensive target grade shot, so I bit the bullet and bought 25 lbs. The first time I used my reloads with the target grade shot I noticed a pronounced decrease in the shots expended per bird downed. I was also able to connect better at longer ranges. It made a believer out of me and I have been using the higher grade shot ever since. I'm not familiar with the West Coast brand. You may want to ask someone knowledgeable at the store if that is a better grade of shot suitable for skeet and/or trap. Alas a lot of the bigger stores these days only hire "clerks" who seem to be long on worthless opinions and short on real knowledge.