Shotshell powder

Registered clay shooting is the highest-volume handloading there is, and the powder is chosen accordingly: fast, charge-efficient, clean, and soft enough that a full day of targets does not beat you up. Everything in this class is at the fast end of the chart, which means charges are small relative to the hull and an inattentive session is the real hazard rather than an overcharge. Bushing behaviour matters as much as the chemistry, because these loads are thrown volumetrically by the case.

What matters here

• felt recoil over a long day of targets
• clean burning through hundreds of shells
• charge efficiency, since a jug has to last
• consistent bushing throws in a shotshell press
• hull, wad and primer combinations with published support

1 of 7 in stock right now at the retailers we track. These picks are RCM's — no manufacturer endorses them, and they are judgement rather than test data. Disagree with one? Tell us and say why.

1. 1

   Red Dot

   Alliant · flake · burn 11

   Not in stock

   The archetypal light clay powder and one of the oldest names in shotshell loading: clean, consistent and cheap to shoot in light target loads, and the current formulation burns notably cleaner than the version older shooters grumble about.

   But: The charge occupies almost none of the hull, which makes a distracted loading session dangerous rather than merely wasteful.

2. 2

   Hodgdon Clays

   Hodgdon · extruded · burn 13

   Not in stock

   Exactly right for light and standard target loads and there is nothing to argue about: it burns clean and shoots soft, which over a full day of registered targets is the difference that actually matters.

   But: A fast powder with a narrow useful window - it belongs in target loads and nowhere near a heavy field shell.

3. 3

   e3

   Alliant · flake · burn 7

   Not in stock

   A competition-grade target powder and by most accounts the cleanest thing in the line for clays, very charge-efficient so a jug goes a long way, and stable across the range of weather a year-round registered shooter actually shoots in.

   But: Twelve gauge target work only, and its charge efficiency is exactly why you keep your eyes on the press - very little powder goes into each shell.

4. 4

   Promo

   Alliant · flake · burn 12

   Not in stock

   The economy answer for people who shoot clays by the case: ballistically it does what Red Dot does, sold in the big jug at a genuinely lower cost per target.

   But: It is denser than Red Dot, so the same bushing throws a different weight. Carry a bushing straight over and you are not loading what you think you are - check the published bushing chart and confirm on a scale.

5. 5

   Hodgdon Titewad

   Hodgdon · spherical · burn 9

   $39.30/lblanded · Graf & Sons · 8 lb

   Built around low charge weight, mild report and minimum recoil with low residue, which is precisely the combination for high-volume clay shooting where felt recoil is the limiting factor over a long day.

   But: Twelve gauge only, very fast, and its window is narrow. There is no published basis for improvising it into another gauge from chart position.

6. 6

   Winchester Super Target (WST)

   Winchester · spherical · burn 23

   Not in stock

   The powder behind standard target-load duplication, soft, clean, low-flash and consistent, and it meters precisely through a bushing - which is what keeps a case of handloads shooting the same as the first box.

   But: A light-load specialist with no margin above its window; it has no business in heavy field shells.

7. 7

   Accurate Nitro 100 NF

   Accurate · spherical · burn 6

   Not in stock

   A very fast flattened-spherical target powder that is clean and soft in light target loads, and the flattened grain gives it low bulk density so the charge occupies sensible hull volume.

   But: The NF stands for New Formulation. This is not the old flake product and old data does not apply to it - people still get caught with an old can and a new manual on the same bench. At this burn speed a double is trivially easy to make and impossible to spot.