I may start building 3 gun rigs and I was wondering which loads are generally the favorites for the average 3 Gun match. I know distance may vary wildly from even to event, give me all of the load info you can. Basically, I am looking for the weakest and strongest shot loads and weakest and strongest slug loads someone might use in order to find an ideal tuning range. Is there any interest in subsonic loads and/or low recoil loads? Currently, I am doing 980fps subs in 10.5" worth of barrel in Saiga-12s with factory springs and the same load in Vepr-12 with roughly 13" worth of barrel with factory springs and a Salvo 12 silencer. I generally do very short SBS and thought long barrel guns might be some really easy money and be a great effort to serve the broader community.  Please do not contact me wanting to know the name of my company or asking to get work done. I will not respond. I'm not here to get work as I have plenty to do and it would not be fair to paying vendors. to be very clear, I'm just looking for info. Any help appreciated. Mods, please delete thread if this is not ok.

Winchester AA light target 1145 fps

Pardon all of the questions. I'm a detail guy. Thank you for your input.

Those have a fairly high quality hull and do not foul things as rapidly as some cheaper loads. They sound pretty decent with a Salvo 12 too. Are you using those in a pump action? If so, would you run the same loads in a semi if it would reliably run them? Do they lay down most steel targets reliably?

AA's are the gold standard. The gray hull variety are know to have "slick" hulls that work well in auto loaders and box feds. Down side is they are fairly expensive.

I've been using these  federals for about a decade, you can get them in loadings (hot to mild) to match what you are doing. The ones pictures below are a heavier load that will run anything and I've never had an issue with quality. Really nice thing is you can find them for $5 to $6 bucks a box.

If you running a box fed most gamers chamber check all their rounds for matches, they also tend to run really hot ammo. Keeping most open shotguns running is a labor of love (and curse words lol).

Most serious 3 gunners will game what shells they are using. Hot shells for longer targets, lighter stuff for clays and close knock overs and may even throw in spreader type rounds for really close up clays . I'm guessing running a stage with steel knock overs at any range will give you some frustration with the light loads your using.  You'll want to have a good idea what your guns are patterning with the load/choke your using especially if you using a SBS. I have a 12" 870 and even with a full choke it doesn't have nearly the pattern / range as my full size guns.





For slugs you see primarily low recoil 1 oz or 7/8 oz loads. Fiocchi offers both, the 7/8 oz load has less recoil than a shot shell and may require some tuning to run in many guns. I'm currently using their 1oz load with good results. Shotguns can be finicky with slugs, my advice is to get a couple boxes of each, see how they cycle, see how they print and make your decision from there.

I can't even express how much I appreciate this detailed reply. There is a lot in there that was exactly the info I need. The 'low recoil slugs' was the baseline info I was looking for and the Win AA info sheds some light as well. So funny, I was just talking to someone today about hull friction and 'slick' vs 'sticky' hulls. When I do things I start with the weakest load in mind, after dram eq then hull characteristics (rigid and slick vs soft and sticky, etc) would come next. The rolled crimp is a bit larger O.D. than the rest of the hull and that is usually what starts causing issues. Detachable mags generally don't like them. Again, thank you for the input on it.

No, problem… but to be honest I know just enough about box feds to get myself in trouble. I know the open guys put a lot of effort into keeping their open shotguns running and one that is reliable is worth its weight in gold. Having 3 to 5 grand in an open shotgun and mags is fairly common.

Your best bet is to check out a couple 3 gun matches and reap some knowledge from the open shooters or even sponsor one of them by letting them use one of your guns. You would be surprised how many companies use 3 gun for product development.

I have a saga clone that runs like a top with the factory 5 round magazines but not so much with 10 rounders (from any manufacturer). If you have any input on how to remedy that issue let me know lol

I bought a used DA Vepr 12 and I don’t have any issues cycling cheapo Federal Topgun 1145.  I tested about 10 different types of SG rounds/brands and magazines.

See if it will run Winchester AA 980 fps low recoil subsonic loads. I'm running those with 6.5", 10.5", and 19" barrels.

I’ll check out the 980fps rounds.

If you have a Salvo 12 they are really quiet ;)