RST Shotshells for Vintage Guns
Lewis Creek Shooting School 04.18.13
My interest in guns is broad based. This year, I will be competing in 3-gun, action pistol, long range rifle, and across the course rifle. I’ll also shoot some smallbore rifle and some airgun. I practice pistol with .22 rimfire; I hunt with shotguns, rifles, and handguns. Almost all my shooting is done with very modern, sometimes state of the art, firearms, except clay target shooting and hunting. Almost all the clay shooting and hunting I do is with guns that approach, and many times exceed, 100 years old. I love old double shotguns.
Most of those guns are capable of firing modern cartridges but I rarely do so because even though the metal is strong enough to handle the pressure, 100-year-old wood can crack when subjected to heavy recoil forces. Besides, using the most powerful shotgun shell to improve your chances isn’t what shooting is about.
Most companies now make managed recoil ammunition to allow less experienced shooters to begin shooting without dealing with punishing recoil. These shells typically have velocities well below normal cartridges and get their light recoil characteristics by simply lowering velocity. These shells work fine in older guns but there is a better alternative.
RST has been custom-loading ammunition for years that specifically designed to be fired in vintage guns. Many of these loads have similar ballistics to contemporary loads, but they offer lower pressures and lighter recoil than most mainstream shells. RST loads different chamber lengths as well because many older guns had shorter chambers than current guns. Chambers as short as 2-3/8” were common in 20 gauge guns and pressures can rise as a result of shooting long shells in guns with short chambers. They also load spreader loads that allow guns with tight chokes to shoot more open patterns for closer shots.
RST is a very small factory, run by a handful of dedicated shotgunners, owned by guys who used the shells and bought the company when the previous owner decided to close it down. RST shells are not mainstream, but they are a great way to feed your classic shotgun.
Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.
He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.
