What's your preference for doves?

I just bought a bunch of 7.5 Rio's for the 12 and some 7.5 Remington Sure Shot Heavy for the 20.

My birds are coming in HIGH right now, lighting in trees, surveying the field and then flying down. Of course, that ain't gonna work with us shooting the field, so I'm trying to figure out how to best handle this. I have never shot the Rio's but hear good things about them so figured I'd give them a try. Note: this is not the high brass Rio, just the standard 1oz, 7.5.

I shoot #8 high brass Rios out of a 20. I've shot Rios for the last 4 years and haven't had any issues out of them other than they miss a lot.

best dove shoot I've ever had, I was shooting Remington Heavy Dove #6's with a full choke. I killed 14 including a couple that I knocked stone-cold dead at about 60 steps (I know the range because I killed them as they were flying toward a dead tree 60 paces down the tree line I was hiding in).

unfortunately, one of the last shots of the day, the brass cap pulled off one of the hulls upon ejection and the plastic hull was left in the barrel, with the next shot loading in behind it. The hull pushed far enough into the barrel that the bolt appeared to close, but it didn't go completely into battery. When I pulled the trigger on the next shot, I just got a *click*. I was about 1/8th of an inch from a REALLY bad day.

I've been scared to shoot Remington shotshells ever since.

I shot Rio steel for years and to me they were just as good as Estate. If you have an older gun that requires a little extra powder to eject like an old A5, they WILL be a problem.

Order of preference: Rio high brass, Winchester Texas Heavy Dove, and Rem Heavy Dove. All 8's first phase, 7.5's later in the season after they've been shot at a bit. 20 gauge.

Gomer: good gracious, that sounds like it could have been very dangerous! Glad it didn't end worse!

I see a couple of mention on the high brass Rio's. Any experience with the standard dove load?

3F, if a kid is shooting the 20, it's probably a good idea to shoot the standard dove load. If it's an auto, just make sure the action is cleaned up good so it'll eject them out and not jam um. My Franchi affinity don't like standard dove loads once it gets a little dirty. Keep some remoil or whatever handy so u can lube it up every now and then.

I'm confident with Win AA supersports in both 12 and 20. The patterns don't look that much different than other loads but they flat kill.

the 7/8 oz 1300fps 20 ga supersports are my go-to dove load.

Little bit more $$$$, but you can occasionally find them for $7/box.

The RIO's will be fine. 1oz of shot is 1oz of shot be it low brass or high brass. Do keep in mind though some 12ga 1oz loads don't cycle some auto's well. If they are 1200fps or faster you shouldn't have any problems. With my son on the skeet team we've shot 10's of thousands of shells and just about every brand available and they all work fine for targets or feathers. Its more about how they pattern than anything else. Well and it helps if you're a good shot I Guess. Have fun and choot em all.

RIO's are quality shells, they are dirty boogers though.

I've been shooting monarchs (academy store brand)for the last few years and I've been happy with them. I bet ive shot 20 cases in the last 2 years.They are supposed to be made by rio

I saw those. About to pick up several boxes for the 20. Advertised at 1300FPS and only $4.99 box.

I shudder to think how bad it would've been if that gun had blown up in my face, particularly when the barrel obstruction was basically where the barrel and receiver met.

I've shoot at bunch of them for dove and skeet and have good success. For dove I usually shoot 3 1/4 dram 1 1/8 shot #8s

Last year shot the Rio 1 1/4 oz high brass 7 1/2. They punished the birds that wandered into the pattern. Think I killed 12 out of the first box. Unfortunately, didn't have a chance to shoot more.

To me there is very little diff between the killing power of 7.5s and 8's in a 20. Doves are fragile birds anyway. If you or your kid is shooting a 20 gauge, spend an extra $ or two and get him 1 ounce loads. There is a big diff in pattern density between 1 oz of 8's and 7/8's oz of 7.5's Shot count on 1 oz of 8's is 410 pellets and 7/8 oz of 7.5's is only 306 pellets. Your pattern is 25% denser with the 1 oz of 8s versus the lighter loaded 7.5s.

Great info, thanks.

I don't pretend to save a lot of money by loading my own, but I do believe I have better shells. I use 8s for doves, 1.25oz in the 12 and 1 oz in a 20. I load them to do 1250 so the lead doesn't vary. I had a period of several years where I didn't take time to load any and used factory shells. I get a lot fewer cripples with my shells.

I miss equally with all shells.