thinking of buying a 20 gauge semi auto but i have been hearing that they can have trouble with light loads , so what is the difference between a light load and a heavy load?
I have a Remington 1100 semi auto 12ga and I have trouble shooting any shell under 1 oz of shot. A light load has less shots for example 7/8 oz . That's the down side of a semi auto shotgun if you get a pump you can shoot all most any kind of shell.I like my Remington 1100 with the right ammo it shoots flawless !
The difference between what are called light or heavy loads is mostly a combination of two things shot charge weight and velocity(sometimes expressed as dram equivalent). In the simplest description: standard target loads would be light 7/8oz shot with 2 1/2 dram equivalent(1,200feet per second) or any other at 1,165-1,210fps. the over 1 ounce weight and/or high velocity 2 3/4 loads would be heavy loads 1oz 2 3/4 dram for 1,220fps or 1 oz1,300fps Many older designs have a piston or buffer that can be flipped over or changed out to optimize operation with either category. Modern designs, especially gas operated models that can vent the excess gases from heavy loadings are able to cycle any load from target rounds up to the heaviest 3 magnum loadings without fail even when intermixed. However, all auto loading systems may still have issues with really mild loads such as Remington's Managed-Recoil line or similar loads.
without getting overly technical, its the amount of powder behind the shot. If you have a semi that is gas operated, less powder means less force to help load the second shot. lighter loads are easier to shoot and have less recoil, but are slightly more problematic with auto-loading shotguns. heavy loads have more powder and thus more explosive force and gas to be channeled into the cycling process hope this helps
