Does anyone have experience with a very light 12 ga. load that is commercially available? My wife has inherited a beautiful SXS from her father. It fits her like it was made for her. However, it weighs about 6 1/2 pounds. She wants to hunt grouse with it. I have looked at the Aguila mini shells in 7 1/2 shot, but there must be other "light" loads that are suitable to hunt with. I want this to be a pleasant experience for her. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I think there are a few "managed recoil" loads with 7/8 ounce of shot at reduced velocity offered by several manufacturers.

Google RST Shotshells or Polywad Shotshells. They are both high quality shells with lower pressures and recoil designed for the older short chambered shotguns.

Thanks Bay Dog,

That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking about.

I saw a box of some super light loads by either Remington or Winchester at Wal-mart the other day. I'd start there and see what you can find.

Check out B&P, particularly their "high pheasant" loads. $81/10 boxes and free shipping right now for the 1 oz loads in 6 or 7 shot. Nice shells, safe in any double that's ok for smokeless powder, and not much recoil. They also have other managed recoil loads, but I don't think they come in the larger shot sizes like sixes.

https://www.bandpusa.com/Shopping/index.php?cPath=65_67

Winchester WinLites

Try the Winchester low recoil/low noise loads, they are fast and do just as well as heavier loads in my experience on many doves using a SxS.

Unfortunately I'm not too familiar with factory loaded stuff any more, but I load a lot of 7/8 oz 12 ga loads for sporting clays. A noticeable reduction in recoil, they pattern great, and seem to break just as many targets.

I'm a big believer in lighter payloads for the majority of shotgunning.