Longshot Powder/Low Temps

[IowaNative]

Hey guys, I was doing some pheasant hunting in Iowa yesterday and ran into an issue. 3 out of the 11 shots fired seemed like they wouldn't ignite. It was a squib load and after each one I checked the barrel but the shot and wad were all gone. Tons of unburnt powder still visible though.

My question is, I was loading 2 3/4 sts hulls with 1 1/2oz #4 shot with sts209 primers and Longshot Powder. Should I have been using a magnum primer based on the spherical powder and temps (7-10 degrees)?

Thanks for your advise and input

 

[Macintosh]

I dont know the answer to your specific question re magnum primer. What I can tell you is that Longshot was always very cold-sensitive for me, extremely dirty, and unless I ran it hot I got squib loads in every batch. At the time I was loading a lot for some antique guns and was looking for very low-pressure loads—longshot had the low pressure but it was terrible stuff when I loaded like that. I gave up on it after a couple pounds. I may be misremembering, its been a long time since I loaded any heavier shotshells, but I think it was blue dot that I found to work more consistently for really heavy loads.