Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 Shot 1-1/8 oz – Superb 25 Round Box

Description

Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 is the light target load that American clays shooting was largely built on. One and one-eighth ounces of number 8.5 lead shot at 1,145 fps, in the AA hull, at the 2-3/4 dram equivalent that has been the standard skeet and trap recipe for half a century.

• Why Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 Is the Default
• Specifications and Where It Fits
• Field Notes

Why Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 Is the Default

AA has been in production since 1965 and the reason it endures is consistency. The one-piece AA hull, the 209 primer and the wad column are matched to each other, so velocity and pattern vary very little from shell to shell. On a sport where the difference between 24 and 25 is one bird, that consistency is the product.

Number 8.5 shot is the specific choice here. It sits between 8 and 9, giving more pellets in the pattern than 8 with slightly more retained energy than 9. That makes Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 a natural fit for skeet, for close and medium sporting clays presentations, and for the first shot on trap doubles.

At 2-3/4 dram equivalent and 1,145 fps this is a light load by design. Recoil stays manageable over a long day, which matters enormously in a sport where a round is 25 shots and a shoot might be 200.

Specifications and Where It Fits

The 1-1/8 ounce charge is the standard competition payload and is legal under the shot charge limits used by ATA trap, NSSA skeet and NSCA sporting clays. That is worth knowing, because the heavier 1-1/4 ounce loads are not legal in every registered event.

Cases are the familiar AA plastic hull with a low brass head. It is the most reloaded target hull in existence, and 25 spent Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 hulls are genuinely worth picking up off the ground if you load your own.

• Gauge: 12 gauge
• Shell length: 2-3/4 inch
• Dram equivalent: 2-3/4
• Shot charge: 1-1/8 oz
• Shot size: #8.5
• Shot material: lead
• Muzzle velocity: 1,145 fps
• Hull: Winchester AA, low brass head
• Primer: 209
• Packaging: 25 rounds per box, 10 boxes per case
• Manufacturer item: AA1285 / UPC 020892015333

Field Notes

Match shot size to the presentation rather than buying one size for everything. 8.5 covers skeet and most sporting stations well; longer crossers and handicap trap generally want 7.5, and very close report pairs sometimes want 9.

Choke and shot size interact. A shell with smaller pellets fills a pattern faster, so a load of 8.5 out of an improved cylinder often patterns more usefully at skeet distance than 7.5 out of the same choke. Pattern it rather than assuming.

Save the hulls. AA hulls take many reloadings, and a habit of collecting them turns a box of Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 into a long term supply of components.

Shooting other stations? The AA line also covers 12ga 1-1/8 oz #7.5 for longer targets and 12ga 1-1/8 oz #9 for close ones, with AA Super Pigeon at the heavy end. Load details are published by Winchester Ammunition.

For skeet shooters, sporting clays regulars and anyone who wants a light, consistent target load, Winchester AA Target 12ga 8.5 is the safe default. MAG5 Firearms stocks it in the 25 round box, manufacturer item AA1285.