It's the time of year when you find yourself sitting on industry secrets. For the past few weeks, I've been traveling around the country, checking out the newest products that will be rolling out in the spring - and beyond.

The opportunities, however, are not without their own little tests. First, having spent most of my grownup life working on daily deadlines, it's tough to see something, get insight on the product (including handling and actually trying out in most instances), and then be told that the embargo date is weeks away. In fact, that's the hard part of knowing.

Fact of the matter, a journalist who knowingly violates an embargo isn't worth much to readers or the industry. But the knowledge will, occasionally, creep into your writing. For example, recently, I wrote reported on Beretta's new shotgun, the A400Xplor. It's supposedly the fastest-cycling shotgun in the marketplace. I didn't see anything to convince me otherwise, but I did toss in a remark that was caused because of knowledge I had of a new Remington shot shell.

Remington has shown a new wad design that company officials say will be the biggest breakthrough since their Power Piston One-Piece Plastic Wad. Sounds like a mouthfull, but the new wad is designed to accelerate steel shot to a higher velocity than ever before. Steel shot, when driven faster, has an improved performance. That performance means steel waterfowl loads will kill better. As Remington put it "speed kills".

One big problem, however, current steel shot load velocities are maxed out by SAAMI pressure limitations. Limitations set for safety. Consequently, the only way to increase velocities is to lighten payload. Lighter payloads equal lessened effectiveness.

The Turbo Jet Wad. Engineers say it produces radically higher velocities
without compromising safety parameters or load performance. 

Remington's Scott Hanes, had news of a new wad design they call the Turbo Jet Wad. Basically, it's a single-piece wad that has a precision engineered ignition chamber sitting under a wad that includes a stress concentrator.

Basically, it works like this:
The primer ignites, firing the propellant captured immediately in front of it. The "captive charge" in the new ignition chamber starts to propel the wad and payload forward- ahead of the main powder charge. The increased area behind the wad allows for the remainder of the powder to burn - increasing efficiencies, but not pressures.

The result? 1700 feet per second velocities, the fastest ever produced in waterfowl ammunition falling within SAAMI guidelines. I add that line because we all know someone who's more than willing to load their own shells "hotter" than the recommended pressures. Not something I'd ever advocate- or ever fire if I knew it had been done. By my way of thinking, it's better that someone else serve as the guinea pig in established safety conditions. Proof testing isn't anywhere in my job description.

Initially, this new technology will only be available in 1-1/8, 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 ounce 12 gauge loads, in both three and three and a half-inch shells. In industry parlance, that's a line focused on ten high-volume, key SKUs.

The key in this release, however, is that every load will produce the same velocities, producing longer-range lethality and shorter leads on game. It will also produce something else- the same on-game leads for all loads. Personally, the idea of only having to learn to hold one lead has a certain amount of appeal.

What that shakes down to is a load that's faster, creates more energy and stopping power at longer distances, and shortens leads by eleven percent. To put that into some sort of perspective, that's the equivalent of about eight inches at forty yards - about the length of a duck's body length. In other words, more dead-on shooting, more hits and a theoretical increase in efficiencies - less shells with more hits mean less money and more game. Neither is a bad deal.

This new ammo's scheduled to roll out in the spring, but today was the soonest we could let you know.

We'll keep you posted.
--Jim Shepherd
Article from The Outdoor Wire