r/canadaguns • u/ooTurtle1999 • Apr 06 '26
Shooting Canuck Pioneer & Challenger Target Load
Got a 100 pack of ‘Challenger Target Load’ and it failed to eject 90% of the time.
Obviously the biggest thing I want out of a shotgun is to skeet shoot with, but I also don’t wanna fork out thousands for a shotgun just to target shoot with.
This gun is brand new and has only had target loads through it. I did buy a pack of ‘Winchester Super X Heavy Game #2 Shot’ and it worked just fine. Both shells being 2 3/4”.
Do I just need to break it in? Should I try Federal Target Load? Do I just get rid of this gun…?
What do yall think. Thanks 😊
Update: Winchester & Federal Target Loads run just fine. They are a bit heavier of a load.
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u/BigBlackCb Apr 07 '26
Not familiar with that gun. But I bought a cheap stoeger a few years back. Everybody claimed it wouldnt cycle well.
I disassembled it, cleaned all of the factory grease off of it. Lubed it up and it would cycle anything I put into it. It never had a failure.
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u/Mahatma_Ghandicap Apr 07 '26
Brother - you bought a trash semi-auto and your are shooting low power ammo. What did you expect?! LOL
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u/stalker_thezone Apr 07 '26
To be fair all guns have a break in period. You need to run heavier loads for a period of time to wear the gun in a bit. Then you can start running the lighter shells. Clean and oil the gun prior to use as well. The greasy oily stuff that was on the gun when brand new is packing oil, not gun oil. Sure this is a cheaper shotgun, but turkey is literally the shotgun capital of the world and produces thousands of firearms. But they do tend to skimp a bit with fit and finish sometimes... So just run the gun hard for the first little while, clean, run again, clean, run again for about the first 3-400 rnds. Then get back to us
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u/waitwhatnothing Apr 07 '26
What are the details on the target loads you purchased, how many ounces of shot? Is the velocity listed?
The Pioneer is an inertia gun which tend not to cycle light loads as well as gas operated semi auto shotguns. I have a Franchi Affinity which is an inertia gun and for example the manual for my gun lists 1oz loads at 1200fps as the minimum. Ive had some trouble with 1oz loads cycling in cold weather specifically so I just buy 1-1/8oz target loads instead.
I’ve heard that sometimes even loads that meet that minimum won’t cycle when a gun is brand new since there’s a break in period.
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u/ooTurtle1999 Apr 07 '26
Definitely seems like I just gotta break er in before I can cycle some lighter loads. Gonna pickup Winchester & Federal Target to see how those go. I’ve read that Federal is a bit better than the cheap Challenger stuff. Gonna run some heavy load through it before putting in some target stuff
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u/Omega_Shaman Apr 07 '26
I just bought a Girsan mc312 that is coming and I bought 150 magnum loads for it. Inertia shotguns need to be broken in to shoot lighter loads.
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u/NeighborhoodWest8294 Apr 07 '26
Try running a box or two of heavy loads - not target - through it to break it in. If you haven’t cleaned it yet, do that first.
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u/johnnyfuckinghobo Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
Hazards of the trade when you go cheap on a semi. You can try running a bunch of heavy loads through it to see if it'll loosen things up and maybe be able to cycle the target loads after. When I ran into a similar issue with my SX4 I ran it wet as fuck for a while. I got it during the autumn so I had a good excuse to run a heap of magnum #2, #4 and BB loads through waterfowl season, then kept it drippy with oil when I started breaking clays for a while. It broke in nicely and doesn't require any extra effort to cycle nicely now. Best of luck though, because I haven't heard great things about canuck.
I don't get why I'm being downvoted here. If I'm giving bad advice then tell me why so I learn something.
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Apr 07 '26
To piggy back off this, I have found alot of Turkish/cheap shotguns struggle off lighter loads, they fire fine but fail to spit them out after the fact
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u/waitwhatnothing Apr 07 '26
Inertia guns in general don’t shoot light loads as well as gas guns. Environmental conditions, lubrication and even the shooters hold on the gun can affect how well it works.
Easiest thing to do is just buy 1-1/8oz target loads.
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u/Arbakos Apr 07 '26
I have a Girsan and brand new it had trouble with lighter loads, after the 40 or so hunting loads recommended by the manual and a flat of 3 dram Federal Top Gun target loads it feeds the lighter stuff no problem.
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u/BisonCompetitive9610 Apr 07 '26
Are you holding the shotgun properly? It's an inertia shotgun and if you're not pushing into it when you're shooting it will jam up. Some loads cycle better than others. Gun should be broken in with about 100 rounds.
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u/SpinachStunning5547 Apr 07 '26
When you try to copy a 3000$ gun mechanic for 500$ this is pretty much what you get...
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u/warpFTL Apr 07 '26
Try the handicapped challenger shells for a bit to break-in.
They should cycle without issues.
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u/Bittner029 Apr 07 '26
The challenger target loads being "low recoil" might not put out enough oomph to allow the action to function properly, especially if you've had success with other shells.
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u/Apprehensive_Help838 Apr 07 '26
these inertia guns don't cycle well with light loads under 1300 fps.
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u/22GageEnthusiast Apr 08 '26
Did you disassemble, clean and lube up the gun prior to shooting? If not do that.
Also, these Turkish made semi-auto shotguns generally will need to go through heavier loads like slugs to break them in. I usually run 25-50 slugs first to break in these guns before I use them to shoot clays.
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u/Datlimetho Cz Fan Boy Apr 07 '26
“I also don’t wanna fork out thousands for a shotgun just to target shoot with”
You’re in the wrong hobby buddy, you get what you pay for.