IOF ASTRAM for Trap

[shahid]

For competition shooting we recommend our Astram range of cartridges - Astram Ki Sifarish ki jaati hai

THis was the message on every IOF special back I had been buying for the last twenty years.

So on this recommendation I did lay my hands on two boxes of IOF Astram 24 g loads ( no 7 shot ) for trap shooting. Red plastic tube cartridges.

Now I always like no 7 1/2 better for the extra number of pellets. We trap shooters are down to 24 grams these days from 28 g when we first started. At club level it is still allowed but not at competition lelvels.

The Sifarishi Astrams seemed a little crude in finish. Anyway I started shooting. It gave a much higher recoil and the velocity was lower than the RC4 or Compak I had been shooting in the recent past.

After the first five shots in which 4 out of 5 clays were broken, the first shot being a miss while tryinh to gauge the speed of the cartridge, no 6,7 and 9 shots misfired.

Has anyone heard of any cartridge misfiring in a competition ? A real horror story.

No. 14,16 and 18 shots also misfired. What primers these guys use ?

Very strange, this does not happen to Astram 32 g loads that I have been useing otherwise for non club skeet shooting, hardly any misfires there or in Astram Magna 34 g which also I have used a lot. Misfire rate in KF Special 30 g loads is also a normal 0.5 % I would say, not very bad if one out of 8 boxes misfires although it is frustating.

But with 50 % cartridges misfiring during a round of trap what will happen to s shooters brain and concentration.

Lesson learnt - Stay away from this Astram Sifarish.

[cottage cheese]

For competition shooting we recommend our Astram range of cartridges - Astram Ki Sifarish ki jaati hai

THis was the message on every IOF special back I had been buying for the last twenty years.

So on this recommendation I did lay my hands on two boxes of IOF Astram 24 g loads ( no 7 shot ) for trap shooting. Red plastic tube cartridges.

Now I always like no 7 1/2 better for the extra number of pellets. We trap shooters are down to 24 grams these days from 28 g when we first started. At club level it is still allowed but not at competition lelvels.

The Sifarishi Astrams seemed a little crude in finish. Anyway I started shooting. It gave a much higher recoil and the velocity was lower than the RC4 or Compak I had been shooting in the recent past.

After the first five shots in which 4 out of 5 clays were broken, the first shot being a miss while tryinh to gauge the speed of the cartridge, no 6,7 and 9 shots misfired.

Has anyone heard of any cartridge misfiring in a competition ? A real horror story.

No. 14,16 and 18 shots also misfired. What primers these guys use ?

Very strange, this does not happen to Astram 32 g loads that I have been useing otherwise for non club skeet shooting, hardly any misfires there or in Astram Magna 34 g which also I have used a lot. Misfire rate in KF Special 30 g loads is also a normal 0.5 % I would say, not very bad if one out of 8 boxes misfires although it is frustating.

But with 50 % cartridges misfiring during a round of trap what will happen to s shooters brain and concentration.

Lesson learnt - Stay away from this Astram Sifarish.

Good feedback Shahid,

Thanks for taking the trouble to test and report.

Hopefully some of the good for nothing IOF people are following this forum.

regards,
cc

[hamiclar01]

hmmm, that is very interesting shahid. thanks for the work. i remember a batch of IOFs i shot some time ago, out of which half misfired!

which begs the question, why do they even bother...

[mundaire]

I really didn't know Astram ammo came in 24 gram variants as well, the only ones I've ever seen are the usual 32 gram loadings. Are these commonly available, or was this procured through some special channel/ pre-booking direct from the factory?

Besides poor performance IOF (shotgun) ammo really fouls up the barrel, requiring a lot more grunt work cleaning up - even after a few shots...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[badshah0522]

Abhijeet 32 gram are Astram Magna,,i think only astrams are 24 grams..I always used magna ,,so not sure about astram.

[mundaire]

Abhijeet 32 gram are Astram Magna,,i think only astrams are 24 grams..I always used magna ,,so not sure about astram.

Hmm, check out the IOFB website http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/am ... /sc/15.htm - stranger still on that page they claim:

"The above improved characteristics make these cartridges suitable not only for use in general hunting, etc. but also for "competition shooting". Our "Astram" cartridges have already found great favour with many renowned shooters in the competition shooting games."

Since 32 gram loads are NOT permitted in competitions, it makes me wonder who these "renowned shooters" are and which "competition shooting games" are they participating in??

Even there they clearly state the shot loading being 32 grams. Incidentally the only other "type" of 12 gauge shotgun ammo listed there is the "Special", details at http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/am ... /sc/16.htm

Cheers!
Abhijeet

P.S. - The page on their website listing details of the Magna brand ammo is here - http://ofbindia.gov.in/products/data/am ... /sc/20.htm - the shot loading is listed as 34 grams.

[shahid]

Currently Astram range is.

Sold in market - for General hunting purposes or guards sitting outside shops on stools.

Astram - 32 Gram, Shot BB, 1 to 6
Astram Magna - 34 Gram, no 1 only seen so far.
KF Special - 30 gram, shot BB, 1 to 7

And this special Astram 24 g no 7 for trap.

So far this is the 12 g shootgun offering from IOF under KF brand.

These trap astrams were purchased through NRAI during a competition.

The cause of failure seems to be hard metal on the primers. IOF subcontract the manufacture of primers to someone I guess.

Powder is not bad. Recoils a bit but barrels remain clean.

[indian]

tried the 32grams many times but never had problems.according to shahids feedback on astram 24grams,it shows that IOF would surely bag the award for the most INconsistent factory regarding guns and ammo i really wonder if bank gaurd guns would really fire in need as god knows how old the ammo is

[shahid]

These 24 g Astrams no 7 are a trial consignment only. Not introduced in the market for regular sales to shooters yet.

Another box of 250 cartridges was kindly obtained as a trial gift from Rao Indejit Singh, Hon. Min of State for Defence, Incharge of the Ordiance factories.

2 boxes each were divided up among the top Indian trap & skeet shooters in Delhi who were present at the range that day. The results were disastrous with 40 to 50 % misfires.

I have a few more left. Now I am going to try then in a S/S hammer cocking 12 g shotgun with springs set to strike the firing pin a bit deeper. Lets see how it behaves on these primers.

[Deepraj patil1616]

These 24 g Astrams no 7 are a trial consignment only. Not introduced in the market for regular sales to shooters yet.

Another box of 250 cartridges was kindly obtained as a trial gift from Rao Indejit Singh, Hon. Min of State for Defence, Incharge of the Ordiance factories.

2 boxes each were divided up among the top Indian trap & skeet shooters in Delhi who were present at the range that day. The results were disastrous with 40 to 50 % misfires.

I have a few more left. Now I am going to try then in a S/S hammer cocking 12 g shotgun with springs set to strike the firing pin a bit deeper. Lets see how it behaves on these primers.

Do you still have those cartridges. I would like to buy them for my collection.

[timmy]

Deepraj, it is unlikely that you will get a reply to a post from 15 years ago!

[Deepraj patil1616]

Yes you are right but what's problem for trying. About 4 months ago I got interested in collecting 12 bore cartridges, so I am trying my best for it.

[eljefe]

Yes you are right but what's problem for trying. About 4 months ago I got interested in collecting 12 bore cartridges, so I am trying my best for it.

There’s no problem in trying. Only issue is that bloke is not on this forum. So…

[veeveeaar]

Nowadays KF Astram comes only with a roll crimp . It has a sub name Magna . It is very powerful and noisy. Not suited for Trap .The old Astram was star crimped . I have seen it being used for trap at the Tuglalkabad range around 1995.