I'm not so sure on that. The 12 guage have changed and they do this for business reasons and not performance necessarily IMO. A new load can be marketed as new and improved and then everyone is more likely to buy it. Now it may in fact end up being a better load for you but not necessarily. I mean why did they discontinue the white shelled 1 3/4 oz load in 12 guage that won the NWTF stills for a number of years. Any guy I know who has shot that shell wishes they could get more. Why did they mess with that?....answer: new business.

Every shell manufacturer is going to have that issue buckhound. When you find a good one just stock pile it for a few years.