Has anybody tried Academy's brand of shotgun shells? I believe the brand is called Monarch. only $4.99 a box so I was going to buy a few boxes for dove hunting and then I saw the Winchester Super-X on sale for the same price so I went with the Winchesters. But I was just curious how the Monarchs are. They are pretty high velocity which is what made me consider

I hunted with a guy who was using them this past weekend and he mentioned that he liked them. He got them because he couldn't find the high velocity Rio's that he likes to use.

He also uses a O/U so he clearly didn't have any cycle issues.

I've been shooting the Monarch 7.5 in my old Winchester 1300 12 gauge for a couple years now. I've never had any issues with them cycling. I bought some in 20 gauge this year for my 14 year old daughter and she said they don't have as much kick as the Winchester or Remington shells.
I can tell you once you get the pattern of the shot you'll fold birds up and I haven't had to search for many.

They're not bad. I even bought a few boxes of their 3" duck shells last season for like 8 bucks a box. They killed the crap out of ducks.

Generally speaking, the more expensive shells, like the Remington XLR and their Fed/Win equivalents, are made from better components and pattern much better than their promotional counterparts. There is a reason why they cost more. That said, every shotgun / choke / shell combination is a law unto itself and the only way to know for sure is to make a trip to the patterning board. It's a great thing to have a firearm that shoots cheap ammo well.

For shotguns, I usually shoot the cheapest ammo I can find when casual target shooting, and step up to something better for actual hunting.

They seem alright to me. Pretty dirty shooting shell compared to the more expensive ones, but my 20 gauge pump doesn't see to care.

I picked some up this year and they seem to cycle better than most rounds through my super vinci and SA 08.

As said... they are okay. I got some cheeeeeap Rios too. I got 9 birds with less than a box so I guess the doves don't care about the brand too much.

I believe RIO makes Monarch, right here in Texas.
Just put the shot where the bird WILL BE and you're good.

Is that why Academy has Rio's for 1/2 the price of any other place I have found?

I'm cheap. I like them for clays and used some this weekend on dove. Used some last year on ducks and they did fine. They patterned OK enough for me. Not quite as gentle as target loads but a sore shoulder doesnt cost much, couple of advil and I'm good. Also like the Rios.

Bought some last year as they were the only HV shells I could find.
thought they worked pretty well but they are the high end monarchs

Rio makes the Monarch Dove Loads and Federal makes the Monarch Target Loads.

I used the 1 1/4 oz high brass and I really like them.

They are fast @ 1350 and a bargain

I don't use Academy brand shotgun shells. Academy uses my brand.