Mixed shot size for tighter groups...

[Peter LeRay]

Has anyone experimented with a mixture of shot sizes to help with tighter groups? Mabe 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 mixed?

 

[Robert Egler]

I tried 7 1/2 with 6, and found that the pattern density increased with the proportion of smaller shot as you would expect (more pellets), but it did not have any noticeable effect on overall pattern spread.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Have done so many times, nothing to report really

B.

 

[Alden]

Heavier shot generally means a tighter pattern -- using lighter or heavier shot is an old way of compensating for fixed chokes in fact. Some of you whipper-snappers don't even know what those are but, trust me, it works.

Mixed? Guessing some heavier pellets that retain their velocity better will eventually start bumping other, lighter, pellets and spread the pattern...

But isn't all this obvious to everyone?

Cap'

 

[BrownBear]

I played hard with 4's and 6's. Overall pattern size didn't change, though the 4's did tend to "sort" themselves from the 6's and stay more toward the center. That might be a value to someone. My beef was that the fringes of the patterns got irregular or ragged. I'm more concerned about a smooth pattern with clean edges, so the experiment was a failure for my needs. If I need a tighter pattern, I just get closer.

 

[robinsroost]

I have used duplex loads for years. Depending upon what I am hunting, I like 8's for doves and quail, and 8's and 4's or 8's and 5's for turkeys squirrels and rabbits. Keep yer powder dry.....Robin :wink:

 

[Toomuch51]

I have been using a half/half mixture of 4/5 for quite some time now, very tight patterns and good distance from a cylinder bore trade gun.

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

 

[coloradoclyde]

I always figured it like this,
The smaller the shot the more pellets hit the target.
The bigger the shot the fewer pellets it takes to kill the target.
If I had to choose one shot size for everything it would be #4

 

[Coot]

Shotguns have been made & sold for a very long time. Many many loads have been developed by both commercial manufacturers & individual reloaders. I am not aware of any commercial loads that use or used mixed shot sizes. It seems to me that the difficulty of obtaining a uniformly mixed shot load (more larger shot near top of one load & nearer the bottom in another) would lead to less predictable patterns than using a single shot size. Perhaps there is a reason that mixed loads are not commercially produced.

 

[BrownBear]

I am not aware of any commercial loads that use or used mixed shot sizes.

Oh yeah. They're out there, and popular.

 

[George]

Overall pattern size didn't change”¦.

Same here. Patterns were more or less dense, depending on the combination, but I never found that mixing shot sizes actually tightened the pattern, made it smaller.

Spence

 

[Billnpatti]

You might give this a try http://www.muzzleloadingshotguns.com/articles/candlecartridges

 

[nhmoose]

Worse patterns here.

More shots make better patterns, I was a fan of 5's or 6's in my fowlers for partridge in NH.

One year I used 8 1/2's only and hard to believe average score on them went UP!!! Then tried 9's and better yet. Note: a 20 yard shot is a long one in the cover I hunt.

For bigger 5's are the way to go talking all lead here (some copper platted) as I have never used steel in any ML

 

[slowpokebr549]

Steel Duplex loads aren't uncommon in commercial loads, or at least they didn't use to be. I use mixed four and six for turkey in my .12 gauge smoothie all the time. Reason being, I'm too lazy to clean out my shot bag completely so the proportion of 6 to 4 is always changing ha ha ha...

 

[Steve Lasley]

I have heard that if you decrease you powder charge you will get a tighter pattern and if you increase your charge it will make your pattetn spread out. Might be worth trying.

 

[Billnpatti]

My muzzleloading shotgun experience is rather limited so there is much that I don't know on the subject. But, I do have a question concerning duplex or mixed shot loads in a shotgun. Has anyone tried loading the different sizes of shot separately. If so, do you load the smaller or the larger shot first? Also, has anyone tried putting in one size of shot, then a OS card followed by the next size of shot? If anyone has tried either of these ideas, what effect, if any, did it have on your pattern?

 

[Jim Vatt]

Generally speaking the less powder equals tighter groups has worked, but add the wrong "wadding" and you can toss it all out! duelist1954 recently posted a video that he shoots a smoothy with(I believe) 110 grains of powder and a full two ounces of shot to get better patterns! My personal results haven't been that extreme.