Mixing shot?

[Andre V]

Would it make a huge difference in my shooting patterns if i mix my shot sizes.

I hunt for groundbird and doves/pigeon together and it makes sense to me to mix #5 & #7 and maybe #6 & #7.

It is should give me the best of both worlds.Some heavier pellets for bigger birds and more pellets for smaller birds. I assume that the lighter shot will be travelling a bit faster initially. On a pattern board the results should look good but through the air the shot column might be too long.

Your thoughts please.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

The larger the shot, the more down range energy you retain. The smaller the shot, the shot pattern will be more dense. You should get 1/2 of "the best of both worlds" in a duplex load.
If shooting a double, I would load one suited for each bird or go larger in pellet size rather than smaller.

 

[Darkgael]

Andre: I copied this from another forum (ShotgunWorld).
"..... the SAAMI standard for shot smaller than #6 (if I recall correctly) is a deviation of one full size up or down from that stated on the package. This means that a bag of #7.5 shot could have shot as small as #8.5 and as large as #6.5 and anything in between. Adding #8s and #7.5s will increase that range from #6.5 to #9s. Again, not that big a deal, but what are you gaining?"

So your shot is already mixed. Hope this helps.
Pete

 

[Andre V]

Thanks guys.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Andre: You are NOT shooting at targets at long ranges with black powder loads. Basically, unless your gun is choked, a cylinder bore shotgun is a 25-30 yard gun. At this short yardage, you are not going to see any advantage to mixing shot. You are far better off just using the larger size shot so that you have enough pellet energy on the target( game) even if only 1 pellet hits the animal.

In choked guns, it makes more sense, even at short yardage, to use smaller shot( lower energy per pellet) and expect to hit the game with multiple pellets. The multiple hits from light shot cause death through shock as often as the result of a hit to the head, or shot that reaches vital organs, even in birds as small as Dove. By using smaller shot, you don't tear up the game birds much, making what you get edible!

Have you ever heard the expression " Dusting a bird"? That happens when small shot strikes a bird in flight hard enough to knock dust out of its feathers, but fails to bring the bird down. The shooter almost always wishes he was using the next SIZE LARGER shot when he fired at that bird. It takes pellet energy to drive a shot pellet through those feathers. I have seen steel shot bounce off of Canada geese, as have most goose hunters who have had to use the stuff, and this at distances well under 40 yards. I gave up using #1 shot and went to BB and T steel shot for goose because of that experience.

 

[Andre V]

Thanks.

My gun is choked. I shoot mainly improved and modified in my barrels. I havn't had the oppertunity to use full yet.

I took a good look at the shot i have and noticed that there is quite a lot of variance in the shot size already. Thanks again

I am going on a wingshooting weekend next week, mainly groundbird and waterfowl, but i am sure some doves and pidgeons will see the business end of my 12ga. I will play around with some shot mixes just for fun, to see what happens.

As with most things i do i try find reasons to complicate it, i make more of a situation/idea than really matters. I think it just adds to the fun i suppose. On the other hand i am lucky to have forums such as these to save my some headaches learning. Thanks again.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Years ago I had loads of mixed shot, all sizes.
I loaded it up in 12g cartridges and was amazed how well it performed on all sorts of critters.
In my cylinder M/L it was a different story though.
Let us know how it goes. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I settled on using #8 shot for dove, #5 shot for pheasants, and partridge, and for waterfowl, we are restricted to using non-toxic shot. I have not yet hunted waterfowl with my MLer, as I am still waiting to see available some Non-toxic shot that will function as well as lead shot. Iron Polymer, and polymer matrix? shot are being touted for that role, but I haven't seen any of it available for me to test. I Hope you are not faced with the same legal restrictions in S. Africa.

 

[renovato]

Initially, all the pellets will be travelling the exact same speed, since they're leaving the barrel at the same speed. The instant they are no longer being accellerated down the barrel, they begin to slow down. This is where problems can occur. The lighter pellets will slow down faster and the heavier pellets will come crashing through the pattern causing flyers unless you load the lighter ones first.

I've done a lot of experimenting with duplex loads in modern shotshells and have learned a few things about it. They will work, but you need to shoot at closer distances than you would if you were using a load optimized for the game you are hunting. Otherwise, the larger bird won't be hit with enough heavy pellets and the pattern won't be dense enough for the smaller birds.

Try test patterning some loads and see how they work for you. Pour your lighter shot first, and experiment with light/heavy shot ratios. You should find a sweet spot where you get good pattern density with both pellet sizes. It's going to be a lot closer than you might expect though. Let us know what you discover! :thumbsup:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I've done a lot of experimenting with duplex loads in modern shotshells and have learned a few things about it. They will work, but you need to shoot at closer distances than you would if you were using a load optimized for the game you are hunting. Otherwise, the larger bird won't be hit with enough heavy pellets and the pattern won't be dense enough for the smaller birds.

:thumbsup:

Such loads "work" only so long as you don't exceed the effective range of the smaller shot. The #7 1/2 or #8 shot will drop pheasant and even turkey very dead within 25 yards. Beyond that distance the small shot don't count as their penetration will be insufficient for large birds and you are left with only half a load of the large shot so the pattern will be insufficient for anything. It would be better to load the small shot alone and just pass up any long shots.
If you are fortunate enough to hunt in "box of chocolate" country where you never know what is going to come up, it is a good plan to load your double with #7 1/2 in the imp cylinder barrel and #5 in the tighter choked barrel. Thus you are ready for anything by simply pulling the proper trigger. Mixing the two gives you only half a load of the proper size and thus reduces the effective range to slightly less than that of a full load of the small shot alone. In a single barrel it would be better to just split the difference and go with a full load of #6 shot.

 

[slowpokebr549]

Out of sheer laziness, I mixed 4 and 6 shot in my shot snake.I didn't get around to dumping out the 4 shot. I never noticed any fliers or blown patterns. In my modified barrel they threw a nice consistant pattern at 30 yards. Granted, that is as far as I will take a shot but I never noticed any huge drawbacks to duplex loads.That shot snake load accounted for two turkeys and lots o squirrels. This season though I went with copper plated sixes. An ounce and a quarter of those and 80 grains of 3f really put a cloud of shot on a pattern board.

 

[Andre V]

Thanks a lot guys, some good info here.

 

[Toomuch_36]

:hmm: In addition to what has been presented by everyone here,(all very good advice). I find that smoothbores are a picularly particular animal and will usually prefer one load over anything else. Smoothies are much more "load finnicky" than a rifle and rarely are any two exactly the same.

Case and Point: I shoot a "Ultra-Hi Minuetman" 18 ga. cyl.bore and for shot I use a half/half mixture of #4&#5 lead shot for all purposes over 70gr.of 3F, (this is the only load that seems to hold any kind of pattern but it holds good out to about 60yd.) and for ball a .648 patched ball w/.017 ticking or .662 bareball over the same 70 gr.3F (good for 60 to 70yd. competitavely against rifles).

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