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No5s

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I am a keen fan of size 6 shot for general shooting small game but after reading some comments on here about size 5 shot I got some to try.
That was ages ago but today I got around to trying some on pheasant and did ok.
Actually when I measured them they actually are a 51/2 but thats ok.
The interesting thing today was how my dog sent a cock up and across the front of me at 25ish yards left to right, my left barrel basically missed the bird but there was a reaction.
The bird shook and turned away instantly but with power in it's wings, now here's the thing. At 30+yds I fired the right barrel at a bird going away which is something I usually shy away from but I was convinced he was hit from the first anyway.
From the second shot there was a most definite reaction and the bird lost power quickly and came down the other side of a hedge and then ran.
After reloading I let the dog work the whole area and eventually made the retrieve from under a holly hedge with a live but weak bird. When the bird was handed to me blood was in it's bill so somewhere a pellet had made middle!
It will be interesting when I clean the bird to see whats gone where and the damage but I won't forget the birds reaction to the second shot. It was one of being hit hard which is something I am not use to using smaller shot.

It was good to watch the dog work too :grin:

So there ya go, just thought I'd tell ya :thumbsup:

Britsmoothy.
 
I think a #5 is an excellent pellet size...when I was younger you either used #6's or #4's as we didn't have #5's.

#6's have more pellets, but don't bore through the wind as well as heavier shot, and give less penetration;

#4's have far less pellets but there's no mistaking their ability to reach out there and penetrate;

#5's seem to be an excellent blend of all the good characteristics of both the 4's and 6's...I still have a case of Winchester .12ga shells in #5s...was using them for crow hunting about 20 years ago
 
Britsmoothy said:
I am a keen fan of size 6 shot for general shooting small game but after reading some comments on here about size 5 shot I got some to try.
Just want to make sure we're not dealing with "two countries divided by a common language" again. Are these UK shot sizes or US? In the range of US#1-8, UK sizes are 1 number different (UK#6=US#7), approximately and depending on whose info one is using.

The present US system being based on shot diameters in 1/1000" and the UK one (at least originally) based on pellets per ounce IIRC.

Joel
 
We have the " Rule of 17" to measure shot sizes here in the States. Take the number of the shot size( #5) and subtract that number from "17". You should get "12", or .12" in diameter. #6 shot would be .11" in diameter. #7 1/2 will be .095 in diameter, and so forth.

It sounds like your shot sizing is a bit smaller than ours. That explains the lack of the typical reaction I have had when I shoot Pheasants at that 30 yard range with a load of American #5 shot,compared to what you describe in your post here.

From what you describe, the shot you are using is closer to #7 1/2 shot and #6 shot. That is pretty light shot for all but very close( inside 20 yds.) flushing birds, IMHO and experience.

If you do get some true #5 shot, I think you will not find many live birds running away for your dog to retrieve in thick cover.
 
Yep, I agree. Those measurements are within tolerance of 7 1/2's US.
I have never tried 5's, only 6 and 4's. I find
that upping the shot size a tad from what I would choose as ideal for modern smokeless loads works well in the flintlock.
Would love to try to pattern some 5's
 
Trust me, its worth the trouble it takes to find a bag of lead #5 shot for that purpose. They pattern very well. The performance in the field is outstanding. I use it both in modern 12 gauge hulls, and in my DB percussion 12 ga. shotgun. I have only used #5 shot on Pheasants and Chukkar Partridge, but the birds come out of the sky with authority. :v
 
For comparison when these cross-pond discussions come up, you might also want to bookmark this:
http://www.hallowellco.com/shot_size_chart.htm

From what I've read, it's somewhat simplified - some of the shot sizes shown as equivalent are actually a few thousandths different - but a useful table nonetheless.

Britsmoothy, what you hear us talking about over here are approximately your #4s. What constitutes "true #5 shot" likely depends on one's home and the local system. All of us tend towards ethnocentricity, even is shot size systems. Hence the need for care in discussions on international forums (fora?).

Joel
 
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Can you not order if from a stateside supplier, and have it shipped to you? My ex-wife's brother used to live outside Edmonton, and he seemed to have all the shotgun shells and components he needed to shoot dozens of ducks and geese near his home. He was able to get nuisance permits to kill as many as he could dispose of, and he ran out of people at work and in his neighborhood to give ducks to after filling his own freezers. ( He used to laught at the bag limits and quotas imposed on duck and goose hunters here in the Midwest Flyway.)
 
Yes Paul, sorry. Yes I can get it what I mean is it's getting expensive and really I have a fair stock in.
What I should of said is when I need next to make a purchase I will try 4s or 5s instead of the lesser.

Britsmoothy.
 
Every time I open up Smoothbore forum its like opening some encyclopedia of old time knowledge. Thanks guys. I suppose I would be remiss if I also didn't say something about Claude and the great job he does. The whole of the muzzleloader forum is fantastic.

Just one question. Does anyone know what "beaver shot" would have been. I have read about it but there is no description as to the size of the shot. Thanks.
 
I hope your question is a joke. I have never heard and lead shot described as " Beaver Shot". There is a more colloquiel, and sexual meaning to the phrase. There is " Swan Shot".
 
I take no responsibility for the name and the question was not a joke. Seems I heard about it reading some journal. The answer is also not important, I was just curious. Cheers.
 
Link

Here is likewise a large quantity of plover shot which will not be traded nor spent in factory use in some years; for Bristol shot, duck, and beaver is the only shot that is useful to the Indians, likewise some great shot of which I have sufficient for two years, and of duck the same. I hope for the future your honours will send yearly such goods as shall be indented for both in quantity and quality, for now is the time to oblige the native: for if once we should be disappointed of goods I am positive that it will be a hard matter to draw the Indians from the French, for the French are a people that seldom spare for cost where a good bargain is to be purchased.
 
That is not the clearest reference, but the reference to "Plover " shot probably refers to a small size bird shot, like our #8 or #9 shot, since the Plover is a dove sized bird, and does not require much shot to bring it down. That then makes me suspect that people were referring to shot by the animals commonly shot with a given size, than by using numbers. Many people in rural areas did not know how to read or write, not even numbers, so referring to shot by the animal that was killed with it probably made more sense, than using the number of the shot, as we do today.

Perhaps one of the Shot companies( Lawrence, Hornady, Winchester, Remington,etc.) can help you with the history of their shot, and have some idea about how their shot was described back then.
 
paulvallandigham said:
That then makes me suspect that people were referring to shot by the animals commonly shot with a given size, than by using numbers.

This was apparently quite common, based on quotations I've seen over the years. Occasionally some writer would give a shot size both an animal and a pellets-per-ounce count. There ware a fair number of birds and mammals cited at different times for shot size designations. Someone once posted an interesting assemblage of quotations, among other things showing these uses were not necessarily consistent, and he made some reasonable estimates of shot size ranges. I cannot locate the original posting, but vaguely recall swan shot being somewhere around #T/.20"± and beaver shot being somewhat larger, maybe #F-#3Buck/.22-.25".

I hope someone can locate that posting, or some original writings.

Joel
 
I removed the breast fillets from the said bird today and had a good look.
The first shot allthough being a poor shot on my part it would seem sent just one pellet into the region of the wishbone and was causing some internal bleeding.
There was evidence of a strike from the second barrel but I now believe it's fate was sealed from the first shot. I have to say that had that pellet been any smaller it may of survived or got away to far to recover to my hand.

Britsmoothy.
 
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