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Feb 7th, 2025
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 Re: Shot Size
[Re: wal1809]
#5539652
01/13/15 02:13 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,087
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,087 |
So you are saying wind will blow your pellets off of their course between the time it leaves the muzzle and the 40 yard mark? 
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: Navasot]
#5539849
01/13/15 03:38 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,833
wal1809
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5539864
01/13/15 03:44 PM
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 733
jseago
Tracker
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Tracker
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shoot them into sheet metal at that range and see the difference in energy
I use 3" number 4s because there are more pellets
the low brass 6s work for me on teal and woodies perfectly, probably would work fine on others as well, I'm just not a great shot and need all the help I can get!
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5539924
01/13/15 04:03 PM
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,426
DuckCoach1985
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4 shot - 2 3/4 works fine 35-40 yards out of my winchester with Modified choke. If I'm shooting out past that I'll use 3".
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: wal1809]
#5539937
01/13/15 04:08 PM
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,426
DuckCoach1985
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I can't for the life of me answer the my own question about shot size. That question is why in the world would anyone limit their patterns by using anything larger than a #4 pellet. I suffered the "Bigger the pellet, better the hit" ideology 30 years ago when law switched to requiring steel. We didn't have proper technology for steel back then and we tried all we could to figure it out. Now that the technology came into the steel scene, there is plenty of information about steel loads and their killing ability. There is no reason whatsoever to use a pellet larger than 4s for ducks. In fact there is plenty of information produced to sway one from that large of a pellet.
Peter Hathoway Capstick wrote a lot on the subject of multiple pellet killing power. He preached against one big pellet and praised multiple small pellets. His writings sent me in the right direction. If we make a mistake on pellet size, it costs us a duck. If he were to have made the wrong pellet selection it would cost his life. He used small pellets in 12 ga to follow up wounded big cats for clients. In reading his science behind it and adding my own, I am a firm believer. A good pattern with numerous small pellets equals a train wreck on the other end. Once while dove hunting I shot an 85lb hog in the face at 25 yards with 7.5 lead. Dropped him dead.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: jseago]
#5540322
01/13/15 06:41 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,833
wal1809
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shoot them into sheet metal at that range and see the difference in energy
I use 3" number 4s because there are more pellets
the low brass 6s work for me on teal and woodies perfectly, probably would work fine on others as well, I'm just not a great shot and need all the help I can get! Well you almost got the point but then you zigged when the point zagged. If you claim to be not that good of a shot, a bigger pellet (less pellets in your shot column) will not aid you in more success. A bigger pellet would in fact diminish your success rate even further. Bigger pellets don't mean "BIGGER BETTER BADDER", an accurate and dense pattern with no holes in it kills ducks. There is more to the science of measuring energy. Key factors are speed and weight. Rednecks shooting street signs can tell us a lot but I would hardly use that as a data in determining what I use and don't use so far as shot size.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5540388
01/13/15 07:05 PM
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 733
jseago
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1 1/4 oz of 4s has nearly the pellet count of an oz of # 6 but is more dense and faster (provided the load), and will knock down birds with less pellets on target, less cripples, etc.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5540423
01/13/15 07:17 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,881
TXPride
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I shot dove load at pigs before. They had a bunch of pellets hit them, but ran away 
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: jseago]
#5540492
01/13/15 07:42 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,833
wal1809
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1 1/4 oz of 4s has nearly the pellet count of an oz of # 6 but is more dense and faster (provided the load), and will knock down birds with less pellets on target, less cripples, etc.
It is a lot easier for me to just say I see your logic. So, I see your logic and I have seen the light.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5540495
01/13/15 07:43 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 249
Gill_97
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 249 |
2-3/4 #4's all season long
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: TXPride]
#5540569
01/13/15 08:08 PM
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,426
DuckCoach1985
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I shot dove load at pigs before. They had a bunch of pellets hit them, but ran away Shoot em in the face
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: DuckCoach1985]
#5540609
01/13/15 08:21 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,881
TXPride
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I shot dove load at pigs before. They had a bunch of pellets hit them, but ran away Shoot em in the face I'll just stick with buckshot
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: TXPride]
#5540637
01/13/15 08:31 PM
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,426
DuckCoach1985
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I shot dove load at pigs before. They had a bunch of pellets hit them, but ran away Shoot em in the face I'll just stick with buckshot yea.... but with the modified choke.. it really does a number on the dove
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: DuckCoach1985]
#5540648
01/13/15 08:36 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,881
TXPride
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I shot dove load at pigs before. They had a bunch of pellets hit them, but ran away Shoot em in the face I'll just stick with buckshot yea.... but with the modified choke.. it really does a number on the dove I wasn't dove hunting...I just went with the theory that more shot is better 
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: wal1809]
#5546310
01/16/15 01:07 PM
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,661
_Scooter_
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y'all might hate on me, but when testing loads through my Kick's HF MOD I've been deadly with 1280fps Xpert low brass #6 steel on committed ducks from 15-40yds out. Have not found a single pellet that got through the breast skin as of yet either. And no cripples. Decoy them in, shoot them in the neck and head, and life is good at $6.49/box and absolutely zero recoil out of my shotgun.  I aint hating on you at all. This bigger, better, badder, hyper-sonic, blackcloud "Buy this bad arse shell or your a moron" mentality is redonkulous. I wish they would quit pimping out my sport. Someday if you get time, I'd like you to PM me your essential shotgun reading list...
Wasn't born in Texas, but I got there as fast as I could. 
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5546359
01/16/15 01:46 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 33,585
txtrophy85
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Why does everyone hate on the expert steel? What about the dry lock steel from Winchester?
I have kent and black cloud in my bag now only because they carry a wider selection of that stuff than any other type of non-toxic.
I've heard the Xpert steel patterns horribly
Never wondered about the others. It seems like it wouldn't take a lot to kill a decoying duck at 20 yards but everyone I know uses 3" no.6 or no.4 kent or black cloud for ducks. A few use no.3 and no.2
For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5546371
01/16/15 01:53 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,833
wal1809
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That would be an impossibility. Apparently I have crowed too often on this board. It comes out as negative when all the while it was meant to create a positive difference to some that just might not have known. There are more than some, on this board even, whom are absolutely clueless as far as shotguns. So I have told myself to just let it be. Now the reason I say it would be an impossibility to pm you the reading essentials is, 40 years of shotgunning can't fit in a PM. I have gathered tidbits from the beginning and went from there. So from the first time I shot paper all the way up to advanced shooting reconstruction schools and everything in the middle, all that can't be put in a PM. As many times as we have talked about this, everything in the shotgun world boils down to pellet size, weight and speed. It is that simple.
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Re: Shot Size
[Re: mattfox]
#5546434
01/16/15 02:29 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,833
wal1809
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Oh and credit should be credited to those to whom it is do. The ranch I lease today is owned by my best friends dad. Years ago after the death of my father he was one man that took a role in guiding my direction. He is probably the most educated man I know. It is he that forgot more about ballistics than I will ever know. A new guy to the group described him best. He compared him to the old man ballistic guy, Levon Helm, in the Mark Walburg movie "Shooter". He recieves credit for a lot more of my teachings thsn just ballistics. I will leave you with one of his sayings,"Son,there is no gray. It is black, white, right, wrong. Nothing in the middle". That stuck with me still.
Last edited by wal1809; 01/16/15 02:38 PM.
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