Ballistics
Pellets, pattern
and penetration
Therehas beenmuch debate overthe years
abouttheoptimum shot size.Diggory Hadoke
tries to settle the matter once and for all
thathadyou,fora wholeseason,no
othersizedshot,youwouldfindthat
youhadkilledmoregame.”Hawker
mostlyshotoverdogs,whatwewould
callwalked-upshootingtoday.
Strikinga balance
Thereareprosandconstoshotsize.
Smallshotproducesa fullerpattern
becausethereis moreofit inthe
cartridge(assumingthesameweight
load).Largershotcarriesmomentum
andenergyforlongerdistancesand
penetratesdeeper.However,with
fewerpelletsinthepattern,therewill
begreaterspacebetweeneachone.
GoughThomascalledthese
limitingfactors“patternat the
expenseofenergy”(smallshot)and
“energyat theexpenseofpattern”
(large shot). The balance to be
S
hotsizehasbeendebated
foraslongasgunshave
beenthrowingclustersof
smallleadballsat flying
birds.Everyonehasa pettheoryand
fashionswaxandwane,butwhen
webreaktheconundrumdowntoits
basiccomponentswe have two key
issuestoaddress.
Wechooseshottoproduce
anacceptablecompromiseforthe
shootingwedoandthegunweuse.
Theidealweseekis a killingpattern
thatcoversthetargetandindividual
pelletsinthatpatternthathitwith
sufficientforcetoimpart shock and
dolethaldamage.
In 1833 LieutenantColonelPeter
Hawkertoldreaders:“Acommon-
sizedgunwillshootNo.7 shotbetter
than any other shot... I am confident
P. QUAGLIANA / H. ALKEN / BRIDGEMAN ARTS LIBRARY
48 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE
struckis onebetweenpatternand
penetration.Hittinga birdwithlots
oftinyshotthatdoesn’tpenetratethe
skinwon’tkillit andhittinga birdwith
onepelletthatbreaksitslegwon’t
killit either.Youselectshotsizesto
ensureyouhaveenoughshottohit
oneormorevitalorgansandproduce
sufficientshocktokillit.Thatshot
needstopenetratedeepenoughto
entervitalorgansandbreakbones.
Atcloserranges,smallshothas
sufficientmomentumtopenetrate.
Onlyat longerrangesdoesit lose
energy.Atshortrange,largeshot
remainscloseenoughtogetherto
makemultiplehits,sopatternis not
a problem. The problems manifest
Debateabouttheoptimum
shotsizegoesbacktothe
beginning of the 19th century