Ballisticswhenyouextendtherange.Small
shotmaynotpenetratesufficiently
andlargeshotmayleave too many
holesinthepattern.
Theresultsofchoosingthewrong
shotsizecanbecategorisedas:
lFewercleankills(desiredresult);
lSmashedgame (hit with too many
shotpellets);
lMissedorwoundedgame
(eitherfromfailure of pattern
orpenetration).
MajorGeraldBurrarddecreed
thattheidealshotsizeshouldbethat
whichcarriessufficientpenetration
fiveyardsfurtherthanthepointat
whicha patternbecomestooopen.
Essentially,maintainingthatfailure
ofpatternhappens before failure
ofpenetration.
Heexplained:“Asmallersizeof
shotthanNo.6confersnopossible
advantageinrangeorkilling
power...[and]maycausewounded
birdsat longrangeowingtolackof
penetration,andresultinplastered
birdsat closerange.It is probablethat
No.6comesclosesttotheideal.”
However,heconcededthatin
practicethedifferencebetweenNo.5,
No.5^1 ⁄ 2 andNo.6shotonpheasantsat
ordinarygameranges(upto 40 yards)
wassmallenoughnottoreallymatter.
Forpartridgeorpheasant,Thomas
believedthatNo.6shotwasthebest
generalsizetouse.Burrardagreed:
“33grainsofpowderand^11 ⁄ 16 ozof
No.6...probablyasgoodanall-round
loadasany...willkillpartridges
slightlybeyond 40 yardsandbigger
birdsupto 45 or 50 yards.”
GunmakerTomPurdeyadvisedin
1936: “The best load for the average
sportsmanwouldbe1ozor 11 ⁄ 6 oz
ofNo.6shot.Theaverageshooter
cannotdobetterthanuseNo.6shot
forallhisregularshooting,andif
heholdshisgunstraighthewillkill
allhisgamecleanly and well with
t h i sshot.”Usingchokes
Themodernconsensusis thatto
reliablykilla bird— let’sconcentrate
onpheasantsandpartridgestokeep
it simple— it is desirabletopenetrate
it withat leastthreepellets,sothat
at leastoneofthemwillbefatal.
“Normal”conditionsconsiderthe
shottobetakenwithin 40 yardswith
animprovedcylinderchoke.Forthis,
30gofNo.6is theoptimalload.
However,it becomesmore
complicatedwhenweconsiderlonger-
rangeshooting.Chokeextendsyour
range.Soif youhavea 40-yardkilling
patternwithimprovedcylinderand
30gofNo.6shot,youcanextendthe
killingrangeof the same load by using
half-choke.
However,astherangeextends,
so the lighter pellets lose energy and,whilechokemaykeepthepattern
togetherforlonger,it won’taddto
penetrativepower.Forthat you need
weight,sobiggershot.
If youareengagingbirdsbeyond
45 yards,changingtoNo.5is sensible.
However,if youdoso,tofillyour
patternyouneedmoreshotormore
choke.Your30gofNo.6through
improvedcylinderat 40yardsshould
bechangedto32gofNo.5if you are
expecting50-yardshots.
Atlongerrange,youneed
tighterchokeswithinthelimitsof
performance.Oncechokesgobeyond
40thouconstriction,patternsstartto
getworseandverylarge shot patterns
v a r ye r r at ic a l ly.
However,theexperienceoftoday’s
consistentlyeffective,long-range
pheasantShotsreflectstheprinciple
that,asyougofurtherout,you
needtousebiggerpelletstoretain
penetration.Youneedmorepellets
tofillthepatternandtightchokesto
keepit togetherat extremeranges.
It is thereforenosurprisetohear
ofNo.3orNo.4shotandloadsof
36gormoreemployedtoengage
extremelyhighpheasants.Theguns
arechokedtightlyand,tohandle
powerfulloadswithoutexcessive
recoil,theyareheavy.
I wouldadviseanyonetouse
fibre-wadded28gor30gloadsof
No.6foralltheirgeneralshooting
withtraditionalBritish12-bores,
unlessshootingsnipe,forwhichNo.7
providessufficientpenetration,but
withthefullerpatterndesirablefor
asmallbirdat normalranges.
Donotoverlooktheimportance
ofqualitycomponents.Thereturnof
woolasa premiumwaddingmaterial
byGameboreis interesting,asit
providesexcellentobdurationand
cushioningproperties,without
whichnoshotload,ofwhatever
size,is goingtoproduce its
best results.Thebestshotsizewillvarydepending
onwhattypeofbirdyouareshooting
andtherangefrom which
you are firingMultichokes on a Browning shotgun