Larry;
I did not say that he said they balanced one another. Since a 12ga & a 28ga have different bore sizes it should be entirely obvious they don't. What he did say was they used the same criteria, ie they both balanced the wt & column lenth to their bore dias. Again that is not the case, the shot charge of the 28 is slightly heavier than the 12's in proportion to its bore & the column length is not even playing in the same park in that relation.
1Ľoz of shot in a nominal 12ga bore, not taking up any space for a shotcup etc, just the bare bore, will have a column length about 18% longer than the bore dia. To maintain the same "Relation" to the bore then the 28 ga would need to also be approx 18% longer than its bore. BUT 3/4oz in the 28ga has a column length, all the same criteria, of about 65% longer than its bore.
To the best of my knowledge no ammo makers have ever attempted to load shells bearing an equivelent ratio of the column length to the bore dia. They do in fact load with the idea of balancing the shot load to the charge wt & burning speed of the selected powder. This is of course done for all wts of shot in all gauges, heavier wts in a given gauge requiring slower powders. When the shot column is balanced to the powder type used then the column length will end up being very nearly the same length for any gauge, when using the same powder. (Ever wonder why normal shells are virtually all close to the same length regardless of gauge), they carried shot loads which were very similar in proportion to their bore. This does apply "Equally" to all the gauges (remember the .410 is not a gauge so is ignored here) there is no Magic or Mystery involved that puts the 3/4oz 28 or the 1 1/4oz 12 in a different catagory than say 7/8oz in a 20 or 1oz in a 16. They all have virtually identical, within a small range, of balance of shot wt in relation to bore. Column length in relation bore of course gets progressively longer as the size of the hole goes down. This is cited as an advantage by some & a disadvantage by others. I really doubt that except in extreme cases, as the 3" .410 it is of much significance as long as the proper powder for the load is selected.
A well bored gun throwing good patterns of about 75% at 40 yds wouuld be expected to produce 95%+ at 35yds. With the target moving at 40mph that 6% reduction would be about normal, a good load certainly but not something which can't be equaled by any gauge with a good load. No Mystery here just a good gun with a good load shooting "Just Like its Supposed to".
