I have been given 4 bags of Lawrence Magnum (hard) #9 shot. I loaded a couple bags many years ago and used it on very early season doves and found that it worked fine within about 25 yards. These were young doves, early in the season, many only maybe 80% mature, but I found that it lacked the punch needed to cleanly kill past that yardage and also on later mature birds.
I have been loading .410 shells lately with a MEC 8567 Grabber. When I started out I was loading #7 1/2 shot and found that it had an aggravating tendency to bridge in the rammer (shot drop) tube and dump 1/2 oz. of shot all over the loader when the handle hit the top off the upstroke. This #9 shot flows through it perfectly, however.
Interested to know how many of you have had experience with #9s on clay birds and small game...... doves, quail, etc. Also any tips on handling the shot bridging problem would be appreciated. Will #8s bridge the way 7 1/2s do?
SRH
