Pattern quality is another matter. I've always shaken my head at the notion of 'holes' in a pattern. Sure, if you're shooting a stationary target like a turkey or the one in a hundred birds that truly have no relative motion, then an observed 'patchy' pattern is a problem. But... the target sees a cloud of shot, and a moving target experiences the cloud in 3 dimensions.
The "three dimensional cloud" in a 1 1/4 load of #4 shot (that is 169 pellets) is getting pretty thin at 35 yards or so out of an improved cylinder choke. I had lots of old timers around who were of the opinion of 1 1/4 oz of 4s being the end all load for pheasant and duck hunting. I was playing a game where a load of 6s (281 pellets in a 1 1/4oz load, quite impressive on paper at 30 yards) was the first one in the pipe of the A5, was followed by a number 4 load, thinking the 4 would hit harder down range than the 6s.
That is what the old timers thought would work best. They were full of poo. The time spent patterning, in a single dimension, proved it. I don't worship in the house of the golden pellet.
Maybe you don't like the thought of it being a "hole" in the pattern, but, that is just what it is, semantics aside, at the end of the day, after that shot was missed. Sorry.
Best,
Ted
