Years ago I found if I pushed my .410 loads too hot they tended to have blown patterns. By that, I mean they would have areas which had clumps of pellets and others which only had a few. With today's wads, powders and extra hard shot I see much less of that. It was very upsetting though because I knew every one of my .410 misses in Skeet were caused by blown patterns. Well a few were slow pulls I guess.
This hyper shot speed obsession seems to be worst with Steel shot. You can push the heck out of it and still get tight patterns but Steel is Steel and no amount of extra initial velocity will make it into lead. Those 3 1/2" roman candles are like sticks of dynamite. Plus the recoil becomes a real killer for anything other than a semi automatic. I refuse to shoot Steel shot in any doubles and will just pay what I must for other non steel loads if I can not reload them myself.
