Stan, I do think you and I have a common understanding of patterns and how they work. I use "normal" in the statistical meaning of the specific "bell curve" distribution. My issue with "hot core" is that shooters seem to me to try to divide patterns into "hot core" and "fringe" and lose the idea of a relatively smooth change in pellets per square inch from center to edge. Say 5 pellets per square inch in the center, 2 pellets/sq inch half way out to the edge, and less than 1 pellet at the edge.
DDA
