doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Does shot size really matter?

So clays have got tougher?

I’m beginning to think that they have switched to cast steel when I try to break them.

Bios are definitely tougher to break than their predecessors. I use 7 1/2s, 8s and 8 1/2s 100% of the time for sporting clays, doves, quail and woodcock. I like 4s and 6s for crows.

The only thing I use 9s for is ballast in my Allison speedboat. It has right side steering and in order to make it sit level on the pad, which is only critical in excess
of about 75 mph, I put a 25# bag of 9s on the left side which, along with batteries and cooler being on the left side, balances it nicely. 😉

Stan;

Did you get enough rain to run the Allison in your front yard?

I'm at somewhere above 6" of rain so far, and counting. If it doesn't let up by this time tomorrow ........ maybe. 🤣🤣🤣

#6.5 English shot equates to #7.5 US shot.....correct?

2.5mm in Frenchness...

I use 7 1/2 for trap. Maybe 8s sometimes. 7 1/2 to 8 for sporting clays and 8 1/2 or 9s for skeet.

Buzz,

English, American and Italian 6 shot are all the same size (2.6 mm).

Then English, French and Belgian 7 shot at 2.4 mm are the same as American and Italian 7 1/2 shot.

English, French and Belgian 7 1/2 shot 2.3 mm are equal to American and Italian 8 shot.

Everyone agrees that 2.0 mm shot is 9’s except Italy where it is 9 1/2.

Imperdix is correct, 6 1/2 shot will be 2.5 mm.

According to my Eley Shooter's Diary, Brit 5's (220/oz) are very close in size to US 6's (225/oz.)
Brit 6's (270/oz) are slightly larger than US 7's (299/oz)

But if you take the time to count pellets--which I never do on anything smaller than US 6--you will find differences in size and pellet counts/oz. The Brits seem to do quite well killing driven pheasants with their 6 shot. But it's good to remember that those birds are typically shot as incomers, so not as much penetration is required for a lethal hit as pheasants the way we hunt them (walked up over dogs). I've had good luck on wild roosters with Gamebore Pure Gold 1 1/16 oz of Brit 6's as a first barrel load (287/oz per the Eley Diary. That's almost exactly the same pellet count as 1 1/4 oz us 6 (281 pellets), which is a classic pheasant load.

Per Eley, Brit 6.5's are 305/ oz, so larger than US 7.5 @350/oz.

When purchasing non-US shells marketed in the US, it's always good to know if the shot sizes are US or Brit/European.

Here's Larry's Eley chart unfortunately low resolution



Cleaned up a bit



We discussed shot size labels some time ago. The consensus was that shells manufactured in Europe, to be sold in the U.S., should be labeled with U.S. sizes.
I've measured some and it doesn't always work out.