doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shot size effectiveness

FWIW - -
7/8oz #8 @1300+fps out of measured .024" mod choke will decisively break targets from the 27yd line which would have to be in excess of 40yds to the target for me. With 7.5's it will break targets at insane distances out of a full choke second barrel

make of that what you will

Yep! Leave the 9s on the sheet range. You can knock a pen raised quail down with a 9 because a puff of wind will kill some of them. But for wild birds 8s or 7.5s

i couldn't agree more.

I will stand by my earlier comments. I will be ordering another 3 or 4 case of 2 1/2" RST's shortly to feed my 28's and 20's.

Pictured is my 24" GH 28 gauge Parker which was using 3/4 oz of 9's. Choked .005 and .008 and one of my pointers.
Birds all killed cleanly and not shot all up.
Not for eveyone but works in my hunting situation.

Pretty pointer ghost rider! How can you hit with those 24" barrels? Barrels that short would be tough for me to hit with, even if I were using #9 shot! :-)

70%shooting on Mearn's over pointing dogs isn't unheard of.

Part of "bigger" simply = more mature. Birds of the year start to approach older ones in size. But part of the "bigger" for all late season birds--especially in cold country--is that they start putting on extra fat to make it through the winter. I've never seen wild rooster pheasants with as much fat as those we shot in mid-Dec in North Dakota. Under the right conditions (good cover and maybe some fresh snow), they will sometimes sit as tight as opening day birds. But if you're all bundled up, you're likely to be slower getting on them than you were back in October. Good reason to switch to somewhat heavier shot . . . although I've never killed a pheasant with anything larger than a #5.

I've also killed Mearns with 9's. Shots tend to be pretty close. Compared to woodcock--and I've killed a lot of them with 9's--ranges are similar. But I would not want to use 9's on scalies. Shots are usually a good bit longer.

I will not use 9s on anything that flies of it's own accord. I proved to myself half a lifetime ago that too many of my doves and wild bobwhites fly away hit solidly with 9s. The problem with quail is that you're shooting them in the rear end, usually, and the shot have to drive up into the vitals from the back end, unless a wing is broken. 9s cannot do that reliably, IMO, at the distances we usually get shots at wild birds. Breaks my heart to see a quail sail away 100 yds. or more with a leg dropped.

Some doves can be killed with 9s on opening day, if a man keeps his shots under 20-25 yds. and doesn't try going away shots. But, most of them won't hit the ground dead, and without a dog you may lose some cripples.

I never use anything smaller than 8s on game, and prefer 7 1/2s under anything but perfect circumstances, and late in the season.

SRH

CZ I can shot 70% on my very best day. If you regularly shoot 70% on Mearns My hats off to you. I have a freind that guides that rarely misses.
If someone is telling you that the average hunter shoots 70% regularly on Mearns, someone is bullsh-ting you plain and simple.
Being 60 and an AZ native that has guided plenty of people and with 1st hand experience. Most are ectatic to Shoot 25%

Mr Brown is spot on with his remark about close range, but I might add these birds are damn quick.

As far as the 24" Barreled Parker as they say some guns just feel right. This is one of them.