Do the clay birds really care?

[jimb16]

I reload;12,16, 20 and .410 shells. I make my own shot; #6, 7.5 and 9. I mainly shoot skeet, but do a fair amount of bushytail hunting. Now I know that I need to use #6 for hunting, but for skeet, how much does it really matter what shot size I use? With a 1/2 oz load in a .410, I can understand a need for higher pellet counts, but for the other gauges how much does that really matter? The whole point behind this question is that in the time it takes to produce 25 pounds of #9, I can make 40 pounds of #7.5 or 60 pounds of #6. My average score with a 12 gauge is 23/25 and 24s and 25s are fairly common for me, so will I be at any real disadvantage using larger shot sizes?

[Hogtamer]

The answer to your question is to be found patterning different loads at the distance you intend to shoot. Skeet distances may not matter much but longer shots certainly.

[GhostHawk]

It will make a difference.

If you look at pellet count of 6's vs 7.5's or 8's you see some fairly significant differences. Those extra pellets fill holes, give you nice smooth coverage.

But as you noted, a good shot shooting 6's is still going to do well.

So you are probably looking at 1-2 clays per round potential difference.
The devil of course is in the details.

It does take fewer hits of 6's to smoke a clay.
But there are a fair number more pellets in a 7.5 load.

I suggest you go do some looking for yourself. You may find this helpful.

http://shotshell.drundel.com/pelletcount.htm

Scroll down to the lead shot.

For a one ounce load 6's are 225 pellets, and 7.5's are 394.
To me that is significant.

[Bzcraig]

According to Jane Fonda it matters. Back around the time she was noted more as Hanoi Jane, she publicly criticized hunters for releasing birds called skeet (or perhaps she said pigeons) from traps and shooting them dead before they even had a chance. Man, I'll bet some blood pressure is going to go up as soon as the name is read......and rightfully so!

[rking22]

Well that witch should.... never mind , on topic. I would caution about using anything bigger than 7 1/2 due to safe shotfall distance. Skeet ranges generally require nothing larger than that for safety down range. Otherwise, we shoot reclaim in 7/8 oz loads at skeet all the time and any bird missed is on us. I do like 8 or smaller in the 410. In 20 or 28 we will shoot anything 7 1/2 and smaller. Your talking 21 yards , just work on pointing the gun with what is easy to load. In competition we shoot factory, need hulls anyway.

[6pt-sika]

I've shot #2's on the skeet field and broke targets as you would assume . To be honest I've shot clay targets with any size lead from #2-9 with good results !

HOWEVER , the real question is whats allowed at the club you may or may not be shooting . Most gunclubs I spend time at say nothing larger then 7 1/2 . So that's more of a issue then performance on targets .

I'll also add I do not make shot but I've shot plenty of a friends home made shot over the years and all three grades of commercially produced shot . Matter of fact I'm not even sure Lawrence makes the Blue bag which was the cheapest of the three grades they used to sell . I used to buy Lawrence Red bag or the equivalent Remington shot for 12 and 20 skeet as well as 16 yard trap . And I'd get Lawrence Black or Remington Magnum grade for the 28 410 and handicap trap . Now with that being said I've used the El Cheapo Lawrence Blue bag from the trap 27 yard line and broke targets with good regularity .

So not meaning to offend anyone but I believe a lot more emphasis is put on shot size and hardness then is necessary . However in competition it doesn't hurt to hedge your bets !

[6pt-sika]

According to Jane Fonda it matters. Back around the time she was noted more as Hanoi Jane, she publicly criticized hunters for releasing birds called skeet (or perhaps she said pigeons) from traps and shooting them dead before they even had a chance. Man, I'll bet some blood pressure is going to go up as soon as the name is read......and rightfully so!

I'm no fan of hers , however I'm pretty sure she was making reference to shooting box birds (live pigeons) . And FWIW there are still a few states you can legally shoot box birds . Down Texas/Mexico way you can shoot live birds that a thrown by a human "columbaire"and that my friend is a heck of a lot more sporting then one would assume !

[Greg S]

I load 8.5'S for and 28 & 410. It supposedly takes 3 x 9'S to break a target while only one 8 or 8.5, can't remember. Patterning a 410 can be scary. It forced me to move to factory shells for registered tarets and maybe two reloads per case cause the patterns really start to shrink with each reload.

[skeettx]

Many ranges limit the shot size to 7 1/2 and smaller so a down range safety issue is controlled
So, stay with that size or smaller for clay target shooting
Mike

[runfiverun]

actually your making the same number of pellets, the bigger ones just weigh more and use more lead.
just put less weight of the smaller pellets in the case, you'll still have enough there to break the target.
I normally use 1-1/16 oz of 8's from the 27 yd line, a load of 1-1/8oz of the same 8's will break targets back to the porch [@ 40 yds from the house] with a 2-3/4 dram powder load equivalent.[17.5grs of red-dot]
you just need to keep the shot together and put it on the target.

[Cap'n Morgan]

Over here we use steel for clay-target shooting and a 7/8 ounce load for Olympic skeet. I normally use #7.5, but some uses #8.5 and #9 and still smoke the targets, even though those tiny shot will have lost 80% of their energy at 25 yards.

[MT Chambers]

Most clubs have signs saying "nothing bigger than 7 1/2 shot", skeet with a 410 would prolly require the smaller #8 or smaller or there may be holes in the pattern that a clay bird could fly through if just the edge is visible.

[megasupermagnum]

I do not, and have never shot in a competition or a league for trap, skeet, sporting clays, or any other shooting sport. I do, however, shoot a fair number of clays a year, I've probably shot about 1500 o far this year, and plan to shoot quite a bit the next few weeks as well in anticipation for duck hunting. My club does not regulate shot size, and it's quite safe, out in the country. The direction we shoot, there are not houses for quite a ways, and in a deep basin. The deep basin makes it nearly impossible for stray rounds of any kind to exit, but makes it quite vulnerable to flooding from the river that runs around 3/4 of it. Anyway, I've shot everything from #9 lead to T steel shot, I may have even tried F lead buckshot. They all work, more or less. In a non-competition setting, I don't worry one bit about the ammo. If I was making my own shot, I would be trying to sift out #5 (my preferred hunting size, #6 in your case), and just shooting whatever else is left.

[jimb16]

Shot size at my club is not an issue. Some guys have even shot #4 goose loads. The closest house is 1/2 mile away in the opposite direction. My main concerns are the amount of time spent making shot and pattern density needed for consistent breaks. Is a hit at 1100 fps with a single #6 enough to break a bird? They all look the same on the score sheet whether the bird is split in half or powdered....And lead isn't an issue either. I currently have around 1 1/2 tons and friends who work in tire shops.

[rking22]

In that case shoot anything that comes out the dropper :)
Larger shot tends to tighten the pattern and the pattern center is dense anyway. A well pointed target will break regardless, as to 1 no 6 , depends. At skeet distance, if only 1 pellet hits you really weren't on the target anyway. Check the pellet count on 1/2 oz of 8s, that makes snowballs of skeet targets in the 410, just that you have about a 19 in pattern!

[runfiverun]

here is a secret.
a bag of 8 shot is probably 20% 7-1/2 or 7-3/4 and about 20% 8-1/2.
#-6 shot weighs more so retains more energy over distance per piece of shot.
you need probably 3 of them at minimum to make a decent break on a clay bird.
it's like 4-5 for the other 2.
their higher pattern density versus the higher retained energy your chances are about equal for a break.