Mixed shot sizes

A friend of mine’s father reloaded shotshells for many years but in his late 80’s, he started making mistakes and decided to stop. My buddy doesn’t load for shotgun so he gave me a bag of mixed shot; the old fellow accidentally mixed #5 and #7-1/2 in about equal proportions. I honestly think he just didn’t see the “7” on the one bag and thought it was all number 5. That being said, this is probably 20 lbs. I only load for dove and upland game so was hoping this would still work OK on field loads. Has anyone intentionally, or otherwise, used mixed shot sizes with any success?

I would shoot it. it would be ok for upland birds. I've shot #6 and #4. It did the job.
You could find someone with a classifier mesh and separate it out, but to me it would be a waste of time. I looked at and compared #7-1/2 and #8 and found different sizes in each bag. The hull doesn't care what size you shoot as long you load by weight and can close the crimp. There are some factory loads that mix sizes on purpose so???

I haven't used any mixed sized shot loads, but I did have the same issue once. I trade lead for shot here. I look for #5, got a couple partial bags once in a trade. One bag had about a half cup of 7.5s or 8s in with it. I am quite picky with things. Read about screens, but I came up with a solution. I had a mesh bag that onion sets had come in, I ran the shot through that bag and worked it around...the small shot got through the mesh but not the 5s, it took a little time, but i needed to get those seperated! Maybe a bit of OCD.

I have plenty of shot so I would not use mixed shot for hunting...but I am anal about stuff like that.

It will depend on the ranges you normally shoot birds. Over dogs, at 30 yards it may not matter at all. Shooting pheasants at 60 yards, the 7 1/2's may be a tad light on energy.

I had a bag or so of 9’s I’d not had a use for and a piece of bag of 8’s that I use very little any longer . Over time both got mixed with 7 1/2’s . I saw no difference in my breaks on long clay targets or feathered targets for that matter . Anymore I keep 4’s and 6’s for tower shoots , 7 1/2’s for dove quail and clay targets , and finally a bag or two of Magnum 9’s for the 410 . So at the moment I’ve got a big pile of 7 1/2’s a bag or two of 4’s , 3 or 4 bags of 6’s and a bag or two of Mag 9’s . This isn’t counting Bismuth shot I’ve got several sizes of that but in increments of 5-10 pounds .

Used to buy bags of mixed shot cheap and used it for trap/skeet loads and never noticed any issues.

The factories do it in Turkey loads as I recall. I haven't shot any, but apparently it works for some folks.
Rick

Thanks for the responses. I’m just gonna load this shot like anything else and see what happens.

I had some that was mixed one time. Sorting or sifting was more trouble than it was worth just for target loads.

What I did find out is you can shake & stir them around in something about 4-5" deep,
and most of the larger size will come to the top.
I think it works the same way as how all the little pieces of potato chips end up in the bottom of the bag.

It's not a perfect solution, but it helps if you want to keep some of just one size.

now me....I would chuck some #3s in the mix as well and just load it up and be happy....
I did it on purpose when loading for the wee .410 the 8s &#9s filled in pattern up close but the 3-4-5s were the heavyweight punchers that did bulk of the work, we have shot just about every waterfowl species we have got using them...including giant canada geese...not many and up close or woundies but enough to know they work if you have a tight choke and can put the pattern where its needed to be. I loaded up 3/4oz loads in 3" hulls using 296 or lilgun and our son just loved using it.... for woundie ducks on water out to 40 yards it simply left all our steel loads for dead,for close range woundies on water it was ideal,stuff all recoil and head shots no issue.
use your mixed up shot,guarantee you will not notice the difference.

I've shot mixed shot many a time and wouldn't hesitate to use it for doves.

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Originally Posted by dverna

I have plenty of shot so I would not use mixed shot for hunting...but I am anal about stuff like that.

It will depend on the ranges you normally shoot birds. Over dogs, at 30 yards it may not matter at all. Shooting pheasants at 60 yards, the 7 1/2's may be a tad light on energy.

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At 60 yds a rifle sounds about right :wink:

We have a Littleton shot maker, the learning curve was kinda tough to start with, so, yeah, I’ve shot mixed sizes before! Did fine on skeet birds and 16 yard trap. Load it, shoot it, you’ll be satisfied. Just my opinion. Good luck.

Actually that sounds like a good enough blend for Dove Loads. I mean Heck Its all recreation and sky bustin' ain't unheard of.

I've looked at the bag a little closer and now think there is some #9 in there as well. I'm going to mix it thoroughly and put together some 1-1/8 oz 12 ga loads. I don't think the birds will care.

A Buddy pf mine years ago was a real shotgun reloader and once a year he swept up all the spilled shot from the garage floor and gave it to me. Everything from #8 to #2 goose shot. That is what I have used for the last 30 years, Duxks, Pheasants, goose, Turkey and coyote. No problems at all. Mostly shot from a trade gun a a lot in 1 oz loads for my 2 1/2 12 ans 16's.

I recently cut a federal Hi power 2/3 shell # 4 and found mixed shot, Looks as some buck was in the mix.

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Originally Posted by super6

I recently cut a federal Hi power 2/3 shell # 4 and found mixed shot, Looks as some buck was in the mix.

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Might be more common than we think - very few people typically cut open shells to measure shot size so the factories could be doing anything - how would we know?

I am all about reverse engineering as I reload my shells. I was looking more at the shot cup and wads to replicate the load. They are small game killers. I will rebuild as they are.

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Originally Posted by super6

I am all about reverse engineering as I reload my shells. I was looking more at the shot cup and wads to replicate the load. They are small game killers. I will rebuild as they are.

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Makes perfect sense to me.

Not #5 shot, but I've mixed 6, 7.5 and 8 shot from old shells I've cut up for the shot. I loaded it and couldn't tell a difference.

shooting informal clays I never noticed a difference.

If you include any manufacturing tolerances, I don’t see a big issue.

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A friend gave me a jug of mixed shot. I use it for varmints and snakes around my folk's house. It works good for that.

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I used a mixture of 8 and 8 1/2 shot for trap and 8 1/2 and 9 shot for skeet (in some local matches and league shoots) and never noticed any difference when using straight 8 shot or straight 9 shot. I would think a mixture would give you a few more pellets, but I don't see it being much of an advantage. james

Shot is $50 a bag, you have been given 20# of shot. Thank the guy load it up and have fun and be happy.:razz:

Agreed, you or the critters you are shooting will never notice the difference. I think sometimes we make this game much more difficult than it should be.

Thanks for the thread revival, but I finished shooting all of that mixed shot a year ago. Couldn’t tell any difference in the field.

A friend was telling me of his uncle in Holland that they regularly mix shot just in case the see a rabbit a bit further out.

I have a bag of 5,6,7.5 mixed that I'm working on since last years dove season. I shot 1 1/8 oz loads and did fine. Over the winter I got out some old 1 1/4 oz wads I had been saving for years and loaded up shells for this years dove season. I figure I'm gettin close to the same number of pellets I get with a 1 1/8 oz load of 7.5 shot. Still patterns just as well.

I mixed a lil bit of 8 's in with 5 shot when i loaded up duck loads on the mec 9000. Kept the shot from bridging up and press ran smoother. Worked good with BB and 2 shot also. That ole goose guide we had was amazed at how far we shot geese. Hand weighed powder and a lil supe grex would put every pellet in a 30 inch circle at 40 yards.