How many shotgun pellets in a shell

The other drawback with steel versus lead is cost. Steel shot is a lot more expensive to produce and this is reflected in the considerably higher cost of steel loads. In recent years I have given up reloading competition clay target shells because they can be bought in bulk at prices about comparable or less than reloading. The cost of field loads on the other hand are expensive and if you do a bit of game shooting it is not so hard to rationalise reloading these shells with heavier loads of fewer larger pellets for whatever particular game you are hunting.

When I started reloading I noticed there were different powders available for different purposes. Faster burning powders like Hercules Red Dot were recommended for clay target loads especially as you used less quick burning powder than slower powders to achieve the same result and this was something of an economy when shooting hundreds or thousands of shells a year. These loads could be bought with speeds anywhere from about fps to fps and the faster ones really booted.

A day shooting these and you felt like your teeth were going to fall out. An end of day headache and sore shoulder were inevitable. Slower burning powders like Hercules Blue Dot were available for magnum field loads which meant more shot could be moved along but with reasonable levels of recoil. This seemed like an impossible dream until I did some research in American and English publications and reloading manuals no internet at that stage and developed some loads that were not available in Australia 20 or so years ago.

I achieved this by loading gram 1oz loads using 8 shot rather than 7s because my research revealed that I had almost exactly the same number of 8s in a gram load as I did 7s in a gram load.

The gram load was fully fps compared to the fps of the gram load. I also found that by using the slightly slower Green Dot powder of the time rather than Red Dot that the shells recoiled even less and had a smoother feel about them. They smoked Skeet targets and closer sporting clays and were every bit as fast and even easier on the shoulder. Today all these loads are available commercially but it was an enjoyable learning curve and I shot some of my best scores ever with my reloaded and gram loads.

The humble shotgun shell is actually a clever type of ammunition designed for close-range work on any game animal or clay target competition known to man. In combination with intelligent choke selection the modern shotgun shell is up to any task.

Today you can walk into a well-stocked gunshop and buy factory loaded shotshells for any purpose. There are bulk buys for slabs of competition shells and any number of hunting loads in boxes of 25 cartridges.

There are specialised hunting loads including solid slugs with rifling built into the projectile in packets of five or six and these are the most expensive of all per shell. For the reloading enthusiast there are all the components including primers, powder, wads and shot of all sizes to suit your purpose.

You will need to invest a considerable amount to buy quality reloading equipment and then study up on safe reloading practices to produce shells that will give you a huge amount of satisfaction when you shoot them successfully. You will also have the benefit of increasing your knowledge of shotgunning enormously by taking this route. These three shotguns are the autoloader, the pump-action, and the break-open shotguns. All of these shotguns are good and in the end it comes down to personal preference, especially when it comes down to the game one is pursuing.

Here is an in-depth look at the hunting shotguns pros and cons. The Autoloader Sometimes called autoloaders or, incorrectly, automatic shotguns, harness BB, BBB: short range geese. BBB, T: Long-range geese. Federal Ammunition. Bismuth Shotshells.

Pattern and hit birds like traditional lead, providing more killing power at longer ranges. Element Shotgun. Category: Hunting. Get the latest in your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletters to receive regular emails with hand-picked content, gear recommendations, and special deals.

The MeatEater Newsletter. Wired To Hunt Weekly. Fishing Weekly. First Lite. FHF Gear. Phelps Game Calls. Privacy Policy. Steven Rinella. But the ability to customize your shells for performance and recoil often makes for a more compelling argument to build-your-own.

Reloading your own shotgun shells may indeed cost less than off-the-shelf boxes even at big box stores. The other side of the equation is time and travel. You still need to drive somewhere for pound bags of shot, bulky bags of wads and jugs of powder. Online purchasing is of course an option, but take into account shipping and the cost benefits could easily diminish.

And what about space? Do you have the room for a dedicated reloading bench and assorted accessories? You need to also consider that reloading is dirty. Shot pellets will inevitably spill all over the place.

Gunpowder granules spread like dust, except they leave a black residue. And pretty soon the area smells of grease and cleaning solvents. A MEC reloading press. To start, from a financial perspective, you need to rationalize the initial cost of a shotshell press. Mayville Engineering Co. For gauge shells, you may find the balance sheet tipped in favor of low-cost shells from big-box retailers. The same financials may apply to gauge shells — except when you get into competition loads packed with number 8 or 9 pellets.

Moving to 16 gauge, 28 gauge and. For 12 and 20 gauge, however, it would be tough to sustain a strong financial case for hand-loading versus retail — unless you talk about quality. It all begins with the Lyman Shotshell Reloading Handbook or something similar. Individual components such as hulls, wads, powders and primers have distinctive ballistic characteristics.

Tweaking the recipes is of course flirting with disaster remember, shotshells are explosives , but what you will find with sufficient experimentation of different recipes is the perfect load for you — a personalized shell that performs well with the forcing cones of your barrels, your favorite chokes, the particular sport you shoot, your recoil tolerances and the best possible velocity not necessarily the fastest.

In a word, you want consistency rather than the mass-produced shells that could be slightly different from each other as they come off the assembly lines. If you want to reload, safety is a top priority. Wear shooting glasses, latex gloves and even an apron to prevent contaminants from spreading throughout your house.

Keep your area clean; vacuum it whenever necessary. Pay attention: too many shotgun barrels explode with catastrophic consequences after a reloading press accidentally drops a double load of powder into a hull without you noticing it.

Be safe, be smart and always respect the components you are working with, and you can experience many years of fun, and savings that come with reloading your own shot shells.

Use BB shot for long range and pass shooting. For normal range--No. Goose hunters need wallop so they use the big loads with large shot. Many hunters prefer No. For cornfield shooting where long shots are usual - better use No. On a normal rise over dogs and for all around use, No. On the smaller birds such as ruffed grouse or Hungarian Partridge, use the smaller shot.

The big western grouse sage, sooty, and blue call for heavier loads and larger shot. For early season shooting on bobwhites when feathers are light, some hunters use No. Later they switch to No. On the running or wild flushing type of quail, such as the Gambel's, large shot is sometimes used. Use lighter loads and No. Use the same load on band tailed pigeons and white wings. The choice of shot size here will depend on ranges at which the game is shot.

For fast shooting in the alder thickets, No. Choice of shot size depends on the range. If you're a good caller, No. BBs, No. Irwin Greenstein is Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters shotgunlife. Back Clay Sports Sportsguns. Back News Archive. Shotgun Shells Written by Irwin Greenstein.