One in a row....

Now that my automatic pellet hole counting accessories have returned from summer vacation, I'm able to bring a little more information to the table concerning the performance of the shot produced by my Littleton shot maker. Most of the patterns have been counted, but I don't have all the data compiled as of yet. Here is a quick comparison of four loads patterned through Nathan's new Carlson full choke. (Remember, we're trapshooters here. Any choke is good as long as it's full)

Load A 1 ounce "factory" #8 magnum shot @ 1200 fps 70%
Load B 1 ounce "home made" # 7 3/4 wheelweight shot @ 1200 fps 72%

Load C 1 1/8 ounce "factory" # 8 magnum shot @ 1200 fps 63%
Load D 1 1/8 ounce "home made" # 7 3/4 wheelweight shot @ 1200 fps 69%

Hmmmm.......the home made shot produced higher pattern percentages both times. Does that mean it's better? Not necessarily.

The home made shot is slightly larger than the factory #8 shot, so there are fewer pellets per ounce. The 1 ounce, 70% pattern of factory shot contained 286 pellet strikes. The 1 ounce, 72% pattern of home made shot contained 265 pellet strikes. So, an increase in pattern percentage of 2% actually means 21 fewer pellets in the 30" target circle. With the 1 1/8 ounce loads, the 63% factory shot pattern contained 290 pellet strikes. The 69 % pattern of 1 1/8 ounce home made shot contained 288 pellet strikes.

Percentages lie. Therefore, a high pellet count means a better load, right? Not necessarily.

Assuming that there is an even distribution of pellets within the target circle (there isn't) and assuming that the pellets don't lose any velocity before they reach the target (they do), the #8 factory pellets in a 1 1/8 ounce load produce a pattern density of .41 pellets per square inch. (290 pellets in a 706.86 square inch circle) A standard clay target has an area of 14.19 square inches, so the factory shot gives us 5.82 pellets per target. At 3.42 ft/lbs per pellet, that is 19.904 ft/lbs of energy per target. The home made shot has a pattern density of .41 pellets per square inch and 5.78 pellets per target, but because the larger pellets carry 3.58 ft/lbs of energy we get 20.69 ft/lbs of energy per target.

Pellet count isn't everything. Therefore, high pellet energy on the target means a better load, right? Not necessarily.

Out of all the calculations and assorted geek speak above, the only one that really matters to me in choosing a load is the pellets per target number. All of the loads listed above have over 5 pellets per target, so for my purposes they are all good loads. Why? Because it takes 3 pellets to break a target. This can be demonstrated by the very scientific method of wandering around in the target landing area and picking up unbroken targets. Quite a few can be found with one pellet hole in them, several will be found with 2 pellets holes in them, but there simply won't be any with 3 pellet holes.

So which one of these is the best load? I have no clue yet. The statistical sample is too small. To really determine which is the best load, Nathan needs to shoot a minimum of 1000 targets with each one.

I'll get back to you on that next summer. {wicked evil grin}

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