Guest J_Owens_66 Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 What advantages do the shot sizes have over each other? 4 shot, 5 shot, 6 shot. What are the advantages/disadvantages of one over the other. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rutnroy Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages the smaller the shot the more shot you can put in your load. which gives you a higher density pattern. this would be your 6 shot. but with a larger shot ,say 4's, you will have less shot in your load , but it will also be heavier and give you more energy for deeeper penatration. especially on longer shots. but your pattern will also suffer. thats why it's so important to pattern your gun with different loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdoc Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages and the #5--a happy medium! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages [ QUOTE ] and the #5--a happy medium! [/ QUOTE ] Ditto......and I get a great pattern with them out of my turkey gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullfan Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages The smaller shot runs out of energy sooner than the bigger stuff. Test have shown that #6 shot only has a killing fange of 30yds or so. The Larger #4 carry the energy to the 40yd mark. In the past I shot Active #6 with a 2 1/4 zo load in the 3" shell. I killed a bunch if birds with the #6. But now I have made the switch to #5 Hevi-Shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages I'd say shoot what patterns the best for your gun! I've patterned #6 shot at 45 yards and had the target pinned to a piece of OSB. The bb's more than pentrated the wood...should be able to pentrate a gobblers head and neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kooter Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages i have always like the 6 shot. i just like having more pellets in my pattern. Just shoot whatever puts the most pellets in the right spot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad dryden Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages I like #6 its always worked well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kracey Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages I personally don't believe that a #6 pellet wont kill a bird out to 40 yards. If the pattern is good and its a properly placed shot it will do the job. I have 25 pellets at 40 yards as kill hits. The pellets are not going to lose so much energy that they simply bounce off they are going to hit and pentrate in the brain and neck bone. So I dont put much creditablity into the energy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 Re: Shot Size Advantages [ QUOTE ] I personally don't believe that a #6 pellet wont kill a bird out to 40 yards. [/ QUOTE ] Good belief.........because it will kill birds at 40 yards. It'll kill 'em deader than snot. The problem arises when yardage is either misjudged or ignored. [ QUOTE ] The pellets are not going to lose so much energy that they simply bounce off they are going to hit and pentrate in the brain and neck bone. So I dont put much creditablity into the energy stuff. [/ QUOTE ] Oh........they will bounce off and/or not penetrate. Take that to the bank. And it's not too far past 40 yards where it starts to happen for #6 shot. See above..............misjudged or ignored yardage. To address the original question: #4 shot is quite a challenge to get good pattern density out of at the ranges where it's maximum effectiveness starts to run out. In other words, #4 shot will kill a turkey pretty far away..........if you can put the pellets on the bird's head or neck. Problem is, there's not very many pellets to start with and patterns usually start to get pretty sparse past 30-35 yards in most setups. #5 shot.........more pellets than #4, less pellets than #6, more energy (more maximum range) than #6, less energy (less maimum range) than #4. #5 shot is a great "tradeoff" shot size if your gun will shoot it well. It's got some of both the problems and advantages of both #4 and #6 shot. #6 shot......More pattern density and less effective range than both #4 and #5 shot. But #6 shot has the upper hand over both the other shot sizes if you plan to keep your shots limited to 40 yards and under (which most folks seem to agree is good logic). #6's will almost always pattern more densely than the 4's or 5's. #6 shot is what I shoot out of all but one of my turkey guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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