Choosing the Right Cartridge: Find Your Optimum Ammunition

What makes a shotgun the right one for you ? We take it for granted you own a gun you like to shoot, if not, please get another one. But maybe we can even improve on this favorite weapon. It is important to make sure your gun fits you, for this go to a shooting ground that has one or more experienced instructors who know how to use a try gun and fit you properly. 

Fitting without shooting is not as effective as a rule. Discuss with the instructor also the best barrel length in relation to your style of shooting. I have a short swing and like 28” barrels. Make sure the gun is well balanced for your type of swing. Both the length and bend of the stock can be adjusted by a professional. Barrel length can not, that would require changing to a different gun or ordering an extra set of barrels, both expensive solutions. Use only good quality cartridges and try them out on a patterning board. Some will work better in your gun than others. Below an exercise you can do on your own but which is quite important to your success in the field. It is an excellent idea to do this in the off season after your gun has been returned to you from its annual checkup and cleaning, another important thing to do. 

Below you can see the results of the patterning board with 5 different make cartridges, all 28 bore 28 gram # 7 1/2 shot with the same three guns through both barrels. First gun 1, followed on the next row with gun number 2 and then with gun number 3. All three guns are of good quality from renowned Italian gun makers. As you can see some cartridges work better for a specific gun than others, so try out which shells work best for your gun. The chokes are obviously different in these guns I used, but that has no bearing on the test, as it is the same for all brands of cartridges used for this test with each gun. The first shot is the upper barrel, the second shot the lower barrel. All the cartridges used were of high quality made by well known manufacturers. All shots were fired from the same 20 yard distance at the same board in the same weather conditions and immediately following each other. Make sure you use a board sufficiently large for two shots and a roller with white paint after each set of two shots

For Gun A I recommend using Cartridge 5

For Gun B I recommend using Cartridge 3

For Gun C I recommend using Cartridge 4

You will note how the patterns vary, which proves it is a very useful tool to try your gun on a patterning board with several of exactly the same loads but different makes of cartridges and find out which make and type works the best for your particular shotgun. A fun exercise in the off season which will increase your confidence, a very important part of shooting well.

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