Know Your Shells
Posted On: 02-28-2022
In many instances you may not have a choice as to the shot and powder charge you use for trap shooting. Often a #8 shot is the go to, so that is what you shoot. Lets talk a little more about shot and charges so if you do have a choice you can make the right decision.
Powder is measured in drams, which we convert to ounces. Many use drams in loading non-shot shells, but for the most part this is how black power was measured in days past. Sixteen drams equals one ounce or the “dram equivalent”. Most of us shooting 12 gauge loads will shoot something like a 2¾-dram (0.172 ounces) or 3.0-dram (0.188 ounces) equivalent powder load. Note here that it is not much power needed. The higher the number the more power and yes you guessed it the more kick. So with the dram equivalent we are distinguishing between light and heavy loads. Moving to a three (3) dram load you will have more recoil. Across a day of shooting those heavy loads will start to exchange pleasure with pain in your shoulder so most of us prefer the lighter 2¾-dram equivalent loads. Now do the heavy loads have a purpose? Yes they might be a good choice on a really windy or wet day to help push lead at higher speeds. Remember though the volume of a 2¾” shell is fixed. Add in power, wadding and shot to fill it so the balance between these three components is the topic of much conversation. If you reload you have these options otherwise you buy a pre-loaded shell. Just remember when you look at a box top note the dram equivalent of power to determine the light-heavy load factor.
The other component we need to be aware of is the shot. Typically, most use a #8 or #7½, as those are both approved in competition, as is a #9 shot (mostly used in skeet). Each though represents an approximate number of pellets based on ⅞-ounce, 1-ounce or 1⅛-ounce loads. In the case of 7½ loads the shell if loaded at 1-ounce of powder would have 350 pellets and if loaded to 1⅛ loads about 394 pellets. The #8 shot would have at 1-ounce about 410 pellets and 461 pellets at a 1⅛ load. A 1⅛ shot charge is the maximum allowed for trap. The takeaway here is more shot needs more powder to get it to usable velocity.
So putting all this together a light load of 1-ounce of shot and a 3-dram load will have a high velocity, but more recoil as opposed to a 1-ounce load with a 2¾-dram charge. A 1-ounce load of shot with a 3-dram powder load will indeed have a high velocity, but this velocity will slow as we add more shot, unless we add more powder. So a 1-ounce load of shot with a 2¾ dram powder charge is a soft comfortable load for 100’s of rounds in a day. The question many might ask, are those additional 44 pellets (12.5% more) worth the need for a higher powder charge and recoil? This also adds in a factor of shooting an automatic or fixed barrel guns as the auto shooters tolerate high recoils.
Sometimes it is hard to fathom how one can miss a target with so many pellets in the air, but don’t forget these pellets let the law of physics take over and they leave the barrel coordinated, but soon start to wander off. I highly recommend going to the pattern board and shooting the shell of your choice and counting how many pellets reached the 30” circle. Might be an eye opener for most. Honestly, it is a good thing to be informed about what you shoot and why you choose to shoot each load. Performance can improve in knowing.
David R. Vaught. Ph.D.
Executive Director