More shot pellets if they are oval.

There is not surprise that you tend to get slightly more oval shot if it is homemade. An old fart told me you get more pellets per throw with the charge bar than more rounder shot. He said it settles better into a smaller area.

I weighed it. Yes he is right! Has anyone else done this expirement?

 

Oval shot? --Aren't you going to get more flyers? As a kid, 60 years ago, I always picked up the roundest rocks for my sling shot -- any oval ones would take off on me - Won't shot do the same thing?

 

Winchester loaded "Blind Side" shells for waterfowl hunting. They experimented with hex shaped pellets. Worked fine. Only shooting out to 40-50 yards max. I used these loads, and dropped birds ok.

 

I agree with the pellet count, but would advise a trip to the pattern boards before you load a whole lot of these. I *think* you'll find that you get a lot more flyers and likely more holes in the pattern with misshapen shot.

 

It might settle better but I bet it won't pattern as good . I would not want it for target shooting and good luck with your experiment on the pattern board.

 

Yeppers on the Flyers, Holes in the patterns, lost targets. This isn't a Einstein theory, just common sense.



GB..................................DLS

 

Hmmmm thinking about the obvious white elephant no one gets here. I think op is messing with you guys. If oval shot gets you more weight then the loads are illegal. The rules dont say you get 1 3/16th ounce load because the pellets are oval. If you want more weight you can use a larger shot bushing. Cheating is cheating.

 

I remember in the 60's there were all kinds of experiments with loading odd shaped pellets into shotgun shells. They were termed "Spreader Loads". Some of the major manufacturers like Winchester and Remington were involved in it at the time. Mostly it was done in order to purposely open up patterns in full choked guns.

For those old enough to remember, this was before factory screw in chokes. And a lot of hunters couldn't afford the luxury of extra barrels or guns. Today of course, all one has to do is change out a choke tube to get any pattern they wish. (Modern shotguns usually come with a full set).

The reasoning behind all of it was to allow solid bored, full choked guns to be used where a Modified, or even an Improved Cylinder choke would be a better choice. There were attempts at cubed shot. Shot that was purposely cast out of round. I remember even some pellets that had little "tails" on them. Some were even loaded with 2 or 3 overshot card wads loaded in between the shot column. All done with the intention of opening up patterns for closer range shooting with guns that were bored with full chokes.

They had limited success with most all of them. The biggest problem was what has been already mentioned here. Blown patterns that resulted in large, inconsistent openings in the pattern itself, that would allow game or clays to go untouched by any pellets. The whole concept slowly fell by the wayside. And disappeared completely when screw in chokes made their debut in the early 70's. I seem to remember that the Winchester Model 1400 pump was one of the first. They had the "Winchoke" screw in choke system.

 

Oval shot might be good for the rabbit station on sporting clays but never for trap targets

 

I don't think it's much good for anything. Based on the fact a blown pattern is a blown pattern. Regardless of what you are shooting at.