2.75 or 3" what are the pros and cons?

jdemora

jdemora

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I am still quite new to shotguns and dont know much about them, what are the pros and cons of the different shell sizes? Do the bigger 3 and 3.5 shoot steele better ?
Thanks any info would be appreciated
 
They shoot MORE steel, but not necessarily better patterns. A lot of people find the magnum shells useful on big geese since they tend to put up a heavier load at good velocities.
Personally, I find them to be excessive and stick to 2.75" whcih is more than adequate.
 
It's "PAYLOAD" or simply put, the # of pellets in the shell... For example, I use 3 inch #4 steel going 1550 feet per second for $12/box... I could buy the 3.5 inch shells and throw a little more steel BUT at more than double the price, I just can't justify it... The cheap 3 inch shells work just fine.

So, the bigger shells are not "better", they simply have other applications. Best example is for geese. If I was goose hunting, I'd go with the 3.5 inch shells going 1550 feet per second and shot size #1 or #2. The 3.5 inch shell has more pellets in it because of case capacity...

Cheers
Jay
 
If you are wing shooting, and have a good patterning, proper load for the birds you are shooting, and you are a half decent shot, you will be fine with 2.75".

I prefer 3" because i can get a little wider variety of loads, but I don't bother with 3.5".

If you can't kill it with a 2.75" or a 3", you are not going to kill it with a 3.5".

Hunting with a shotgun that you have not patterned is about the same as hunting with a rifle that you have not sighted in.
 
3 in, thats all.
if your birds arent going down, shoot them closer.
if you absolutly need 3.5in cauz you cant having your birds closer, buy a 10ga or stop hunting.
 
12Ga 3.5" is great with steel it's the only gauge I can find factory shells with velocities of 1625FPS and with steel speed kills.

The 10Ga might be good if you load your own shells or shoot lead, but if your using steel the fastest 10Ga load I've seen is 1450FPS.
 
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turkeys and upland you can use lead.

4,5,6 shot for turkeys

upland, depends on the birds, but 5, 6 or 7.5 will handle pretty much any of them

ducks with steel.....2's, 3's or 4's.

you have to pattern you gun and find the best load.

usually 1 1/4 oz is a good all around load.
 
For Turkey's look for a 3.5" shell with a 2Oz or 2 1/4Oz of #4,5,6 shot.

For Ducks I would use steel #3's or #2's at a minimum FPS of 1550, minimum 1 3/8Oz load.
 
3.5 gives me a headache after a couple of shots. And my brother (not a small guy's) nose started bleeding after a couple of shots
 
jdemora said:
I will be using 3' and wonder also which perform better from Remington, Winchester and Federal?
thanks guys
Click to expand...

Everyone will have a different opinon on this.... again pattern your gun with all 3 and see for yourself (I must admit, I don't pattern my gun but I am going to start)

All 3 make a good shell, I use Winchester because it is more readily available here.
If you really want the best ammo for waterfowl try:
Bismuth, Tungsten Matrix or Hevi-Shot all very expensive but they kill far better. Another good investment if you really wanto kill birds is join a local skeet, trap, sporting clays club. You will soon learn how to not waste shells.
 
I shot a lot of ducks and geese with 2.75 from both 12 and 16 guage and never felt undergunned at all. Most of that was before the lead bans when i was a kid admittedly, but i can't see needing more than 3 inch. 3.5 just seems a little crazy to me.

And Bill is right - different guns, different 'best shell'. I personally always used remmington with great success - but my grandad's gun loved winchester.
 
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