The best shotshell

H

hnachaj

BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
26   0   0
Location
Canada
In relation to the lower antimony content of RC ammo, the article states: "Higher mass gives you better breaks at distance." The difference in effective mass between an alloy with 3% antimony and 7% antimony is only 1.5%. This means that the downrange energy of a 7% antimony load at 35 yards would be equalled by a 3% antimony load at 35 yards plus 18 inches. Hardly stretching the effective range IMO. The other way of looking at it is that it would amount to a difference in initial velocity of 20fps assuming the 1282 fps velocity stated in the article. The outside variation in muzzle velocity was 29 fps for one load and 40 fps for the other which is outside the variation created by differences in antimony content. The other practical variation to consider is that a clay target machine does not throw each target on the exact same trajectory. At distance, and assuming a crossisng target, the variation in distance between the targets and the shooter when they are hit is a lot more than 18". Maybe, as stated, Italian shooters are able to break targets a longer distances than other shooters but it certainly isn't because of the difference in antimony content of their loads.
 
The difference in mass is greater than what you are stating. Once I get back, I will check the actual weight difference. I also have the results of one of the best NA shotshells tested and the retained speed at distance. It varied a bit more and was slower! 5 Olympic medals is not something that is only talent, it is consistency of the loads. While certain national teams are backed by certain manufacturers, they do practice with the good stuff.

Henry
 
Interesting article Henry. Worth reading. Nice to get some idea of how shotshells are loaded commercially. The idea that higher mass due to lower antimoney content leads to superior performance of pellets at distance was something that hadn't occurred to me though I'm sure there are going to be arguments...part of the fun right? I 'thought' high antimony content was used primarily to reduce distortion of the pellets therebye leading to more consistent patterns. So, never really considered the difference in weight of the individual pellets. (I do mean 'thought' as opposed to 'knew'.) The idea of quenching lead boolits after casting them is, of course, what many of us do when casting, but are you sure it leads to a "tenfold" increase in hardness. Certainly there is some increase in hardness, which reduces somewhat over time, but a tenfold increase is a heck of a lot. I wondered about the quenching in the RC plant being any different from other manufacturers too. I thought pellets were always dropped into a bath of some sort.
 
For those intersted in shotgun ballistics, there is an intersting book called Sporting Shotgun Performance by Dr. A.C. Jones. This is the result of 7 years of research work in which he analyzed some 2500 test patterns, measuring the position of 1 million+ pellet holes to an accuracy of better than 0.1". He also investigated several common beliefs, most of which are de-bunked. A "must read" for those who claim their gun patterns "well". Cost is about $65.

He did test the patterns between soft and hard shot. On average, the soft shot increased the pattern diameter by 2" at 20 yds and 4.5" at 40 yds.
 
Henry,

You wrote:
"I shot the RC4 with the U2 choke (equivalent to my Optima Beretta LM). The pattern was not bad but it also showed that a 1 Oz loading at distance with a more open choke leaves some things to chance. U3 tightened it up a bit."

Forgive me for saying, but the words of your pattern test, do not seem to give a glowing report especially since you are using the wolrld's best choke tubes. The salmon and the tuna sounds delicious:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom