What lead shot # are you using?

[catnthehatt]

That makes a lot of sense when you are shooting Skeet. But Trap is a much different game especially handicap. From 23 yds and back you are going to have to shoot heavier loads most likely 3 dram 1 1/8 in 7 1/2's and not in a 28ga. this is 12 ga. territory.

Not to get off track here, but I was talking about the 16 yard line, and NEVER shot hanicap with anything but a 12!
However, the loads I shot registered birds with were a 1oz of shot ( even handicap) , I can't remember the powder but I'm pretty sure it would have been 700X or C300 .
I shot my best trap scores with a 12 gauge using powder charges that were very light, in the 60's when C.I.L. was doing some experimentation with light , fast , trap loads .
These days I shoot 3/4oz of lead now for 95% of my shooting , which is skeet.
I only shoot a few rounds a week of trap, and the number of hunting rounds I shoot is nothing compared the the pails of 28's that get shot at
skeet birds!
There seems to be a real resurgence in 7/8oz and 1oz. loads for trap however, from the people I talk to out here.....
Cat

 

[BCFred]

Clay shooting is both a mental and a physical activity. Larger shot payloads MIGHT give you an extra target or two. But they WILL also return heavier recoil which over the course of a competition has a cumulative affect on a shooter.

I can build confidence in my loads at the patterning board. What I can't do is change the laws of physics. On a 300 or 400 target day heavier recoil has a greater cumulative affect on a shooter. A fatigued shooter will not shoot as well.

Most of the pellets we shoot miss the target. If I know my pattern is right for the distance why would I expend more lead than is necessary only to get greater recoil in return?

That really is the question isn't it. I mean whether "...Larger shot payloads...give you an extra target or two...". I suspect to some competitors it is a big mental boost to think they have a slight edge on the opposition by using heavier loads. It's probably also true that some people are less sensitive to recoil than others and this can be seen as an advantage too, given that it is a 'physical' as well as 'mental' game. On balance though, I think the idea of the pattern being right at the distance being shot at is the right one for me and I've started working toward this goal with my loads now. So far, I'm pretty sure that I'm not giving anything away in skeet with 7/8 oz or in singles trap with 1 oz loads, but the idea of 7/8 oz loads of 7 1/2 still kind of run up against evidence on the patterning board in my testing and some guys swear by them. Lord only knows what will happen back at the 27 yard line if I ever get there!