Pigeon Carts

[wids]

Just interested what the general concensus is here, I personally have never faulted 28g 7.5 shot for pigeon and prefer the low recoil they provide, especially when making a big bag when larger loads may start to kick a bit. I know far more people have become converted once trying them after being priced out of bigger loads.

 

Thoughts?

Edited June 10, 2011 by wids

[Blunderbuss]

Option 4 doesn't make sense ITYM condem or don't condone not condone. None of the options apply to me because I've never tried clay carts on live quarry, preferring 6s, so can't really comment from experience . I suspect they might work OK, if you decoyed in close and were very disciplined about not taking longer shots. My worry would be that people wouldn't be so disciplined resulting in more pricked birds.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Blunderbuss

[poontang]

Blunderbuss is pretty much spot on with his answer.

 

It all depends on what you class as 'decoying' range though?

[chrispti]

My experience was this, whilst decoying;

 

I usually set my decoys out at 30 odd yrds.

 

I have used some 7.5's decoying and I had a hell of a lot of walking wounded. Id even go as far to say about 50%.

 

Personally, I now only use a minimum shot size of 6. I do get the ODD runner, which will be due to driver error or a bird jinking at the last second, as I pull the trigger.

 

Never the less, I have found the wounding is greatly reduced.

 

 

 

Edit to add,

 

I also use a 28g 5 load which has accounted for some high birds, including pheasants. Very low recoiling too

Edited June 9, 2011 by chrispti

[ollie]

I have put option 1 because I quite regularly use 7 1/2's on decoyed pigeons, but I am disciplined on my range and I do not take any rangey shots. I have always found they worked well on pigeons and I had a good cartridge to kill ratio. I however will use 6's or 7's when I am roost shooting in the winter time as I am usually shooting at birds which are higher.

 

I know there will be plenty of people that won't agree with me using 7 1/2's but I have found they have worked well for me.

 

EDIT: I will use 1/2 choke out of my Semi-auto.

Edited June 9, 2011 by ollie

[al4x]

don't you 7.5 users get bored at having to restrict range to 30 yards and under. I think I'd give up if I couldn't take the odd decent bird

[EdSolomons]

Theyl reach out a lot further than that with some choke...

[Guest cookoff013]

Edit to add,

 

I also use a 28g 5 load which has accounted for some high birds, including pheasants. Very low recoiling too

 

exellent. if i only shot one bird cartridge it would be this.

[henry d]

Another option is - I don`t use them because I prefer not to spend all my time spitting out shot when I am eating them.

Edited June 10, 2011 by henry d

[saunders.shoots]

i used some last harvest, when decoying 28g 7 1/2 as they were cheap and shooting a fair few cartridges,

but i found beyond your pattern it takes a few feathers out and continue on or drop wounded.

i stick to 30g/32g 6/5!

[wids]

I know that we have only had 27 votes as of writing, but I am surprised at how close it is so far and appreciate peoples views.

 

I rate the shot for pigeons and feel most people would agree that a pheasant at 40yards in full flight compared to a pigeon commited to the decoys or even flighting past requires more knock down power from the cart than the pigeon, so its not unreasonable to switch from 30g 6 for pheasant to 28g 7.5 for pigeon? Que people saying that pheasants need more than 30g 6s - but not a 40yard pheasant which is what the vast majority of shoots show and would see as great sporting birds that are killable by the vast majority of game shots.

 

Keep voting

[proTOM1]

I use 7.5s shot quite a bit now dont find a huge difference to 28g 6s ,but it all depends on the time of year to what i use ,in the winter i use 30g 6s or 32g6s as the birds dont tend to decoy aswell but this time of year 7.5s or 28g 6s is what i use as im fairly sure i can get them to decoy where i wont them to . I dont tend to find that i get more or less winged birds than i do when i use 32g 6s . I like them and will carry on using them ,ive also knocked down some cracking long shots with them and tend to find anything with in 40 yards should be stone dead no worrys .

 

Really its up to you what you use as long as you get on with what you use thats all that matters

[motty]

don't you 7.5 users get bored at having to restrict range to 30 yards and under. I think I'd give up if I couldn't take the odd decent bird

That's ridiculous! A 28gm 7.5 shot load will kill cleanly at over 40 yards.

[chrispti]

28gm 7.5 shot load will kill cleanly at over 40 yards.

 

A .22 rimfire will kill a man over 50 yrds, should the Army use these now as they are cheaper to run

 

A .22 rimfire will also kill a deer, is that acceptable too

 

Every gun shop I have ever been to, has given me clay cartridges when I asked for them, game cartridges when I asked for them and pigeon cartridges when I asked for them.

 

Not once have I ever had clay cartridges put in front of me when I asked for pigeon or game cartridges.

 

 

Edit to add;

 

The only reason people use 7.5 clay loads for pigeon shooting, is the cost. If (for example) Gambore clear pigeons were £100 a 1000, everyone would use them.

Edited June 11, 2011 by chrispti

[Sharpshooter.123]

I use eley realtree pigeon 30gr no6 or gamebore clear pigeon just out of preference no other reason, if you find a cartridge you like and you can hit birds consistently then stick to it and happy shooting

[wids]

A .22 rimfire will kill a man over 50 yrds, should the Army use these now as they are cheaper to run

 

A .22 rimfire will also kill a deer, is that acceptable too

 

Every gun shop I have ever been to, has given me clay cartridges when I asked for them, game cartridges when I asked for them and pigeon cartridges when I asked for them.

 

Not once have I ever had clay cartridges put in front of me when I asked for pigeon or game cartridges.

 

 

Edit to add;

 

The only reason people use 7.5 clay loads for pigeon shooting, is the cost. If (for example) Gambore clear pigeons were £100 a 1000, everyone would use them.

 

 

Agree about if clear pigeon were cheaper then people wouldnt use clay carts, but I do feel that when decoying it is rare for many pigeons to be shot over 40 yards - most people will be surprised how close a target is to what they feel it is and thats why 28g 7.5 shot is more than ample for decoying

[sitsinhedges]

I think that 40 yards is a lot further away than people realise.

 

Try taking 40 good strides and look back to where you started.

[motty]

A .22 rimfire will kill a man over 50 yrds, should the Army use these now as they are cheaper to run

 

A .22 rimfire will also kill a deer, is that acceptable too

 

Every gun shop I have ever been to, has given me clay cartridges when I asked for them, game cartridges when I asked for them and pigeon cartridges when I asked for them.

 

Not once have I ever had clay cartridges put in front of me when I asked for pigeon or game cartridges.

 

 

Edit to add;

 

The only reason people use 7.5 clay loads for pigeon shooting, is the cost. If (for example) Gambore clear pigeons were £100 a 1000, everyone would use them.

[/quote/)

 

 

 

A few years back i used 32gm 6 clear pigeon for almost all my pigeon shooting. I never would have dreamed of using 7.5 shot as i did'nt even think 7's would do the job. A few years and several thousand pigeons later - in a period where i've tried lots of cartridges for different reasons - i now know that a 28gm 7.5 cartridge is ample and does the job well.

I buy them as i really don't see the point in buying something more expensive that does the same job. Why spend £200+ per thousand when i can spend £140.

[Albertan_J]

This debate goes on and on just use a cartridge you know you can kill birds consistently with for me that's 30-32 6s. Personally couldn't justify using a clay cartridge on pigeon to save a few pound as there's nothing worse then watching pricked birds stutter on. I know people will now claim to kill birds dead at 40yards with 28 7.5s because obviously being a superior shot means you can use a lesser cartridge

[Evil Elvis]

All the arguements for 7.5's are simply excuses for for cost cutting!!!

 

The recoil arguement is mute, if it hurts you :

your gun doesnt fit properly or

You are a wuss

Get a semi-auto

 

If you cant afford to pay the extra for "proper" carts you either: need to give up shooting

or Get off your *** and do some overtime!!

 

 

You owe it to your quarry to kill it properly, if you cant afford the correct tools...should you be doing it at all? :yp:

[chrispti]

 

 

 

I buy them as i really don't see the point in buying something more expensive that does the same job. Why spend £200+ per thousand when i can spend £140.

 

 

My opinion is, having used 7.5's before, they dont kill well at all 30yrds+.

 

I think its just an excuse people use to try and justify using the cheaper clay loads.

 

Again;

If you could get a 30g #6 load for £140 I bet you'd use them.

[Evil Elvis]

I know people will now claim to kill birds dead at 40yards with 28 7.5s because obviously being a superior shot means you can use a lesser cartridge

 

 

This is still a mute point, I can consistently hit 80/100 on a clay shoot, a pigeon is a challenging target and bigger....BUT i still use the correct carts when shooting pigeons!!!

 

I recently tried, because they were on offer, some rio 28g no6, and yes, over the pattern they killed well, beyond 35yards....forget it, i wont use them again and these were no6 too, not enough ummph to kill well beyond the pattern

Edited June 12, 2011 by Evil Elvis

[Evil Elvis]

If you could get a 30g #6 load for £140 I bet you'd use them.

 

[Alanl50]

Im happy to use them over deeks max 30 yards easily judged by the placement of decoys but thats it, they do kill and effectively, if your barrels it the right place they are dead, Im happy to use to use 28g Gamebore supersteel as well but I got fed up having all the different cartridges stored so Last year decided to just use Gamebore clear pigeon 32g. 6shot pretty much exclusively I keep some 5 shot as well and a couple of boxes of SG for foxes

Alan

Edited June 12, 2011 by Alanl50

[Sub Nova]

For me i use Sipe 32g 5's, they kill extremely well out to 40-50yrds and pattern nicely,

They are expensive but I have alot less pricked birds than when using clear pigeons, and this is the reason for me.

7.5's wouldn't even come into it for me, as I'd hate to be restricted to an effective kill range below my ability.