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Number of shots in a cartridge


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When i got my shotgun lately i had a box of lyalvale express pigeon special number 6 30g fibre wad, and according to just cartridges app number 6 30g should have 290 shots, i have opened 3 cartridges and the first one had 260 the second 254 and the third 243. Just wondering how accurate the app is or is it normal for a such a difference in shot count?

Sorry in advance if its a stupid questions

 

Rhodri m

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Wow you must have time on your hands and plenty of patience! They are mass produced in huge quantities and some variation is inevitable. It might have been more instructive to weigh each charge rather than count the pellets. As long as they were all 30g or near enough. The way lead shot is produced will mean variations occur, its not a high precision process! This will explain a small difference in shot count.

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It isn’t a stupid question and you shouldn’t be sorry for asking it. It shows an enquiring mind. It's the kind of thing that I might possibly do and I might go further to find the smallest and the biggest and measuring them. there could be sizes from 9 up to 4 or 5 in there like the old Baikals and bits of newspaper for wads ( read the Baikal cartridges threads)

The pellets in a shot load are all subject to variation in size and are not all equally spherical. The shot charges are metered out by volume rather that by count so one charge could have a load of bigger or smaller diameter pellets which give rise to the different amounts of pellets in these 3 samples. If you put the lead on the target these variations make no difference to the end result.

 

Edited by fortune
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Guest cookoff013

Depends on the actual shot size, English & European & US size 6 will all be different, look for the shot size in millimetres

 

nope, its shot per ounce is the standard for counting. the model for this is the standard 3% antimony, and if you put in european and US and english shotsizes together its quite fun to see the variables in sizing. especially at the magic 6.5-7-7.5-8 seem to have a high cross over..

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nope, its shot per ounce is the standard for counting. the model for this is the standard 3% antimony, and if you put in european and US and english shotsizes together its quite fun to see the variables in sizing. especially at the magic 6.5-7-7.5-8 seem to have a high cross over..

So your agreeing but in a negative way!

 

We all call it shot SIZE, not shot count over the ounce ratio, if that were the case cartridge manufacturers would indicate shot as being, for example 254/1

I'd imagine the best way to describe the size of something, even as an approximation, would be to measure it, eg 2.6mm, some of the cartridge manufacturers obviously do agree as they specify a size in mm along with the traditional allocated number

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It's always a good idea. Back along I knocked up a tray with 'x' number of holes for Father who was trying to get to grips with home-loaded 2", pour in the shot, give it a shake and then just count the empty holes where the pellets hadn't settled. A 32 gram load has a nominal 303 pellets and I can't see the point of weighing the charge when we're talking about the load. The big difference is reflected by the cartridge performance. You could be told that, "in my gun these perform great with IC". Deceiving, it's actually 1/2.

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Guest cookoff013

its because shot often isnt true round and can give off results even with a decent micrometer, there are tables with the alloted sizes per ounce and the expected size in inches and mm,

 

shotsize is accurately worked out by counting how many equal shotsizes per ounce. the tables are everywhere and usually denote english sizes (in this country).

shot shell manufacturers dont need to do diddley squat to re-name the shotsizes.

 

the shotsize number equates to a certain shotcount per ounce. british 2s being... 106 pellets per ounce. the hallowell table is quite accurate. instead of writing tons of numbers on shells its boiled down to a single unit of "#2"

 

i can tell you that 42g shells contain 1.5 ounces, and as a consequence1.5x more shot than the ounce count !

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I think the original question was 'How many shots in a cartridge'

Well the answer is, only one.

As soon as the trigger is pulled the shot is taken, whether it hits the target or not is a different matter.

As for number of shot in a cartridge, that will vary depending on shot size.

Eley used to put out a small diary annually, I haven't seen one for quite a few years so don't know whether they stil do.

That used to have lots of information in it regarding shot count per cartridge, safety distances for various shot sizes and the game seasons, almost everything relevent to shotgun shooting.

It might be worth asking about it when visiting your local gun shop next time.

Sorry about my opening three lines but I get a bit anal about terminology, it's the same when I see Deers mentioned, the plural of Deer is Deer. I suppose people think in terms of a cow singular and cows plural.

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OK, he will get the 'ternimology' right eventually, perhaps. Load, shot size, (powder) charge, imperial, metric, etc.

 

Interestingly, for those mathematically or scientifically savvy, the volume of a sphere is proportional to the cube of the radius (or diameter). That means if the diameter of the shot were to double, the mass woud increase by a factor of eight. So a small change in diameter can make a significant change in mass. However, most shot towers and screens will sort out the correct shot sizes, these days.

 

Your cheaper cartridges may have a wider variation in shot size which will, in turn, cause an over-long shot string. Might even have some bearing on lousy patterning, too. Not looked up the pellet count per ounce or whatever it might be in metric, but it perhaps just goes to show that you should not always believe the information given over the net. Likely some dumb app writer combining imperial shot sizes with close metric equivalents. Might even be getting mixed up with avoir dupois and troy ounces for all we know!

 

For another time wasting operation, perhaps ouf intrepid shot counter might like to measure the average diameter (along with the range), or the same for the mass? Each can be derived from the other, so no need to do both - as long as the pellets are spherical, of

course!

 

As an alternative, just buy cartridges made by a reliable manufacturer and believe the accuracy of their description.

 

As for the number of shots in a cartridge? One at a time is a better answer, as cases can be recycled several times by home loaders.

Edited by oliver90owner
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whilst past the overly technical part of life patterns & choke are expressed as a % of load within 30inch circle,if you dont know the load(in this case no of bits of shot)then the accuracy of test is slightly skewed.most references ive seen over years is @ 250 of no6 in an oz...so should be @ 270 in 30g......must agree though it really is'nt too important!

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