Most will disagree.

[OJW]

I just changed from Eley VIP (34g 5s or 32g 6's) to RAC JK6 36g 5's and I was seriously impressed with the JK6's. The Eleys are good, but the JKs are a different class and I don't think it was just because of the heavier load.

[archi]

The JK6 are a continental shot size so therefore are like shooting a uk size 4 and yes are one of the best big loca cartridges out there.

You just be a heavy gun to soak up the recoil

[fortune]

I just changed from Eley VIP (34g 5s or 32g 6's) to RAC JK6 36g 5's and I was seriously impressed with the JK6's. The Eleys are good, but the JKs are a different class and I don't think it was just because of the heavier load.

 

What target are you using these cartridges on and what gun are you using them in?

[OJW]

What target are you using these cartridges on and what gun are you using them in?

 

32" Caesar Guerini Maxum. I'd normally use 32g 6s on normal sporting birds thoughout the season but preferred to change up to the 34g 5s when the birds become more feathered up and skitty later in the season. I've moved onto the JK6s now because almost all my shooting this season is in North Wales where the topography lends itself to high birds.

 

I've only shot at one of the shoots I'll be going to this season and that was one called Llandyniam. There you go up into the mountains in the vehicles (I remember my ears popping on the way up!) and stand in a valley, they then push their partridge off the side of the mountains above you. I've not shot pheasants there before but based on what I've seen of their partridges and on the fact I've been warned to use a cartridge with some real stopping power I've gone onto JKs.

 

I realise by saying I use a heavier cartridge I open myself up to criticism and can't really defend myself from the simple quote "if you put the lead in the right place..." but I feel more ethical shooting with a heavier cartridge and it gives me more confidence that I will drop the bird cleanly.

Edited October 18, 2015 by OJW

[wabbit warren]

this is getting a bit heavy guys

i will use anything 30g or 32 g 6,s for pigeon

and kill well with my semi auto

but for game i will only use RC SIPE 32g 6,s

or 30g 6,s in my cg tempio light

yes they kick like a mule but there fast and being really a 51/2 shot kill well

i know its all in my head but thats me game shooting

i do have to think about lead all the time and think that the sipes being another quick cartridge

helps with this

[fortune]

I've followed this thread and I’m not getting at anyone but I see it as a case of Magnumitus. Like it is out in America. More shot. Bigger shot. Higher brass, bigger gun. The list seems to be getting bigger. I know that overtime fashions change but I see some that seem to think that using a lot of large shot will enable success. At this rate you will be back to shooting half a pound of buckshot out of a four bore or something and needing some sort of carriage to cart the gun about with. How do you all equate this to when most guns were chambered 2-1/2 inch and fired 7/8 of #6? The old boys mowed down tons of pheasants with this. All of this about speed is a load of mumbo jumbo. When you do the maths there is only a few inches difference in position of the target that it aint going to make a jots worth of difference. If you cant hit and kill the target without resorting to big, big loads then you need to go and get shooting lessons on clays. Here is a link to a video about speed and lead and a load of nonsense. Gil Ashe shows how it is. He is a bit of an odd ball but it don’t matter you’ve got to put the lead on the target. It only takes about 3-5 pellets to kill the bird. He’s got a whole series of videos to help shooter. Chris Batha is another good coach along with >> I dont know why i couldn't use that persons name without it getting blanked out?

Edited October 19, 2015 by fortune

[marsh man]

I agree with fortune , the ole boys did and still do shoot hundreds of game birds with 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" guns firing from an ounce to ounce and a quarter . they were brought up in a era when the choice of guns and cartridges were very limited they then found a combination that worked and stuck with it .

 

Now look at the range of cartridges , chokes and guns on the market , I don't know anything about screw in chokes as I have never had any need to use them but the range of cartridges on the market now is staggering , take the 3 1/2" fowling shells , they are as big , if not bigger than a ole hammer 10 bore I used to lug about . then we hear about 32 , 34 and 36gms used for pigeon shooting so I am afraid this thread can go on and on with us getting more confused with each post coming in.

 

And just when we think things cant get much better ,we then get Michael and one or two others talking about shooting big bags of pigeons ( 200 + ) with a 4 /10 at all sort of ranges , ........ time for a cup of tea now and to get my garden gun ready for to nights goose flight

[JDog]

I know nothing about chokes either though I am sure there is some merit in tighter chokes for high birds. When birds are on the limit for my gun, cartridges, choke and abilities I do not fire at them.

 

Last year I posted about shooting Canada geese which were unexpected to me at least. I shot four as dead as nits with four shots using 26 gram number 6 shot. They were 25 yards up and all I saw when they were coming towards me were their heads which is what I aimed at.

[fortune]

I agree with fortune , the ole boys did and still do shoot hundreds of game birds with 2 1/2" or 2 3/4" guns firing from an ounce to ounce and a quarter . they were brought up in a era when the choice of guns and cartridges were very limited they then found a combination that worked and stuck with it .

 

Now look at the range of cartridges , chokes and guns on the market , I don't know anything about screw in chokes as I have never had any need to use them but the range of cartridges on the market now is staggering , take the 3 1/2" fowling shells , they are as big , if not bigger than a ole hammer 10 bore I used to lug about . then we hear about 32 , 34 and 36gms used for pigeon shooting so I am afraid this thread can go on and on with us getting more confused with each post coming in.

 

And just when we think things cant get much better ,we then get Michael and one or two others talking about shooting big bags of pigeons ( 200 + ) with a 4 /10 at all sort of ranges , ........ time for a cup of tea now and to get my garden gun ready for to nights goose flight

 

I was beginning to think that I was the odd ball using 30grm #6.or#7. I was starting to consider ordering a thousand 36grm #3 or #2 shot in order to trim up some starlings and the odd crow until sense prevailed and I ordered up a 20mm canon and ten thousand rounds of ammunition instead! That ought to sort the blighters out. We have to consider shooting the quarry in an ethical manner!

[wymberley]

Whilst that may be true , the effective part of any pattern is only 30 ".

Shoot a pattern and look for yourself.

Nearer 20". If you pattern a gun at the usual 40 yards and you get sufficient pellets, say for discussion purposes, to hit a pigeon with 5 in the central 20" circle, you'll need 100. Using, say 1 1/8oz of No 6, that'll equate to about 1/2 choke. This will give c180 pellets in the 30" circle so you have 80 left. As the 20 to 30" ring is 125% of the 20" circle area, you're going to need 125% of the 100 pellets to achieve the same density. This equates to 125 but you only have 80. It is rare for any pattern with the possible exception of TC to achieve a constant density throughout the 30" circle and the effective spread also rarely, if ever, exceeds 25".

[matone]

Major Burrard`s `The Modern Shotgun` will make excellent reading for those who are obsessed by muzzle velocity .

[OJW]

I've followed this thread and Im not getting at anyone but I see it as a case of Magnumitus. Like it is out in America. More shot. Bigger shot. Higher brass, bigger gun. The list seems to be getting bigger. I know that overtime fashions change but I see some that seem to think that using a lot of large shot will enable success. At this rate you will be back to shooting half a pound of buckshot out of a four bore or something and needing some sort of carriage to cart the gun about with. How do you all equate this to when most guns were chambered 2-1/2 inch and fired 7/8 of #6? The old boys mowed down tons of pheasants with this. All of this about speed is a load of mumbo jumbo. When you do the maths there is only a few inches difference in position of the target that it aint going to make a jots worth of difference. If you cant hit and kill the target without resorting to big, big loads then you need to go and get shooting lessons on clays. Here is a link to a video about speed and lead and a load of nonsense. Gil Ashe shows how it is. He is a bit of an odd ball but it dont matter youve got to put the lead on the target. It only takes about 3-5 pellets to kill the bird. Hes got a whole series of videos to help shooter. Chris Batha is another good coach along with >> I dont know why i couldn't use that persons name without it getting blanked out?

It seems like when you say you use a larger cartridge on here people view you as using a sledge hammer to crack a nut. I'm not worried about being proven wrong, I would rather learn something new and improve my knowledge.

 

I appreciate that in the old days people could kill pheasants with the tools they had available at the time, but like all sports, shooting has developed and new tools are on offer, and yet there still seems to be a stigma in adopting them. Equally people can travel further and shoots are developing drives to create unnaturally high birds that our grandfathers may not have come across.

 

I don't pillow case birds or render them inedible by any means. I just play it safe and if I'm told birds will be high, buy a cartridge designed for high birds that I feel comfortable with. I take advise from keepers on the shoots I'll be going on and from the experts who work for the cartridge companies if needs be. In doing so when I arrive on a shoot I feel confident and relaxed in the knowledge that I am shooting as responsibly as I can.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2015 by OJW