David Paul Gag

[wymberley]

10 hours ago, Fellside said:

I personally find that longer birds beyond about 40 yards need a size 6 pellet. 

40+ yards is beyond me now but I would have a go back in the day. First essential is to make sure that you have sufficient pattern - a central 20" pellet count of 110 minimum - and a predicted energy level of 1 ftlb minimum. Barring a huge load weight, then 6&1/2 shot will give you a pattern failure just prior to energy loss out to 45 yards +.

We're talking stretching here and agree with all that is said about usual decoying ranges.

[London Best]

When youngsters/beginners were taught to shoot properly after the safety aspects the first thing you were taught was that the effective range of a shotgun was “about 40 yards” and anything over that was stretching.

edit: this range is, of course, impossible to estimate accurately to a bird in the air for anybody, hence the “about”.

Edited July 23, 2022 by London Best

[wymberley]

16 minutes ago, London Best said:

When youngsters/beginners were taught to shoot properly after the safety aspects the first thing you were taught was that the effective range of a shotgun was “about 40 yards” and anything over that was stretching.

edit: this range is, of course, impossible to estimate accurately to a bird in the air for anybody, hence the “about”.

Later of course, in the second half of the 20th century, this was amended and any distance, even approximate,  was omitted.

[Fellside]

Yes agree - 40 yards is a long way. I get feasible patterns out to 50 yards with well selected/tested chokes and cart’s, but 40 to 45 yards is a reasonable normal limit.

If I pattern at 60 yards however, it’s almost as though the pattern board has been missed - virtually nothing on it. 

[Fellside]

15 hours ago, Krico woodcock said:

A Italian no . 7 1/2  will kill consistently  40 yard pigeons,  and  definitely knock them beyond 40 yards, but may not be killed.  But you can Also just break the wings of a pigeon with a  no.6 or 5 at 20 yards. But if your decoyin pigeons  and all shots are 40 yards +,  then  your not doing your job right, as most pigeons I would say decoyin are shot within 35 yards, and closer. Obviously roost shooting in winter especially in strong winds is a different matter. It's all with what your happy with and have confidence in. But my go to  cartridge for decoyin pigeons would be hard hitting 7 1/2 ( English 7)every time. 

When I’m ‘doing my job right’ as you say I will often use Italian 7 1/2 (2.4mm) on the average decoyed birds. They work - no doubt about it. However, even when the birds are decoying well, there will always be the odd long crosser or a second further bird of a pair. I tend to use number 6 cart’ in the second more choked barrel for these. It’s just what I find works for me. It’s probably also become a confidence factor if you know what I mean. It’s all good - whatever one’s ‘magic formula’ might be. 

[Townie]

On 22/07/2022 at 14:49, Walker570 said:

I have only once in plus 60 years of shooting winged game/vermin come across a cartridge which was not up to the job.  Countrywide Stores when it was in business had some of their own loads 1 1/8th #6 and they where truly pathetic and I wrote and told them so. That was back in the arly 70s.  It really does make me laugh out loud when I see different boxes labelled soecifically for pigeon. Tell me how different is killing a pigeon to a partridge, pheasant, grouse, woodcock at sensible ranges ?

Not just me then! But only 50 years in my case. I think it's down to there being 3 sorts of cartridges readily available when I was a youth: the gun shop's own brand (worked very well on pretty much everything), Grand Prix (expensive) and Impax (also expensive and seemed identical to Grand Prix to my youthful self).