The Feng Shui of Shotgun Shells
Bill Miller 10.06.14
If you decide which shells you’re going to use for your shotgunning pursuits based solely on what’s least expensive at the local sporting goods emporium, there’s no reason to read any further. Go about your shooting and hunting. You’ll get the same results you always have. But remember: doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity.
To improve your shooting, bring more game cleanly to hand, and expand your understanding of shotgunning you must try something different—perhaps in your technique, practice, or gear. This time, we’re talking shotshells.
The Yin and Yang of shotshells are payload and velocity. Given a specific gauge and shell length, as the weight of the shot charge goes up there will be a corresponding reduction in the speed at which the shot is launched. It takes more energy to launch a heavier load, and the space available for powder charge is reduced. Different formulations of powder impact the energy available for launch, but there are limits on the pressure the chamber can handle. Additionally, when payload or velocity increases, so does recoil.
In selecting shotshells for hunting, you must analyze the balance between payload and velocity. Is it better to have more shot in the air, but moving more slowly, or is it better to send fewer pellets to the target at higher velocity? Of course you can impact the absolute number of pellets you’re sending down range by going with a smaller, or larger, shot size, but there are tradeoffs here as well.
Given identical velocities, a larger (aka heavier) pellet is going to retain more energy over a greater range. Energy equals power. However, given an equal volume, there will be fewer larger pellets in the pattern.
When it comes to shotshell patterns, it’s too often forgotten a pattern is three-dimensional as it travels down range. The pattern has height and width, but it also has length. The term for that length is “shot string.” When you analyze the holes a pattern produces in a paper target you must not forget that all the shot did not arrive at the paper at the same time.
And thank heaven it didn’t! Imagine how difficult it would be to hit a flying target if your pattern had the dimensions of a flying plate. You would have to perfectly time the arrival of the pattern on the target to score a hit. Because the pattern has length, there is margin for error allowing the target to fly into it. However, too much of a good thing is no longer good. A pattern stretched out too long will have “holes” through which a target could fly without being hit—despite what the patterning paper looks like.
Another fact about shotshells is that the longer cylinder in which the shot begins its journey, the longer the shot string tends to remain. This, coupled with the unjustifiable recoil, is the primary reason I don’t shoot 3-1/2-inch 12 gauge loads. The Yin is out of whack with the Yang in a 3-1/2-inch 12. You don’t gain much—if anything—for the extra hit to your wallet or shoulder.
My experience leads me to believe in speed over payload. I like a balanced shotstring to arrive on target as fast as possible, but with minimum recoil. When it comes to shotgunning, we all want it all!
Tip of the Week
When it comes to repelling pesky mosquitos and other flying insects, you can have it all! Fire up a ThermaCELL and in five to 10 minutes you’ll have a 15×15-foot pattern of protection. Its Yin and Yang are nearly perfect, offering 98 percent effective protection for you and your family.
Bill Miller’s least favorite question is, “What is your favorite kind of hunting?”
He dislikes it so much because any answer may hint he’s willing to give up one or more of the lesser favorites. But if you press him really hard, his answer will be, “I really like anything I can hunt with a shotgun and over good dogs.”
At an early age, Bill became shotgunning addicted. Instead of an allowance in cash money, Bill earned shotgun shells for his chores around the family home. Then on Sunday afternoon’s he would haul an old Trius Trap out to the field behind the house on to the make shift “trap range” he’d mowed into the tall grass with the push mower. Then his dad would join him to supervise the shooting of the shells earned during the week.
About the same time, at age 11, Bill figured out he wanted to make his living experiencing outdoor adventures and sharing them with others. He wanted to be an outdoor writer. In the decades since, he has lived and continues living his dream.
He travels widely enjoying adventures close to home as well as on five continents. He shared his adventures on national networks hosing and producing shows for NBC Sports, Versus, Outdoor Channel, Wild TV, Sportsman Channel and others. He appeared on ESPN for 13 season on "Shoot More, Shoot More Often." During the production of “The Shooting Sports” for ESPN, Bill was honored to shoot frequently in the company of members and coaches of the USA Shooting Shotgun Team.
In 2012, participated in the Armed Forces Entertainment Outdoor Legends Tour to Afghanistan to entertain men and women serving in the military -- in his words, "...it was the greatest honor in my career and a life changing experience. His latest venture is a new book, "Reflections Under the Big Pine" he co-authored and published with K.J. Houtman.
