OT - Favorite All-round Small Game Shot Size.

[cshold]

Continuing on with this shotgun kick I’m on here of late,
another shotgun related question.
What is your favorite all-round gauge and shot size for
Small game hunting?
Mine is 12 ga. High brass # 6 shot.
Though I have found # 4 shot to be very effective on those
way up the tree squirrel shots.

[TedH]

Low brass #6 for most chores.

[madman4570]

Same as you casastahle 12Ga---#6---High Brass
Favor the #4 for the Turkey.
1938 Winchester 37 Red Letter 28" Modified

[shawn_c992001]

Small game-2.75" #6
Turkey-3" Federal Premium 2oz. #6
Waterfowl-ducks 3.5" #2, geese 3.5" BBB
Coyote-3" #4Buck

[Bogie35]

For upland birds and general small game:

I think it's a toss-up between 6's and 7-1/2's for "all-around". If I plan to shoot more birds, which is usually the case, then it's #7-1/2's.

A 12-gauge side-by-side with 26" barrels
Improved Cylinder/Modified chokes

#7-1/2 shot for quail, grouse, doves
#6 shot for squirrel, rabbit, (I've never had the pleasure of hunting pheasant, but I'm sure it would work for them too.)

bogie

[2X22]

20 ga RedLabel is 'bout the only shotgun I own.

#4 high base for Blue grouse and Pheasants.

#6 low base for Ruffed.

2x22

[Old Savage]

20 Gauge Model 870 Express with # 6 shot.

[rjohns94]

out of the 12 bore paradox, 2 1/2 inch I use #5 for small game. For my sxs 12 bore 2 3/4, I use low brass 6s.

[Bigahh]

Low Brass #8 for me. I load mine using AA shells 1 1/8 ounces of it 12 Gauge using Dirty Old Red Dot for Powder.

[Dave]

I like #4 but everybody else seems to use #6.

[Chuck 100 yd]

I shoot #5`s for almost all things with a shotgun.

1 1/8 oz going about 1300 fps will smoke a clay bird at 40yd. One or two pellets are all that is needed to bring down most game birds worth shooting at. Those of you who hunt Dove and Snipe and such will find #5 shot a little hard on the eatin parts of those birds though.

[Modoc ED]

12ga #4 high brass 2¾

[L_Kilkenny]

Early season high brass #6's. As season moves on and game gets more wary #4's become the order of the day and many times I've been known to shove in 3" #4's.

LK

[375hh1973]

For doves and ruffed grouse out of my 28 ga Beretta O/U I run 3/4 oz of #7.5 at 1300. Rabbits get 3/4 oz of #5. Ducks get Federal Black Cloud 3" #3 steel. Geese get Federal Black Cloud 3" BB steel. Crows get whatever usually a hi-brass 4 lead...

[GoatGuy]

5's for all small game, in both 20 or 12 gauges.

[iceman]

I use mostly #6 1 1/8 oz in my 12 and 1 oz in my 20. BB and #1 steel for geese.

[Gobblerforge]

20ga.
6's for small game.
Plated, buffered 5's in 3", backed up by 4's for turkeys.
#4 Buck for fox/coyote.
Don't do waterfowl anymore. Never had a dog to retrieve and I hated having to go get them myself.
Gobbler

[Nath]

For small game hunting, I stick with a 12g now and loaded with anyhting from English 7s to 4s.

Geese from 3s to bb, same for fox.

Nath.

[Bogie35]

Hey Nath. Here in South Carolina, we have bobwhite quail, mourning doves, wild turkey, chukkar, ruffed grouse (in the upland), cottontail rabbits, and gray squirrels. What are the common small game species over there in the old country?

Thanks,
bogie

[Nath]

Hi Bogie35, well now!

Rat, weasel, stoat, polecat, mink, er rabbit and grey squirls, then there is the fox.

Then there is the birds, pheasant, partridge, woodcock, no grouse around my parts, jay and magpies, crows, rooks,jack daw, wood pidgeon, collard dove, some of the sea gulls, mallard duck, teal duck, widgeon, pochard, tufted duck.

N

[86er]

English # 7

[Nath]

English # 7

I hear ya 86er, folk use to laugh at me using E 7s in my muzzle loader, they all get hung up on penertration through small bodies.
A dense cloud of shot gets the head and necks with boring regularity and they don't run off!
( If I don't screw up that is)

Shooting them from behind is another story though once up to the size of pheasants!

N.

[cshold]

English # 7

I hear ya 86er, folk use to laugh at me using E 7s in my muzzle loader, they all get hung up on penertration through small bodies.
A dense cloud of shot gets the head and necks with boring regularity and they don't run off!
( If I don't screw up that is)

Shooting them from behind is another story though once up to the size of pheasants!

N.

Hey Nath, question for you.
What’s the deal on these different shell lengths?
2 3/4” is what I thought to be the standard shell length.
What is the deal on these shorter length English shot shells?
I do remember my Grandpa had an old model 12 that was
Made for the 2 3/8th” shell if I remember right, and he had to
have it modified to use the 2 ¾” shell.
Do you or anyone have a link that would explain the history of the shotshell?

[Bogie35]

casastahle, there's enormous amounts of info on the shotgun here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun

I don't think it goes into great detail about shotshells, but it's very interesting info.

bogie

[cshold]

casastahle, there's enormous amounts of info on the shotgun here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun

I don't think it goes into great detail about shotshells, but it's very interesting info.

bogie

Thanks bogie

[Lastmohecken]

I shoot a lot of the cheap Wal Mart 1-1/8 OZ loads of mostly 7.5's for clay pigons, etc.

The main shotgun hunting I do, anymore is pheasant, and I even used to use 7.5's for that, but I begin to notice that it seems like more and more shots are birds that come up wild, before the dogs get a point on them, and it's very common for them to come up really too far out for 7.5's to do a clean job. So, I have switched to 1-1/8 OZ of 6's for my J.P. Sauer side by side, but if I take my old L.C. Smith or my Winchester 23 side by side, I go ahead and load up with 1-1/4 high brass, and I can tell that it does make a difference on those longer shots.

So I have pretty much, settled on high brass 6's for pheasant.

I would probably choose low brass 6's for squirrels, or rabbits. However, for varmits around the house, like skunks, etc. I grab high brass 6's again, unless I already have 00 buck in my old A5, which I usually do. At the close ranges, 00 buck is a killer on everything.

But since I shoot clays more then anything else, I burn up a more 7.5's, and you don't need anything better then cheap walmart promotional ammo for that.

[BigSky56]

410 8 or 9's for fools hens, 20 ga. 5's for pheasants & 8's for huns. danny

[Nath]

Danny, your a 410 guy! Cool

N.

[msmith1228]

Out of a 20 ga I like to go 7 1/2 for quail and high brass 6 for pheasant.

Mack

[Rusty]

Yep me too... #6 low brass for most everything. then I step up to #4 buck or slugs.

[CEMENTHEAD]

#4 for all my small game shotgunning.......


Thanks, Tom

[barbarossa]

In my win9410 #6 for bunnies

[m.wun]

12 ga. #6 1 1/4 oz. for small game.Rarely anything larger but always keep some 4s
around.

[Adobe Walls]

Howdy.

I am not a clay pigeon shooter per se, even though I have on a few ocassions shot some. When I pull the trigger on a shotgun, the target is either wearing fur or feathers 98% of the time. I have found, as my Dad did back in the 30's that #4 shot is hands down nearly foolproof in results on a wider variety of critters than anything else out there.(how he figured that out all those years ago not knowing anything I'll never know) I have used shot as small as #8 but tend to believe # 7 1/2 is really the smallest practical size you likely need for anything, and that's really only dove/quail hunting. For rabbits I have no problem with #6, and have laid low many squirrels with the same, but I prefer #4 for the red squirrels. It's more about penetration than pattern density most of the time, since I'm head shooting and holding off to not spoil edibles. I'd probably be able to hunt for a lifetime with a 12 ga gun with only 3 sizes #4, #6, and 00. AW

[wilko]

#4 for pheasants...

[765x53]

I like 2 3/4 dram/equivalent, 1 1/8 ounce loads of #8 for trap, doves and quail. The same load of #6 for rabbit and 3 3/4 dram/equivalent 1 3/8 ounce of #6 for turkey.

If I take my Savage model 24 squirrel hunting I load the .410 barrel with #5's but, I seldom use them.

Because I like to shoot trap, the 12 gauge is the all around choice. I do not own or feel a need for a three inch chamber or removable choke tubes.

If I were not interested in trap I would probably choose a 3 inch 20 gauge as an all around hunting shotgun.