#7 1\2 or #8 shot

8

870 wingmaster

New member
What would be the better shot size to use on a squiral with a 20 inch cyl bore barrel inside 40 yards with a 12 guage? Or should I get heavier shot like #4,5 or 6?
 
Inside 40 yards? With a cylinder bore? I would go with a #4 or #5 and try to keep the range as short as possible. 40 yards is a long way for an unchoked gun.
 
Mate, you will have huge gaps in your pattern with an unchoked gun at that range. If you want to kill small critters without achoke you must use big shot, and even then its hit or miss.
 
I've taken squirrels up to 30 yards with heavy loads of 4s, 5s, or 6s out of cylinder bores.

I've used barrels from Cylinder to Full. I prefer Full. If that's not an option, use premium loads of hard shot and at least 6s in size.

HTH....
 
Not much difference between 8 and 7.5. .005 inces in diameter IIRC. And mabey a hundred extra pellets. I like #5 for squirrel.
 
While your 40 yard range is probably unrealistic with a cylinder bore, I have killed rabbits with a 12 gauge #8 dove load. I was upland hunting at my local shotgun-only state wildlife area, and the bunnies were out and about, and in season, so I took a shot at about 25 yards (IC choke.) Peter Cottontail flopped over, kicked around in a circle twice, and died. Bunny #2 was crossing the trail about 20 yards in front. He never made it to the other side.

If I was going small-game huntig with my shotgun, I'd probably use a #6 pheasant load, but the #8s were what I had, and they did the job. Oddly, I've actually gone back to 7 1/2 for my upland loads, they seem to kill more reliably than the #8s, at least for me. Last season, I used the 8s for the first time, and I had to twist more birds than I have in the past with the slightly larger shot. I'm thinking that shooting at a stationary rabbit allowed more pellets on target than a 45 mph dove.

--Shannon
 
id used a 22-250 at around 400 yards oh shotguns i leave my extra full choke in at all times so id use 71/2's
 
From your screen name (870 wingmaster), i'd assume your shooting an 870; so just go and buy a full or mod choke. They aren't more than $10-15 and will give you better patterns for your intended targets.
 
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