Why do we have 7.5 shot ?
danc

Why not? Works great on those long targets and late season doves.
What would you replace it with?

Not to put words in the OP's mouth, I think he might be alluding to shot sizes being even, except for 7.5.

That is 4, 5, 6, 7.5, 8, 9.

It does stand out as an oddity and I am sure there is a historical reason, but don't know what it is.

Maybe it has something to do with live pigeon loads using 7 shot "back in the day" and 7.5 shot was used to differentiate the load?

and 7's are still available

Yep, 7's are available, but why aren't they as available as the others?

We have 7.5 for the same reason we have 8.5....they fit the series.

Starting with #9, the sizes go up in .005" increments until it changes to .010"

9 - .080
8.5 - .085
8 - .090
7.5 - .095
7 - .100
never saw 6.5, presumably it would be .105
6- .110
5.5 - .115 (BPI sells Ni plated)
5 - .120
4 - .130

You needed some stars, Rick. Don't get attached to em.

We actually have more sizes than those listed by Mike Campbell. There are also 11s and 12s I have seen - think it was used to take small birds for ornithologists and is also in some of the .22 long rifle bird shot. Then we import English and Italian shot sizes among others and being metric their 6s are different than US sizes which aren't all that uniform themselves.

But Mike has given a good summary of the commonly used sizes in lead shot. Steel and and some of the composition shot introduced some larger sizes like T shot which makes a great coyote killer in Hevi shot.

We just went through this with a lengthy thread on #7--

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=347851#Post347851

7.5 is around for handicap Trap. For any game except Quail and Dove. straight 7s are much nicer. A noticeable difference in killing power.

'Cause we're such an obsessive bunch.

My stash of Mike Dotson era B&Ps have shot sized #6.5, if labelled #6. IMO, this is the most versatile size for field use, covering WC and quail to scratch phez at 40 yds well. I like their "#5"s (= #5.5), too.

Sam

Just my opinion, but i think i can pretty well say why we have #7½ shot. Back 100 plus years or so ago the list of available sizes were virtually unlimited, including many half sizes, & all those big ones which have been re-introduced in steel, but they were of course lead back then. Around the time of WWI the factories began "Streamlining" & reducing the offerings. The "Big" sellrs stayed, the slower sellers went, simple as that. Thus #7½ stayed because a lot of folks were using it.

It probably has it's roots in the fact that 7 1/2 is the largest (and most popular) shot size for regiterd trap even though 7s were a favorite of live bird shooters that requred tough bird to be anchored in the bird ring to be scored.

Of anecdotal note, 7 1/2 is what Vice President Cheney was quail hunting with when the accidental shooting of Harry Whittington occurred. I probably shoot 7 1/2 at quail more than any other size.

I have a monster shot chart by Fiocchi but it is a pdf and I have no idea how to get that into a post.

is it even possible?

have a day

Dr.WtS

There was a lot of experimentation with shot sizes in late XIX century Britain - finding the 'magic' number of pellets per load which would kill grouse (partridge, pheasant) best. However, from the marketing perspective, naming the new shot sizes according to No of pellets per ounce or per load was confusing for customers, so if the new size was smaller than 5 but bigger than 6 it was called 5 1/2, and so on. 7 1/2 is about the only survivor of the battle.

Because it splits the "difference" between 7 & 8.

Number one reason we have size 7 1/2 shot ............. people buy it. If they did not the market forces would work and eventually there would be none for sale.

If I had to give up either 7 1/2s or 8s, the 8s would go bye-bye. I could be quite happy using 7 1/2s for everything I shoot with the exception of ducks and geese. Clay bird games (including registered sporting), dove, quail, woodcock, snipe, flyers. When it was legal for ducks I killed a many a woodie and teal with 1 1/8 oz. of 7 1/2 lead. I just bought 10 flats of RIO 1 oz. 7 1/2s.

SRH