i will say it's been my observation that 7.5's are more reliable at breaking targets than 8's and i really prefer 6's but we're not allowed to use them up there as there is concern that they'd travel further and fall on the cattle in the pasture beyond the range.. i had handloaded some 1-3/8oz of #6's once, after reading burrard (heavier payload/larger shot/lower velocity) and they didn't leave any doubt at all when a target was hit.