Chuck,
The short version is that I did a drop test and compared the degree of deformation by measuring the discs. Lawrence magnum deformed the least so I assigned it a value of 100 and normalized the data.
The boring details involve how I carefully measured 50-100 pellets of each sample to make sure I started with 20 pellets that measured exactly 0.093", regardless of the size distribution within the sample. Wanted to compare apples to apples and control all variables that I could except for hardness. Coincidentally, I did get a feel for roundness, uniformity of size and how true to nominal 0.095" each lot was.
More or less annually ( to insure a new lot), I test a new sample of Lawrence and Eagle magnums (the only 2 routinely available to me) and their relative positions have not changed in the 5 years I've been checking.
Some of the tings that have made me say "hmmmm" :
West Coast magnum is hands down the most uniformly round and true-to-size shot I've seen.
Eagle shot, while second only to Lawrence for hardness, is the shot most likely to be non-uniform in size and often smaller than nominal.
Bagged shot is harder than any shot I've ever found in "premium" target ammo.
Plated/washed shot is often on the soft side.
If I were still in industry, I would have called in some favors had them all analyzed for antimony content, but I'm not interested in paying for myself.
