In the old days the Italian live pigeon loads were the best thing going. REALLY hard shot with a thick nickel or copper coating to act as a solid lubricant to prevent sticktion upon initial acceleration and thru the forcing/choke cones. Most of the plated shot today is soft and deforms inspite of the plating. For your own information take a set of pliers and flatten a few pellets from different loads. The harder ie. less easy to flatten will pattern better and kill better.

W. E. Boyd