Interesting to see this topic come up. I've been called a few things in the past for being an advocate of lead #6 [American size] shot for dove, inclusive of unsafe. What is unsafe is shooting low birds. Shoot NO LOW BIRDS, EVER!! Shoot what Stan is calling high dove & what I call high flyers and I don't see the issue. However, safety has to come above all else and that can never be over emphasized. That is inclusive of seeing that all shooters on a dove field have safety glasses of some sort and ear plugs. I usually always carry extras of both to the field w/me, JIC. Not sufficient for a large party but some of each plus a flattened partial roll of TP in a baggie & a few paper towels & minor first aid kit w/a good pair of tweezers are always in my field bag as well; someone always needing one of those items before the day is out. Back to the topic, #6's will put every dove in the bag that you are ever entitled to and as a rule not tear them up if your shots are over 30 yards or so. For those way out there, honest 45 yard plus shots a dog sure helps in their recovery and at all ranges in any kind of cover. Up close, 6's can destroy a bird when well centered, but so can smaller sized shot. Generally speaking, 6's do not stay in the bird inside any reasonable range, so you have no need to be on the lookout for embedded shot. OTOH, dental work is expensive, so some caution is always advisable when eating game.
Lead #7's [.100"] are wonderfully effective on dove & pigeons. I've shot numbers of both w/the RC 20 ga. 'Trap' load of 25 grams in South America and always been well pleased w/the performance. Here, I mostly shoot the older Federal 20 ga. game loads that are 7/8 oz. of #6 lead on both dove & quail & the occasional feral pigeons when using a 20. Those cartridges are loaded with a two piece plastic wad much like the no longer available 12C1 "Pushin' Cushion" that was never available as a 20 ga. component. I found that ammuntion to throw very consistent patterns and bought a great deal of it from Academy when they handed it. They used to sell it as their main dove & quail ammo & had it in 6's, 7.5' & 8's. The 6's didn't sell well locally.
West Coast sells their hard 'magnum' shot in an honest well graded #7 size for those that wish to reload it. And while I'm thinking of it, Hogdon's lists an extremely low pressure & effective 7/8oz. 20 ga. reasonable velocity load using IMR 800X. Might want to check it out.
For shooting dove way out there, size matters. So does pattern density. Use some choke!
