All you have to do is take different brands, of the same size shot, to a machine shop and ask them to test it for hardness. For an accurate comparison all the shot you test must be of the same diameter (size).
The hardness of the shot is the biggest issue, and the place where your patterns are helped or hurt. "Drawing feathers" is a non-issue for me at this point. That said, I will not argue that a true plated shot may well drive into a pigeons vitals better from the rear end, but I can't prove it. Common sense tells me that the harder the shot, plated or not, the less of a problem "drawing feathers" will be. But again, I can't prove that.
SRH
