I concur with the fusing theory.
Several years ago 'we' shot a guy hunting quail.
Two of us fired at the same going away bird.
There was a small wooded area at about a 45 degree angle from where the bird was.
The path to the bird was clear and open, and nobody was in sight when we fired.
Out from the woods, bleeding from the cheek and mildly annoyed, walks Jerry.
X-ray shows a figure 8 shaped piece of shot between his ear and eye, and he carries it to this day because the doctor fishing around in there for it exceeded Jerry's patience limit.
A freaky, and scary event.
So, shot does pressure weld and fly off in strange directions. I don't discount the shot clump theory in the case of the dove.
