Another interesting thing to consider is that the 'gauge' system is entirely arbitrary, and that 'pounds and ounces' don't have any correlation with natural phenomenon.

Had we used kilograms instead, a 16 would then be a 35 gauge and use about 28 grams of shot. Nobody would find stars aligning using those numbers.

The whole gauge thing really is a silly way to arrive at a design bore size. We get strange and arbitrary bore sizes like .550, .615, .662, .729.

Would not millimeters have been better? Or round inch fractions?

We could instead have a 17MM shotgun, and go up or down a couple MM at a time for the others. Or perhaps 1/2", 5/8", 11/16", 3/4".

We are wedded to the lead sphere only by tradition.






"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble