I've had very good success on pheasants either with 16's shooting the standard 1 1/8 oz loads of 6's (or 5's later in the season, in the tight barrel.) I've also used Brit 12s quite a bit. I have some Kent Gamebore Pure Gold 1 1/16 oz loads of Brit 6's that I like in open chokes (less than .010). Pellet count is essentially the same as 1 1/4 oz US 6s. I have a good recipe for low pressure 1 1/8 oz loads of US 6 shot in Brit guns choked more like mod in the tight barrel. Seems to pattern quite well. It will kill reliably as far as I want to shoot. I don't often need nontox because I'm not hunting where it's required. But if I do, I have 12ga 2 1/2" tungsten matrix in both Brit 5's and 6's.