Late to the party here. I've been following this string with much interest. As far as targets go, I probably haven't shot enough of them (yet) to have a well-formed opinion, but on game I'm pretty adamant about using adequate loads. I've had several lighter (& even Damascus-barrelled) guns over the years that I've used to hunt in the uplands, and accordingly, I have been a bit sensitive about abusing them with overly-heavy loads. For a while, I was using both 7/8 & even 3/4-ounce RST loads on ruffed grouse (all this was in 16-gauge) and for the most part, these "lighter" loads seemed to work allright. But... after a few seasons of this I did start to notice the occasional unexplained "miss" or inexplicable loss of a bird (hit but kept going). Initially, I attributed it to my own faults (bad gun mount, poor focus, lifted-head, etc.) but that (well, most of it) largely went away when I went back to just shooting 1-ounce of shot in my 16-gauge. On targets and "for fun" I would think that the lighter loads are a nice option (& perhaps necessary in some cases), but on game I'm looking for that "blue-spark" of death and for all the usual reasons (but mostly for the quick and humane end of my prey species of choice).
12-gauge guns are in a different universe for me. They are the "standard" for lethality in a shotgun (at least in my book). For targets...God Bless You(!) & then shoot what works for you. But even with 12-bores, I don't scrimp on my loads for game. I now use an ounce of shot for hunting at a minimum, and even 1 1/8 ounce (if I can justify it). Now... I do have some new-to-me guns that might get started-out on 7/8-ounce loads (& maybe even 3/4 ounces at the range first) but once I've satisfied myself that they're up to the task-at-hand, they'll likely be digesting 1-ounce of shot regularly (on game) after that.
Edit: I've thought about this for a little bit (in the shower...where I do my best thinking) and maybe, just maybe, a 12-bore is "efficient" enough to maintain its lethality in lighter loads. I will be trying a few 7/8th ounce loads in that very light (6lb) English BLE (of my son's) this Fall. A worthy experiment, I should hope.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 03/20/24 01:18 PM.
