doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shotshell "Spreaders" & "Concentrators"

Fascinating stuff.

Spreader and concentrator loads are about as old as choke boring. When considering such loads it is worthwhile to think on how patterns work. Each piece of shot follows a ballistic path based on the velocity and actual direction it is pointed at the point it is last influenced by other pieces of shot. We can consider that each piece of shot has a forward (direction the gun is pointed) velocity and a sideways velocity (90 degrees to the forward direction). The forward velocity is large and the sideways is small. Choke effect seems to be constrained to cylinder bore to full bore. To get more or less choke effect we must introduce something else into the shot load. Spreaders have been more effective than have been concentrators.

There are two more or less fundamental ways to spread the pattern. We have to have some way to inpart additional sideways velocity. Over shot wads have been maligned for "breaking up the pattern." Bingo! We add several over shot wads. However, the wads act outside the barrel and, thus, have a significant degree of randomness to the disruption they cause. The other way is to add a "post" within the shot column. the shot will pressurize the post during acceleration. As the shot clears the muzzle the post will depressurize and, thus, give back a degree of energy to the shot in the sideways direction. The shot will have an additional amount of sideways velocity. The post is much more controlled and much less random in how many and how much individual pellets are influenced.

DDA

I have some RST spreader loads I used in a tightly choked 12GA. They worked well on pheasant. I believe that RST uses crossed cards inside the shot column. I didn't see that method discussed above. Is that a new approach or what? It has to be simpler than some of the ones mentioned above. I can't imagine inserting the cards can be accomplished any way except by hand, but then I've never seen commercial loaders in operation.

I buy Fiocchi Interceptors two flats at the time, several orders a year, for use in my fixed choke (.020" and .020") MX8. It is shot exclusively at sporting clays, and my home course has a tendency to throw some very close stuff at speed. Those are not, IMO, good presentations, as they are so close that in a hunting situation I'd never take the shot at the bird. But, for the sake of the scorecard I want to ensure a dead bird if possible.

These loads have an X post in the middle of the wad, and work very well. They're the only spreaders I've ever used that I know open my pattern consistently more than one "constriction". IOW, my modified fixed chokes go to a little more open than a IC. I've used my own concoctions and off the shelf spreaders, but I like these the best. They're sky blue in color, and I jokingly call them my "Crystal Blue Persuasion".

Im ordering two more flats as I post this.

https://www.hinterlandoutfitters.com/adv...n_description=0

SRH

This method is described in W W Greener's 1907 "The Gun" which Drew linked above. Greener stated it was Winans' invention, so no it's not new at all.

Polywad Spred-R post & disc insert
https://polywad.com/spred-r-1

All the Spred-Rs are out of stock at Precision Reloading

A number of years ago I hunted preserve pheasant with a Model 21 choked M/F. I used the Polywad spreader loads, because ranges were fairly short. I found that they hammered pheasants - every bird I hit was dead right there. I sold the gun to fund another purchase and still have a handful of the shells. Since I now hunt with older British sxs, I don't use them. But I still recall my amazement at how well they worked.

The card X-wads will absorb some/a little energy and return it to the pellets upon muzzle exit giving them a bit more sideways velocity. The over shot wads will act as disrupters to the shot cloud.

A resilient post wad will work better, including the lowly golf tee. Note also, that spreader loads should normally be loaded with the smallest shot needed for the intended target; #9 for clays but bigger for phez.

DDA

February 24, 1912 Sporting Life and Parker is "the finest brush gun made"



Baker Batavia Brush 1906- c.1914
https://books.google.com/books?id=fYsoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA87

Most of the images are gone, but this is a good thread and I'll work on recovering them.

This is interesting. A 1975 patent for a shot dispersion control device
https://patents.google.com/patent/US4006688
"Robert S. Elliott, in his U.S. Pat. No. 579,429 (1897), described a shot-distributing wad in an effort to enlarge the pattern of shot formed and to make the shot pattern more regular and evenly distributed."

https://www.trapshooters.com/threads/elliott-brothers-shooting-park-opens.337233/

https://books.google.com/books?id=phF9AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1837&lpg