I have shot hundreds of patterns on a pattern plate in everything from 10 to .410. Most were decent with a few just terrible and a few great. You learn a lot about gun fit, hold points and how patterns change over distance. I even learned that I needed to allow for shot drop at long ranges which many seem to think pattern expansion make it unnecessary. I learned that aimed shots and quickly mounted and shot shots were very different.
When you get to the .410 you will find loads which seem very effective look fairly bland or even borderline bad on the plate. Don’t worry about it. And when you see how small the pattern diameter is it will be hard not to try to aim it in the future. I’ve never found the perfect gauge, the perfect choke or barrel. I did come across a mod 1100 barrel which threw almost perfect patterns with everything from 9’s down to 2’s and from 7/8 ounce up to 1 1/2 ounce. But that was a rare barrel.
I love it when people start imploring math or magically properties to patterns. I’ve killed a lot of ducks with the 28, with lead shot in my youth, but never found the magic load. Lead was my magic along with reflexes of youth and a steady supply of ducks to shoot under 30 yards. So I read all these articles about patterns with interest but know there is no one answer. Just like today’s hyper velocity loads are the rage but when I pattern them they never look that great. Again the hope that math conquers all. Being able to have your point of impact be where your aim point is more important to me than the theoretical distribution of random pellets.
