I have been on a trip and had little time to read here, but I just read through this thread. I have never used #9 lead on game birds, but got a bag cheap and shot clays with it; seemed to work ok for that.

I haven't seen it mentioned in the thread, but I guess the assumption was that we are talking about lead #9 only. And while it may have limited uses, #9 tungsten is a different story. It is great for turkey hunting where you are trying to kill him by hitting the head or neck. There are also folks using it in waterfowl loads, most often duplexed with much larger steel shot.