I assume you are thinking along the lines of fewer pellets implies larger gaps between pellets, so in response you should tighten-up the pattern to get back where you were.
If all pellet strikes were equal, then the above would make sense, but, at least for clays they are not. The larger pellets will be able to break the clay at more accute impact angles. This means more of the rim becomes vulnerable. You might even find that some large areas of the clay (i.e. top of dome, flat face of the rim) that could deflect #8.5s now become vulnerable to the #7.5s. These newly vulnerable parts of the clay make the effective size of the target larger and that could partially or even over-compensate for the reduced pellet count.
It all depends on the pellet resistance of the target (composition that nobody knows, angle, and spin speed) and your target distance.
It's really not a simple question to answer reliably.
I wouldn't be, Howard. He'll hit fewer targets. I think he should go to IM and shoot and quit worrying about stuff that's a bird in a hundred if he ignores it, a bird in ten if he doesn't.
You are right, Andrew. I should have recommended IM as minimum for Phil's singles and handicap, tighter if he is a bit slow, a lot tighter if he is really slow.
Phil, I'm wondering why you would go to 1oz #7 1/2 instead of 8s.
You love the 1oz #8 1/2s so buy as many flats as you can afford while you can still get them, then switch to 8s which are still available. Since you didn't feel the 8 1/2s were underpowered (energy-wise), I don't see the need to jump to 7 1/2s.
If it were me, I'd go to an M choke and shoot 8s. You give up 80 pellets going to 8s (which is way better than the 140 you would give up going to 7 1/2s).
Fortunately, you can experiment. If you don't like the breaks you are getting with LM, go to M and see what happens.
10 Shots at the distance you'll break the birds on paper, me thinks Neil is on with the im cold weather suggests tighter chokes to me,birds have more feathers?
Pete
Phil, that was my favorite load 12ga load too. I could say you ruined my day but 3 years ago I bought a Spolar and now I can have as many #8.5 loads as I want. Presently my favorite is 1 & 1/16 oz of #8.5 in a Rem hull with a Downrange wad and other components I cannot recall as of now. Only bummer now is the price of Rem primers. Mark
I'm getting ready for colder weather & more wind in the winter. That's why I'm going to 71/2. I think I may need a little more energy to whack White Flyer Bios that have been in the fridge over night.
Rather than sneak up on the problem until you get to "just enuff" choke to giterdone, why not put in a full choke and 1 ounce #7.5? That will pretty much eliminate the whole "do I have enough density/energy" variable, leaving only "how well can I do with a slightly smaller pattern spread."
Try that awhile; heck even if it's just in practice. If you believe your scores have suffered so badly you can never learn to shoot well enough to recover, and you feel the need to break one or two more targets, then begin to relax the choke.
Seriously now, which do you think is the better paradigm for learning to shoot trap...starting with a cylinder choke and #9 or a full choke and #7.5....then working towards a happy medium?
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