Is There Such A Thing ??????

[socks 32,253]

Do you lads reckon there is such a thing as the all round cartridge size for a 12 gauge that can do most jobs ie ... Fox ... Rabbit .. Pigeon ... Or is it a case of a different cartridge for different quarry ......

[Rake aboot 4,936]

Eley Special Pigeon

 

Seems I`ve killed everything with those. Although the pisstaking for creating a huge circular hole in a partridge was ruthless ! lol.

[toby63 1,236]

doesnt realy matter what size shell you use what matters most is distance it only takes a pellet in the right place . i use too use victorys no5 35g shot pheasant pigeon rabbit fox up to 25 yard when walking the woods so yea to allrounder

[ianm 2,594]

I use cheddite 36grm for everything, either through a Miroku 800 with skeet cokes or a Berretta exrema2 with 1/4 choke.

Edited November 11, 2014 by ianm

[celticrusader 78]

Never been fussy myself and have used anything from 5-7's but predominantly 6 1/2s are what I've always used... on all game.

Edited November 11, 2014 by celticrusader

[The one 8,571]

I've used pigeon express sixes for them all

[Alsone 789]

Clear pigeon no:6 or Hull Equivalent for pretty much everything EXCEPT fox.

 

It's irresponsible to shoot fox with anything so small - always use a heavy load of No: 3 - BB.

[Rake aboot 4,936]

Clear pigeon no:6 or Hull Equivalent for pretty much everything EXCEPT fox.

 

It's irresponsible to shoot fox with anything so small - always use a heavy load of No: 3 - BB.

Rubbish

 

The fox I dropped at 10yrds certainly thought I was irresponsible !

 

Different situations allow for different solutions.

 

AAA at 100yrds would be irresponsible as well no ?

[Yokel Matt 918]

Clear pigeon no:6 or Hull Equivalent for pretty much everything EXCEPT fox.

 

It's irresponsible to shoot fox with anything so small - always use a heavy load of No: 3 - BB.

 

Nah... 6's are ok.. besides thats what the second barrell's for

[SportingShooter 0]

I rarely use anything other than Victory Challenger 2 No.7 or Eley VIP No.7 for everything, it suits me and the gun.

 

It's killed everything from Ducks when Lead was allowed to Foxes, all within moderation. I'm not naive enough to think it'll kill a fox at 40 yards, 10 or 15 yards is my limit on those critters. They'll come again another day when I have the right tool.

[Alsone 789]

 

Clear pigeon no:6 or Hull Equivalent for pretty much everything EXCEPT fox.

 

It's irresponsible to shoot fox with anything so small - always use a heavy load of No: 3 - BB.

Rubbish

 

The fox I dropped at 10yrds certainly thought I was irresponsible !

 

Different situations allow for different solutions.

 

AAA at 100yrds would be irresponsible as well no ?

 

 

At very very close range, yes, if you don't have time to reload, No: 6 will kill.

 

Any kind of range and they lack the power to deliver enough penetration / shock. Yes they will often kill, but there's also the potential to wound and the potential is not a minor risk at range with small shot.

 

..and yes AAA would be irresponsible at a lot less than 100 yards. There's no enough shot in the cartridge to guarantee a delivered shock. I'd be no more using AAA over about 20 yards than I would number 6.

 

By far the best solution is to carry No:6 or similar as your regular cartridge and then a handful of heavy load No; 3's-BB, in another pocket.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Alsone

[SportingShooter 0]

AAA is fine for foxes to normal shotgun range, 40 yards or so.

 

An 1 1/4oz load will have around 42 pellets, hit a fox with two or three of those and he won't go far at 5.2mm a shot,

 

A 3" 56g AAA is what I use if I take the shotgun for a Fox.

 

I wouldn't use a shotgun at anything more than normal distance for Foxes, that's what the centrefire is for.

[geordieh 74]

Express 30g 6s I have killed everything with them just get the range right

[Born Hunter 17,907]

I'm not being funny but if we're gonna chuck range out the window in this debate then just shoot the f***ing wad, it'll kill anything at 6 inches!

 

There is no 'all round' cartridge imo. There's cartridges for jobs and that's it. You can get cartridges that cover a wider array of situation but there's not one that covers them all. For instance, as has been said a load of 6s or 5s will manage most small game and fox at 15-20 yards. But I still wouldn't call it an all rounder because no one in their right mind would choose it over #1 BB as a dedicated fox load.

 

You wouldn't shoot driven January pheasant 70-80m up with an ounce of 6, neither would you use that load on a fox drive. Likewise you wouldn't shoot walked up pheasant or decoyed pigeon with 2 ounce of BBs.

[Alsone 789]

AAA is fine for foxes to normal shotgun range, 40 yards or so.

 

An 1 1/4oz load will have around 42 pellets, hit a fox with two or three of those and he won't go far at 5.2mm a shot,

 

A 3" 56g AAA is what I use if I take the shotgun for a Fox.

 

I wouldn't use a shotgun at anything more than normal distance for Foxes, that's what the centrefire is for.

 

I stand corrected on AAA then as I didn't think there were that many shot to a cartridge.

 

@OP, The trouble with small shot at range is retained energy is poor down range so delivering the 40ft lbs or so they reckon is necessary for a fox sized animal becomes difficult even with a large number of hits.

 

Too large on shot size, and whilst each individual shot has a lot more energy and better retention down range, the holes in the pattern mean the number of hits are low and so you can easily fail to deliver sufficient energy by failing to deliver sufficient hits.

 

I agree, any cartridge will kill anything if at the close range - a shotgun from point black has effectively a solid ball of lead weighing more than one ounce and that's enough to drop the biggest of animals even with small shot such as No: 7's - you could shoot a cow in the head and drop it with that from point blank. At 20 yards though, it would be useless for anything other than wounding.

 

In the interests of being humane therefore, it's best to carry a dedicated round for fox and a general cartridge for everything else. If you walk up a fox at 10 yds then yes there maybe no time to swap cartridges and yes No 6's will kill from that range. Walk one up at 30-40 yds though and it's a different story in terms of wounding risk.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Alsone