What were the distances you shot them at Mills? What is your gun(s) choked? Have you patterned it/them wit #5 at the longest distance you would ethically shoot a duck at?

When I shot ducks as a kid it was with #6 shot because they would be mallards, blacks, and woodies jumped from creeks while pheasant hunting in the adjacent fields and brushy stream edges. I would never use #6 for any ducks besides rising puddle ducks.... never for incoming or pass shooting.

30 yards. Chokes vary, but the two Ruddy ducks were with the same gun with the same distance. No. 5 it was still wounded after 2 shots and one shot of no. 2 and the second was dead as a doornail. Like I said, it surprised me too

in steel i use bb or 2 and you either kill em dead or a clean miss in most cases in my case clean miss... like mills said main thing just getting out there and having fun...charlie

no i have not tore down the 8 ga with the hammer holding back issue...some day soon...its not the mills gun with the issue...charlie

Clean kill or complete miss is what I aim for. I hate wounding birds.