Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Flanigan
Many of the old boys such as Elmer Keith talked of heavy loads and long shots. Elmer used his Ithaca 3 1/2 inch ten bore to take geese to 80 yards. I've read most of their stuff including Askins who was Elmer's mentor. But I never shoot over 50 yards, never ever. And I never let the opinions of others become my opinions, even the likes of Askins and Keith who I truly enjoy reading. …....
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I'm pretty sure the Askins mentioned in the quote is Askins Jr, not the senior Askins who was the noted shotgun expert. Anyone interested in shooting vintage shotguns should get a copy of
Modern Shotguns and Loads by Capt Charles Askins (senior) that was originally published in 1929. The book and its reprint are generally available on Ebay etc. You'll be absolutely flabbergasted by the Cap's extensive detail in this book, to include the pellet counts and efficiencies derived from hundreds of objective patterning tests of all gauges, and at ranges up to 60+ yards for ducking loads. He wasn't one to come up with opinions without having extensive data to back them up.
Back to the very first question by the original poster, regarding the Kent 12 ga/2-3/4-inch load with 1-1/4 ounce of its new Bismuth shot. Speed was cited at 1325 which is on par with the our familiar American 12-gauge "high brass" load of lead shot. It might be good for anyone interested to check with Kent or other sources to determine where that velocity was measured, i.e., at 3 ft as typical with American shotshells, or at the muzzle (or back calculated to the muzzle) as often done on foreign made shells? Indeed if the latter, that 1325 would be more like 1250 or so per the American protocol.