8 1/2 shot

[Southpaw]

I recall years ago that a few shot shell manufacturers promoted their dual density loads by having two different shot sizes. I think it was mostly designed for waterfowl hunters. For instance it used to be about 30% of #2 combined with 70% of #4 shot. I remember shooting it and it killed ducks but did not shoot enough to say it was inferior or superior to a so called homogeneous load. Remembered the ads for it saying best of both worlds with larger shot giving more knockdown power at further ranges plus having pattern density for moderate ranges. It sounded good in theory but not certain it really performed the best. Plus the premium they were charging for each box guaranteeing superior performance than normal loads did not really jive where we were hunting at the time in beaver ponds.

We all know shotguns were not designed as precision guns and obviously a slight variation in shot size I don't think makes that much difference, or does it. We also know that deformed shot can cause flyers and shot stringing assuming pellets were deformed by the powder discharge. This maybe part of it but maybe the variation in actual shot size before also contributes to flyers and stringing just as much as deformation.