8 1/2 shot

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Ted Hicks

I always wondered if the shot manufacturers produce a lot of "off-spec" shot and the 1/2 sizes were a way to sell it rather than have to reprocess it.

That's how it works. Shot doesn't drop all the exact same size, and has to be graded.
My buddy, Chuck, who helped me with the #10 article, measures every batch of shot, and sorts them by size. As an example: some number 7 1/2 Shot might be actually 7 1/4s. Some 8s might actually be 8 1/4 size. Right in the middle is 8 1/2s. More pellets in the pattern than 8s, more energy than 9s.
I don't let the shot size get in my head. See the bird, shoot the bird.

[Big D]

Back in the late 60's Remington used to claim that their shotmaking process was the highest volume precision manufacturing operation in the US