lite loads are good

[charlie cleveland]

afellow shooter back in the18 th century said athe best possible load for tight patterns was a 6 ga with 1 ounce shot....this gentleman knew what he was talking about.... i did not have a 6 ga but i tried the load in the 8 ga but was not thrilled with the performance...now in the 10 ga with good chokes the load had a very tight pattern....was a good squirl load in the 10 ga.... charlie

[Pa SxS]

Charlie,

I know you like those big guns but I think it wasn't a 6ga with 1oz of shot, it was a 16ga with 1oz. Commonly called a "square load."

Pasted from another site:

The 16 gauge gets its number because its bore is the same diameter as a round ball weighing 1/16th of a pound: 1 ounce. A classic theory of shotshell efficiency suggests any shotgun patterns best with a shotload equal in weight to a bore-size lead ball. In shotgunning lore this is known as a "square" load.

[J.B. Books]

Originally Posted by Chuck Bishop

Charlie,

I know you like those big guns but I think it wasn't a 6ga with 1oz of shot, it was a 16ga with 1oz. Commonly called a "square load."

Pasted from another site:

The 16 gauge gets its number because its bore is the same diameter as a round ball weighing 1/16th of a pound: 1 ounce. A classic theory of shotshell efficiency suggests any shotgun patterns best with a shotload equal in weight to a bore-size lead ball. In shotgunning lore this is known as a "square" load.

A square load is one where the height of the shot column is equal to the width of the shot column. Somewhere on the internet I have seen a graph/chart of square loads by gauge. If I recall correctly a 12ga was closest with 1 1/16 ounce and 10 gauge with a little more than 1 1/4 ounce and the 16ga was 15/16 of an ounce. I'll try to find it.