8 1/2 shot

[J. A. EARLY]

Middle of the road for a little more shot than 8, a little more power than 9.

1/2 ounce

8 = 205
8.5 = 245
9 = 292

3/4 ounce

8 = 307
8.5 = 373
9 = 439

[TxHuntermn]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I’m sure 8 1/2 shot works fine for those who use it - heck, why wouldn’t it if sizes 8 and 9 work well.
I bet the first shotshell company that offered 8 1/2 shot only did so to gain a leg-up on the other companys - to offer something nobody else did... not because there was a need for it.

What I’d really like to see some shotshell company come out with is 9 3/4 for woodcock. I’d like something finer than 9’s but 10’s just seem too ‘faddish’ to me...






.

HMMM Dean....Do you shoot much 7 1/2? That is a pretty popular size. funny though, it seems to stop there. I do not recall ever seeing 1/2 size shot larger than 7 1/2...….maybe 00 1/2 will make a big play for the home defense crowd! They seem enamored with flechette, rubber pellets, tracers and bolo rounds!

This though all reminds me of the old saying that fishing plug designers design fishing plugs to catch fishermen, not fish!!!

[Pa SxS]

Used commonly for the first shot in trap doubles.

[Dean Romig]

Mark, I shoot #8 or #7 normally. Rarely, if ever, #9 or 7 1/2.

For my upland hunting I generally shoot #8 in both tubes in early season and #8 in the right tube with #7 in the left tube for later in the season. I shoot #8 exclusively on clays.





.

[StubTwist]

Originally Posted by Chuck Bishop

Used commonly for the first shot in trap doubles.

For my trap league at the 16 yard line I shoot 1 oz. of 8.5 shot. Less recoil and more pellets (497) in a 1 oz load than 8's (461) and 7 1/2 (394) in a 1 1/8 shell.

8.5's are a great too for 7/8 oz spreader loads for pattern density.

[Hixie]

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.

[Dean Romig]

That makes good sense.





.

[Trap3]

Back around 1995, Federal offered a 1 ounce 8 1/2 paper handicap load.
Used them at The Grand American and other Trap shoots that year. Might even have a box tucked away. Wish they were still available.

Trap3

[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