General purpose shot for 12 Gauge?

[Ds J]

Good Evening Folks,

I need to buy two or three boxes of 12 gauge ammunition to test in my shotgun.

At first, I will only do drills to check what works, and how the poi and poa differ.

The shotgun has two settings for light and heavy loads.

What do I start with?

[oafpatroll]

I'd buy loads appropriate to what you intend shooting. For my field gun that would be 7.5 28s for pigeon and 3/4 32s for game birds.

[Tripodmvr]

Guinea fowl are tough and going away No. 5 shot can sometimes just wound and they fly away with landing gear hanging down. They might fly up to 400m this way. No. 4's normally put them down with authority. Pheasant and partridge No. 5 and 6 is good. Pigeons 7/7.5 28gram loads.

Ducks, geese and spurwing - No. 3 is normally the go, but then only shoot at 30m or less. Here you can even go for 35gram loads.

POI is not going to change much and pattern is the important part that ensures efficient kills.

[Ds J]

The sale was concluded with a box of 28g #7.5, and a box of 32g #3.

Reasoning: I need to do what everyone else does, so I took a lighter load for practice and to test the shotgun's functioning with lighter loads. I also took a heavier load to check patterning, and to be able to get some guinea fowl if possible.

[oafpatroll]

The sale was concluded with a box of 28g #7.5, and a box of 32g #3.

Reasoning: I need to do what everyone else does, so I took a lighter load for practice and to test the shotgun's functioning with lighter loads. I also took a heavier load to check patterning, and to be able to get some guinea fowl if possible.

Don't think you'll go wrong with that mix. Patterning is very well worth the effort. I do it with bulk brown packing paper stapled to the vertical brandering of adjacent target stands. If you do it at the ranges you expect to engage at it really helps in visualizing where your shot column needs to go when engaging birds. 

[Treeman]

I became a number 4 shot man, Pre 64 got me believing in #4 shot Francolin to Spurwing and only inside 40 m with 30 m being the intended  distance. The shot is heavy enough to kill, sometimes with only 1 pellet getting into the vitals, but there are enough pellets to insure that 3 - 4 body hits are the norm.
# 3 shot just seems to fall short hit wise at 30 + m

Brad, the guy that makes shot can and does supply number 4 shot, but he seems to battle with concentricity of shot with there being many odd shaped pellets in batch's. I still just loaded up and shot well enough.

I have never shot doves and quail, so no comment.