Shotgun Shells Defined

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Target loads are designed to be an economical option excellent for recreational shooting and high-volume practice. Shot size for clays is #7.5, #8, or #9.  These rounds use standard lead that may deform in flight or on impact leading to less consistent patterns and lighter strikes on target.  Many shooters do continue to use the same ammo for competition.

 Competition-grade ammo is manufactured with stricter quality control and  premium quality components . Shot size for clays is #7.5, #8, or #9. Harder lead shot, usually  4% - 6%   antimony content, and filtered pellets ensuring exact pellet size, provide a more dense and consistent pattern under competitive pressure. The harder lead is less likely to deform, keeping a tight, consistent pattern even at longer distances.  These loads usually offer "softer shooting" through specially designed wads and optimized gun powders.  The result is reduced felt recoil and faster follow-up shots.

Shooters that have started to compete regularly, will likely change to this style.  

 Hunting load shot size varies by game. Birdshot for small game (like #9, #8, #7.5, #6, #5, #4) or buckshot/slugs for larger game.  There is usually a heavier shot payload to deliver more energy to the target. In many cases a higher velocity is used  for maximum impact and energy resulting in higher recoil due to increased power.  The pellets used in hunting rounds may be filtered to more consistent standard than target ammo, but not to exacting standard of competition loads. Dove and Quail rounds with #9, #8, #7.5 pellets are excellent for shooting sports like skeet, trap, and sporting clays. 

The common shot size for shooting sports is #7.5, #8, and #9.  Larger numbers actually translates into smaller pellets, which means a #9 shell will have more pellets than a #7.5.  In a 12 gauge shell, #9 lead shot will on average contain 585 pellets, while a #8 decreases to around 410 pellets, and #7.5 decreases to around 350 pellets.  Several factors like manufacturer, shell length, wad design, and powder load will effect actual numbers.   It is often assumed that a higher pellet count will equate to better shooting accuracy. While this may  be somewhat true, especially for beginners or for shooting at moving targets, there are several other factors to consider. For one, while a higher pellet count increases the odds of hitting a target, it also typically means a wider shot spread, which can reduce accuracy at longer distances. Smaller pellets, while more, carry less energy and can be more easily deflected by wind or other environmental factors. They also lose velocity more rapidly than larger pellets, which can further impact long-range accuracy. 

Practice / time on target will help you select the optimal shot size for your shooting style.

This is the most hotly contested part of shooting sports.  You will get one camp that swears that your ammo will need to go at hyper-sonic speeds, then the next camp that swears slow is the best.

Power and speed...... 1 1/8 oz load at 1350 fps for team F1 vs 7/8 oz at 1145 fps for team steady.  Shot size (#8), load (1 1/8), and fps (1250) affect the shot pattern.  Slower speeds have less effect on the shot leaving the gun.  Less deformation of the load equals less flyers.  This means the pattern stays grouped and on target.

 Shell speeds within the 1,150-1,250 fps range are more than sufficient to reliably and consistently break every fair clay target on a skeet range 

 While higher velocity loads do result in a minuscule reduction in the required lead, this difference is usually fractions of an inch and not a practical advantage for the shooter. Focus on proper technique is much more important than trying to compensate for minute ballistic differences. 

  If you want to shoot a 60+ yard crosser on edge your best option is the 1145 - 1250 fps range. With the slower load, almost 100% of your pellets will reach the target at 60+ yards due to less deformation on ignition and fewer G-forces upon exiting the muzzle. The pattern of the slower load will also remain tighter for greater distances.  Higher velocity will likely deform and spread much faster only delivering around 50% of the shot.  With that spread out so much, the impact force would usually be slightly less than that of what was originally fired at a slower velocity as well as less pellets hitting the clay, possibly not causing a break.

Believe it or not, 4 little pellets can make all the difference!!  

 Chokes slightly narrow the muzzle of the barrel to influence the shot stream and deliver a desired pattern. Chokes don't make the shot go farther. Their purpose is to deliver an effective density of shot at a particular distance.

Sourced from NRA Family-

https://www.nrafamily.org/content/shotgun-choke-explained-simply-no-math-we-promise/

"There are five basic shotgun chokes: cylinder, improved-cylinder, modified, improved-modified and full. (There are several more that are made for specific applications, such as skeet and trap, but for simplicity’s sake let’s keep it at five.)

If a shotgun has a true cylinder choke, that means there is no constriction in the barrel whatsoever; the measurement of the barrel diameter is the same thickness from breech to muzzle. If a shotgun has an improved-cylinder choke, the constriction in the barrel is 0.010 inches. If a modified choke, 0.020 inches. If an improved-modified choke, 0.030 inches. A full choke, 0.040 inches.   

Full choke will place 70 percent of the pellets from a shotshell inside a 30-inch circle at 40 yards. However, increasing the barrel constriction any further does not increase the pellet percentage, which is how the 0.040 choke restriction became known as “full choke.” That said, what choke should you use for various distances?

The ideal range for a shotgun with an improved-cylinder choke is 20 to 30 yards. Modified choke is 26 to 42 yards; full choke, 30 to 50 yards. Improved-modified choke distances would fall somewhere between modified and full. "

Several Choke companies use numbers as identifiers rather than Full, IC, LM. The following will associate number to style.

 Full 35, Light Full 30, Improved Modified 25, Modified 20, Light Modified 15, Improved Cylinder 10, Skeet 5, Cylinder 0, Spreader -5