O D H Have you used the 7 1/2 by themselves on pheasant ? I was always under the impression they were to light and used #6 . That is why I asked if they were working as a replacement for the # 5 then why not just use all 7 1/2 and have a tighter pattern yet . Do a little switch on your powder and run them up to about 1400 fps ,sounds like it would work.