halcon,

Yes, I have tried 7 1/2s by themselves. They work at closer ranges very well. The problem, they lose velocity faster than larger shot sizes. The club I train with wants longer retrieves to prepare their dogs for field trials. My sole job is to get the birds down. I noticed a drop in my accuray late this winter and was trying everything to get better. 5 \ 7 1/2 shot helped greatly but the most help was a couple of trips to the sporting clays range.