a regular 1 1/8th oz load of 6ers will do fine for most shots....ive went dont to 7.t so i can shoot grouse...but gota watch past 25 30yds because it looses its punch....i hit one at about 30 with some remington sts i think they are..7.5s and some didnt penetrate the skin...they do have touch skin and it was the biggest squirrel ive bagged yet out of about 50.....i like them remingtons...they feed nice pattern nice and work for me so far....they are about 4 or 5 bucks a box though...thats " alot" for shotgun shells to some people...i learned the bargin shells are bargins for a reason.....