ranchand99

If company X says you will get 90% efficiency with their load,and a certain choke,and says they have 161 pellets in a 1 1/2 oz load.

Then that means you should get 144.9 hits in a 30" circle @ 40yds.

If you do get that,but then do your own pellet count,and see you are getting 187 pellets per 1 1/2oz load..and you are getting 144.9 hits...then you are actually only getting 77% efficiency.

So,you may not be getting the performance you think you are.

I see rhino/nitro combos are very popular.One of the main reasons being pellet count,the other being they do their job very well.Alot of people are going broke trying to shoot this combo.($100 for the choke,$6+ a shell).

The pellet count is what is deceiving for some.For instance the 4x5x7 loads.If you have 550+ pellets in a shell.The truth is that most of those 550+ pellets are going to be the smaller 7's.Close to 390in fact.So there are only 140 or so larger pellets.Have you seen these #7 pellets?They are very small.WHich is why you can use a tighter choke with them.And true in large doses they hit like a brick..So again the pure # of pellets are overwhelming,but the number should be that high,with so many small pellets.My point here is this combo's numbers come mainly from the small pellet hits,and in fact has less large pellets than a comparable load of #4,or #5 lead or hevi shot has in it.And I'm not saying that any of the above mentioned loads are not worth having.They are all great,but my point is,not to let numbersmis-lead you.

I see certain subjects are very touchy around here,but I just wanted to point out how easy it is to play with numbers...I hope this was as interesting to you as it is to me.Thank you for your time.Does anyone agree with me on this?

Bobgobble2

Yes I find it interesting also,with the evolution of the shotshell 99,things have become so precise that the selling point for most of our major manufacturers is this #'s game.The duplex load combines the knock-down power of heavier shot with the smaller shot to produce more projectiles/bullets in ther airvia more hits.A good selling point no doubt!!But with that said a load of conventional 4,5,6's that pattern 85% at 35 yards will lay a gobbler in the grass everybit as dead too!!Hows that for a middle of the road reply!!!

ranchand99

Great reply!I sent you apm backyesterday,haven't heard back from you yet.