Thots on Shot Strings

[Dom]

Why do those low line drive Trap birds require more concentration to hit? I'm guessing, but I'd say that since the shot string must go directly through it, you have less leeway vs. the bird flying through the string somewhere. I always try and drive it right through those line drivers.

And talking about strings, how long do you think they are? I've heard several different variations, don't know which is true.

And then there's steel, which is said to be a shorter and denser string.

Let's take a standard 24 gram (7/8 I think) load of 7 1/2s -- how long is the string? Is there an easy way to measure the string? I'd be interested in hearing what you'all think, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[fabsroman]

Dom,

When I first got on this board eons ago, we had a pretty good discussion about shot strings and measuring them.

Yes, steel gives a shorter shot string because none of the pellets deform (i.e., not many come out of the pattern).

One way to measure a string is to shoot at a huge circle that is rotating. You can shoot at one spot and see how far the circle makes it around. If you know the circles RPM and the shots velocity, you would be able to figure out how long the shot string is and you would also be able to see the holes in the pattern.

Whether or not a bird going directly away takes more concentration than a bird flying through the shot string, I highly doubt it. A bird flying straight away will have every pellet in the pattern coming at it, whereas the bird flying through the pattern will only have a couple of pellets coming at it. Just imagine a shot string being a freight train and the bird being a car. Granted, the freight train is completely solid and there is no way a car can get through it, but the point is that the car will only hit one little portion of the freight train as it collides with it.

If your pattern is tight enough, you should be able to smoke all of those going away birds. The ones that give me trouble are the ones that look like they are going away, but they are angling slightly.

[skeet]

What Fabs said...all true... The length of that shot string you're talking of can be as short as about 3 1/2 ft at 40 yds to as much as 71/2 ft at the same distance. Choke and air density affect the final figure

[kt]

fabs, whats scary is i remember that conversation pretty well, may have even been before the huntchat crash!
as for the strings, i never thought about it until i got sprayed by a pheasant hunter a few years back, now at this point the pellets where moving slow enough to not penetrate my chaps or vest but i was amazed at how long i got hit for! As for steel at some point i would think that the string must lengthen being that is slows down a good clip as you get out there a ways. I too hate the crossing clay bird! and then there are those buffleheads that you can see go straight through your pattern low to the water, those birds have an unfair advantage of being small and speedy, all birds should decoy at mallard speed
kt

[fabsroman]

KT,

Steel does slow quicker than lead, but it doesn't have abnormalities in it to make it fly off out of the "pattern". Lead becomes deformed upon firing, before it leaves the barrel, so it has flat spots that tend to push the pellets wide out of the pattern.

The thread I was talking about was way before the "Great Crash." It was a really good thread, if I am not mistaken.

As far as buffleheads are concerned, how about having a pair come into the decoys, miss with the first shot, yet they land anyway. As you go to pull the trigger on them in the water, you see your pattern smash all around where one of them was, but there is no duck there anymore because it dove underwater. The other duck is gone at this point, however, with pure reflex you catch the other speedster as it comes up 5 yards further away from where it went under. That was a fun day and a lesson well learned by me.

[kt]

divers,
not to hijack the thread, but my first and only ruddy duck took me and a freind for a trip one frigid xmas eve. we sculled into 3 of them and they dove, they would come up, then dive and on and on. finally one started water running and some of my shot string ( on topic after all) clipped him and the diving started all over.
kt

[Dom]

Boy, sorry I missed that thread, sounds interesting. You're exactly right with that freight train example Fabs -- be too much of a pain for me to figure out the match on that spinning wheel though. As you's stated, I have also heard anywhere from 4 to 8 feet on a string. We always talk about that golden BB that splits a bird in half, and if you walk downrange you'll find lots of clays with a couple holes in them that didn't break. That's why I was thinking you have more 'leeway' on a hit (if it breaks) on the lefts/rights/risers versus a 6 foot pattern that has to be spot on to hit those line drivers.

Another thing that surprised me was we were shooting steel at dusk last year, pretty darn dark, and we could see sparks flying off the birds even though they didn't break. That was weird. Also happens in the daytime, you'll see dust fly off but no chips, so I know there's some bb's getting into them.

KT -- Those Buffleheads sound like they should be related to Coots, talk about a water bird that can't barely fly and 'runs on water'.

Thanks for you thots, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[fabsroman]

Dom,

The rule of thumb is that it takes three pellets to guarantee a broken clay. I have read articles where "studies" were done at ranges by going out and picking up the unbroken clays with pellet holes in them. They found plenty with one or two #8 to #9 size holes in them, but didn't find many whole targets with more than a single #7.5 hole in it. Hence, they think that two #7.5 will get the job done while it takes three of anything smaller.

Bufflehead are like the dove of the water. They are fast and manueverable.