News Feed Comments. December 17, by Chris. Leave a comment. By Marvin McDonald J J Mac Once you have patterned your shotgun and understand the shotgun shell ballistics, you'll have fewer cripples and more confidence in your shooting. I have investigated the effect of shot size and velocity on penetration in waterfowl. I decided to publish the results because others might be interested as well.
The literature is riddled with confusing descriptions of what a pellet must do to be effective on game birds. You've heard many of the windy, gushing, bombastic and meaningless comments. These are largely colorful terms applied to shotguns and shells that have no basis and become more meaningless as the colors of the terms become louder, yet more shrill. While amusing, they are meaningless. Energy itself has no density, it is just energy. A little injection of the truth shouldn't be bothersome to anyone. Ducks do not drop like rain, rain drops like rain.
Talking Turkey About Pellet Penetration. By far, the most important factor in pellet performance is penetration. It is true in self-defense situations, it is true in hunting with rifles, and it is true with shotguns.
Moderator: shotgunworld. Ed Lowry and pellet penetration Moderator: shotgunworld. Posted: Sun May 01, am.