# shotshell shot dispersal maximum distance



## pybyr (Sep 1, 2011)

My son would like to try some clay bird shooting after having had the chance to do it at a VT Fish & Wildlife Conservation Camp.

I have a great old vintage Remington cast iron trap-

and my place is about 15 acres, with a long meadow.

At the very back of the meadow runs a significant electric utility line.

I do not want to inadvertently pepper the utility line with shot

I have tried Googling but this is one of those instances in which there seems to be a deluge of info but none of it what I am looking for- I am not interested in maximum effective range, but rather in maximum worst-case possible distance the pellets can travel.

His shotgun is a Mossberg 20 gauge; I might break out my good old battered but indefatigable Winchester 97 12 gauge

Appreciate any info or pointers to relevant info.

thanks!


----------



## smokinj (Sep 1, 2011)

clays I like 4,5,6 just depends of weather and how fast the throw is. Lower the number the tighter the spread. When youger bird hunting the gun was loaded 6,5,4,4


----------



## BrotherBart (Sep 1, 2011)

I just found a chart that says number six shot penetrates a human body at four to six inches at seven yards. That tells me that if that meadow is a hundred yards long the stuff will be in the dirt long before it hits a power line.


----------



## smokinj (Sep 1, 2011)

BrotherBart said:
			
		

> I just found a chart that says number six shot penetrates a human body at four to six inches at seven yards. That tells me that if that meadow is a hundred yards long the stuff will be in the dirt long before it hits a power line.



Your right I have seen guys hit with #6 at 20 yards with carharts on and never break the skin.....Yes I was very Seared! lol


----------



## ewdudley (Sep 2, 2011)

pybyr said:
			
		

> My son would like to try some clay bird shooting after having had the chance to do it at a VT Fish & Wildlife Conservation Camp.
> 
> I have a great old vintage Remington cast iron trap-
> 
> ...



Try googling (with quotes): "safe distance" "skeet range" and draw you own conclusions, but from what I could gather 7 1/2 shot with a 'normal' powder load can get out to 200 yards, but it can't do any damage once it gets there.  300 yards seems to be the just-to-be-sure distance.

If the power lines can withstand a hail storm from time to time then a little lead rain should be the least of its worries.

--ewd


----------



## smokinj (Sep 2, 2011)

ewdudley said:
			
		

> pybyr said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



7 1/2 may fly that far but will not break clay over 25 foot.


----------



## fishingpol (Sep 2, 2011)

I've used #9 birdshot for skeet with an improved cylinder and by the time the shot made it to the trees at the back of the range, there was not much punch to it.  

I have also been fishing in a canoe at the edge of a lake while some idiot was shooting in the woods nearby.  The pellets fell around me like rain with no harm or foul.  I would say a few hundred feet would be ok.  

If you have interchangeable cylinders, you can widen the pattern spread quicker out of the barrel, probably lessening the distance it will travel.


----------



## pybyr (Sep 2, 2011)

Thanks, all!


----------



## Badfish740 (Sep 2, 2011)

According to the chart in the NJ Fish and Wildlife Digest ( http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2011/dighnt34-43.pdf - 3rd page down) #6 shot fired from a 12 gauge will travel about 230 yards if the gun is held at a 45 degree angle for maximum trajectory, but that's roughly equivalent to shooting at a clay pigeon.


----------



## Mesquite (Sep 2, 2011)

In all of your clay target disiplines, the maximum shot size allowed is 7.5.  Regardless if it is skeet, trap, sporting clays etc.  Most gun clubs that santion competition shoots post signage to that effect.  So, # 7.5, 8, 8.5, or 9 is allowed.  This is due to the distance the shot travels with the 7.5's being the heaviest and travelling the longest distance.  I would recommend him staying within those shot sizes.  You didn't state what range in distance you had to work with but at a hundred yards you certainly won't hurt a wire.

Now to the poster that stated a 7.5 won't break a clay over 25 feet, don't bet the farm on that.  Clay targets are easly broken with 7.5 at yardage you won't believe.  As an example, in trap, the closest line is 16 YARDS, the max is 27 YARDS.  The target is broken much further out than that and is broken with 7.5 shot.  So if you can't break a clay over 25 feet, you ain't on the target!!

In sporting clays, which is my favorite, there are targets presentations that many times exceed the distances of those in trap.  I don't claim to be an expert on shooting a shotgun, but I do shoot in excess of 25 to 30,000 targets yearly.


----------



## smokinj (Sep 2, 2011)

Badfish740 said:
			
		

> According to the chart in the NJ Fish and Wildlife Digest ( http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2011/dighnt34-43.pdf - 3rd page down) #6 shot fired from a 12 gauge will travel about 230 yards if the gun is held at a 45 degree angle for maximum trajectory, but that's roughly equivalent to shooting at a clay pigeon.



I have had buck shot falling in many time kinda strange but sounds like rain fall through the leaves.


----------



## Stephen in SoKY (Sep 3, 2011)

At one time I shot with an ATA 24 yard handicap, and made to the back fence weekly in informal money shoots. While shooting ATA I never used anything other than 7.5 shot. Granted, in money shoots we'd all play pretty loose with the rules and the amount of Red Dot we were dropping, but still never exceeded #6 shot. The hardness (Antimony ? sp) of the shot, how that shot is handled between the wad and the muzzle, and the charge behind it is what breaks clays. I've never been a member of a club that wasn't thrilled to work with young shooters. My home club sponsored the FFA trap team for years. If your son is really interested, take him to the local club and let him start with good habits rather than having to change bad habits later in the game.


----------



## Gary_602z (Sep 3, 2011)

Late 60's when I was a young teen I ran score sheets from the scorers to the club house. 25.00 a day was good money back then. Only set targets in the house once or twice. Anybody remember when they put the interrupters on the machines so the shooter couldn't time them for straightaways? Vandalia was always neat to go to also.

 If I remember right my Dad had a 25 or 26 yd. handicap,couldn't quite get to 27 yd.

Gary


----------



## pybyr (Sep 3, 2011)

Well, we just came in from the field.  After a few initial ones where he waited too long and tried to shoot as it was way out and dropping, he broke 16 out of 20, with 5 of those in a running uninterrupted string!


----------



## RustyShackleford (Sep 22, 2011)

Why not run a test, where you put a piece of something like cardboard out there, and plug away at it and see how much damage it does.
You can give a safety margin by standing closer to the cardboard than your son will be to the power lines.

P.S.  IIRC, a 20-gauge with birdshot is what Dick Cheney's hunting partner experienced, from not too far away ...


----------

