Need help buying shotgun shells?

Question

Hey guys!
this christmas, my friend gave me a brand new shotgun- a browning bps 12 gauge. I needed some help buying shotshells.
while on basspro, i saw a measurement that i wasn't aware of. it said DRAM EQ.
Now i know that dram is the measure of black powder, and they use dram equvalent to show how much smokeless powder would equal the force of black powder( if i am wrong, by all means correct me please!!)
I know that i need to buy 12 gauge shells, but also does Dram eq. matter? And why does a dram measurement say '3-3/4'? thanks!!
ps the shotshell size i need to buy is 2- 3/4"
ALSO REAL QUICK: i will be pheasant hunting so what shot size should i use? #4,#5, #6, or #7.5?

Answer 1

Drams was the old way that they measured black powder for shotgun shells. For some reason, the manufacturers still use a "dram equivalent" to show how much powder is in the shell.



As someone correctly stated, most target loads are low brass, 3 dram equivalent, with 1 1/8 ounce of shot. SOME trap and skeet ranges might raise a fuss if you used shells at the range that were higher than 3 dram equivalent. (But those folks generally don't understand the concept behind drams of measurement.) For example. I have seen loads with only 7/8 ounce of shot and a 3 1/4 dram equivalent. I can assure you that these are light loads.



For most types of hunting, I like to go with 6 shot. If you really want to split hairs, then perhaps 5 shot for late season pheasants (that might be flushing further away from you). The idea is that larger shot sizes like 5 and 4 shot do indeed have a longer range to them. (It is physics at work.)



For just casual shooting, any of the so-called promo loads with 1 ounce or 1 1/8 ounce of shot, from Remington or Winchester or Federal are just fine. They usually come in 7.5 or 8 shot.



If you want to get serious about your pheasant hunting (and who doesn't?), then buy some Remington Express (green and yellow boxes) 12 gauge loads with 1 1/4 ounce of 6 shot.

Answer 2

A standard ( and legal load for ATA trap competition ) is a 3 dram load. That is 1 1/8 ounces of shot, and 1200 FPS velocity. So without complicating your mind, let me just say those are hot loads running in the neighborhood of 1300 FPS, and about 1 3/4 ounces of shot. What would you need that for ? Maybe steel shot for water foul would be the ONLY reason I would pay more for them.



Edit : It would be interesting and if you choose those, I would highly advise patterning a shot. Very often when you get too hot of a shot shell it blows the pattern. That means a big empty hole right in the center portion of the pattern.



Edit : Pheasants huh. At the most high brass #5 shot is good medicine. Standard low brass will be fine unless you hunt the prairies and are used to that type of shooting. They do it different. No quick shots, just stand there take your time and burn the bird at a much longer distance than us easterners allow.

Answer 3

In the past a "maximum" 12 ga shell was 1 1/4 oz and 3 3/4 DE. It provided a velocity of 1330 fps. There is also a 1 1/4 oz and 3 1/4 DE which provided a lower velocity. Many manufacturers only put shot weight and velocity on shells now, especially since the introduction of steel shot which was not used when black powder was used. You can search google for DE / shot weight and find velocities, if you are so inclined.

Answer 4

Don't worry about the dram equivalency.



Just buy the 2 3/4" shotshells you want. #6 or #7 1/2 will work fine for pheasant.

Answer 5

August is right about "Don't worry about the dram equivalency."

That's for techies; most of us don't have to think about it.

As for shot #s, always try to use the lowest # which will not shred the prey because that's fewer shot one has to pick out of the meat.