seawolfxix
Sharpshooter
I got bored today and decided to crack open some factory shells to see what was inside. I was a little surprised by what I found and figured you guys might be interested to see. Based on my observations, the Kent shot is definitely the most consistent. However, I can't check material hardness or any other properties, so this analysis is pretty basic.
I started with three popular brands of #2 steel shot in the $12 - $16 range: (Winchester Super-X, Federal Speed-Shok, & Kent Fasteel).
Then I cut open the hulls and tried to keep some of the shot in neat little piles (from left-to-right: Super-X, Federal, Kent). The Super-X was easy, because the shot wasn't even close to being spherical. I'd be surprised if Super-X results in consistent patterns.
Super-X
Federal
Kent
Finally, I measured 10 random samples from each lot and came up with the following data (units = inches):
Super-X
Min: .136
Max: .173
Average: .153
Std Dev: .0116
Federal
Min: .137
Max: .149
Average: .142 (a little off the mark of .150, eh?)
Std Dev: .0038
Kent
Min: .149
Max: .152
Average: .151
Std Dev: .0007
I started with three popular brands of #2 steel shot in the $12 - $16 range: (Winchester Super-X, Federal Speed-Shok, & Kent Fasteel).
Then I cut open the hulls and tried to keep some of the shot in neat little piles (from left-to-right: Super-X, Federal, Kent). The Super-X was easy, because the shot wasn't even close to being spherical. I'd be surprised if Super-X results in consistent patterns.
Super-X
Federal
Kent
Finally, I measured 10 random samples from each lot and came up with the following data (units = inches):
Super-X
Min: .136
Max: .173
Average: .153
Std Dev: .0116
Federal
Min: .137
Max: .149
Average: .142 (a little off the mark of .150, eh?)
Std Dev: .0038
Kent
Min: .149
Max: .152
Average: .151
Std Dev: .0007
