Consistent shotgun patterning

[samf]

Not a shotgun shooter here, just curious...

For rifles obviously you have to find the right load for good groups.

Is there an equivalent for shotguns? Is a shotgun group always a consistent spread? Or like a rifle can you get erratic spreads or unbalanced groups?

If you had a shotgun and cartridge that didn't agree, does it throw the shot in inconsistent ways or anything like that? Or are the spreads pretty much the same all the time?

[Old Fart]

You wont get a perfect circle of evenly distributed shot, but that's the nature of the beast.

Obviously different cartridges, different size/volume of shot, velocity etc. all play a part in shot pattern, but tailoring them to what you want is done equally on the firearm end of things with chokes etc.

[Varmtr]

Its called shotgun patterning.

Usually done over 25 - 30y big piece of card board aim in the centre fire a shot and inspect the pattern. This is what your gun will do with that cartridge.

There are a few things which will effect patterns, shot size, type of wad used in the cartridge, velocity, choke size and the forcing cones in the barrel.

[yoshie]

Some times tightly choked barrels can throw weird patterns with different brands, also if you change over to steel shot its worth patterning that shot to see what it dose. It's also common for each barrel to throw a slightly different shape pattern.

[samf]

Its called shotgun patterning.

Yeah, thanks. I figured 'grouping' wasn't the right word but didn't know

Updated post.

[samf]

There are a few things which will effect patterns, shot size, type of wad used in the cartridge, velocity, choke size and the forcing cones in the barrel.

I see.

Sounds similar to reloading for rifles then. Pick the parts that perform like you want.

[Hadoku]

And for saving $$$ too of course.