Why don’t more guys use No.9 Skeet shooting cartridges?

SKEET SHOOTING
John Bidwell
You have raised an interesting point. Some years ago ‘Skeet shells’ were used much more extensively by Sporting shooters than they are today, especially on close to mid-range targets.

Today I think you would be hard pushed to find many folk at a shoot with a box or two of No. 9s even in their bag.

In fact some have probably never fired one in their lives!

The reason for this, I think, is because the type of targets now encountered at shooting grounds has changed in recent years.

Clays, generally, are being presented at longer ranges and with a fair proportion of them as quartering away birds to boot.

Shooters feel more confident in breaking such targets with larger shot in the form of 7s or 7.1/2s – the thought of using No. 9 shot never crosses their mind.

And yet… A dense pattern of small shot fired through fairly tight chokes will thoroughly mince most long range clays should they show anything of their softer underbelly.

If you have a tightly choked gun, why not give 9s a proper trial – I think you might be pleasantly surprised at their effectiveness.