Cartridge speed ? Significant

[GeordieTrapper]

I read an article on ballistics with the following stats:

Shot from a 1200 fps cartridge no9 will reach 22 yards in 0.072 secs and be travelling at 740 fps

Shot from a 1300 fps cartridge no9 will reach 22 yards in 0.069 secs and be travelling at 772 fps

This would indicate a difference of 0.003 secs in arrival time at target, surely this is completely insignificant for any lead needed in skeet

Am I missing something or is cartridge speed immaterial in skeet?

 

[David Paul Gag]

well I think you have it right go for comfort

 

[GeordieTrapper]

Yes, lower speed should mean lower recoil

 

[Will Hewland]

Cartridge speed is pretty immaterial particularly in skeet. You’d never tell the difference and lower recoil is important for most, especially on the sim pairs. 

 

[Jan Powell]

Cartridge speed is pretty immaterial particularly in skeet. You’d never tell the difference and lower recoil is important for most, especially on the sim pairs. 

Cartridge speed’s pretty immaterial across the board. Testing tends to show the shot speed at the muzzle is often a long way from the manufacturers claims anyway.

Slower loads make for reduced recoil and comfort but no discernible impact on performance. There’s a tentative argument that slower shells produce better patterns but as shot speed’s so far down the list of factors that determine whether the target’s hit it’s not even worth thinking about.

 

[Luke_(NL)]

Wholly agreed. At .003 seconds, the difference in distance travelled by the target will be measured in inches at best. I do use “H.V.” shells however, but mainly because the Mirage are a pleasure to shoot and the barrel stays so much cleaner than the regular options at our range. 
 

I guess I am lazy both in not having to swing my gun as far, AND not having to clean it afterwards 

 

[Robden]

Wholly agreed. At .003 seconds, the difference in distance travelled by the target will be measured in inches at best. I do use “H.V.” shells however, but mainly because the Mirage are a pleasure to shoot and the barrel stays so much cleaner than the regular options at our range. 
 

I guess I am lazy both in not having to swing my gun as far, AND not having to clean it afterwards 

Skeet birds at about 58mph, so approx' 1/4 of an inch I reckon.

 

[westley]

I once sold a lot of cartridges on a ground I ran. I convinced people that due to their speed, they killed far more clays than the 'standard' cartridges they were using. We doubled our cartridge sales inside a month  ??

 

[Luke_(NL)]

Never ruin a good con by divulging it to its believers… 

 

[Jan Powell]

I once sold a lot of cartridges on a ground I ran. I convinced people that due to their speed, they killed far more clays than the 'standard' cartridges they were using. We doubled our cartridge sales inside a month  ??

An interesting story told to me by a chap in the know at one of the larger UK cartridge manufacturers.

In the early 2000’s this company was trying to market a new sporting load. To keep things simple they used the same slow burn powder loaded in their trap shells. Word got out and shooters avoided them. Some six months later a new product appeared loaded with the same components as previously but this time in a different coloured case and with ‘hyper fast’ written on the box. The grounds sold out within a fortnight!

 

[philpot]

I have used in the main Eley Superb for years but some years ago I joined a pub team shooting around the Sheffield area at different grounds on a Tuesday evening in the summer and very enjoyable it was. The problem for me was that all the grounds holding the comps used only fibre wad cartridges, hmmm what to use. At that time my local shops sold very few fibre wad shells as most grounds in North Lincs were any wad and so plastic ruled the sales ( I am waffling).

I bought Hull Cartridge range including Sovereign and Pro one or Pro Fibre (not sure) but nevertheless I found no difference between the Superb or the Hull Cartridge apart from the Eley being smoother to use in my humble opinion.

I totally agree regarding the speed ratings being taken at the muzzle and so not the performance further down range.

Phil