I should know better than to ask!

[Tom b]

Being an experienced shooter I should know better than to ask but, I’ve been away from shooting properly for a few years and have got into a habit of using whatever is cheap and local for the odd straw bailer I’ve occasionally attended. Im trying to get back to regular registered shooting so what is a good easy to attain competition cartridge that won’t completely break the bank? I’m not particularly recoil or brand sensitive, I just want a consistently decent shell I can stick with. 

 

[MJJ]

Whatever you can get locally is usually the best bet - Whatever the make. 

 

[Iggy]

I think generally speaking the main brands are probably most widely available....Hull,    Eley, Gamebore etc....

If you’re shooting the odd straw bailer it’ll probably be fibre, Ive recently been using Eley 1st/Select 28g 8’s and been really surprised at how decent they are for the money. 

 

[chippy]

Keep using the same cartridges.they will break any clay you shoot at on a registered shoot.

 

[brin]

make youre own i make 26 gram 22grain of cbs5 powder  i make my own shot £2.50 a box and they break the clays 

 

[MartynB]

I’ve come round to Eley Olympic Blues in 7.5  as being a perfect  budget all rounder . My preferred stockist only keeps Eley and Express , and I prefer the Oly blue to Express Power Blue which is a similar price, but kicks a bit more   .  I shoot both plastic and fibre as grounds dictate .  I mix and match slabs of each and get the proportionate 1000 price .  The fibre shoots through so called over bored barrels without issue . 

The Eley First  are a nice cartridge at around £15 a 1000 cheaper but the Olympic Blue hits harder at distance  for not much more perceived recoil IMHO .

 

[Charliedog]

Eley select are very good budget cartridge, any of the cheddite range great especially the smart strikes

 

[jasper]

My go to is fiocchi fblu . Big brass , fast and very hard shot, same wad as fblack .  Only available in 7's but they are smooth very hard hitting and as cheap as all the budget stuff, but a step up imo. Get them anywhere .

Jasper 

 

[Doctor Lecter]

availability   , cost ,    end results   ,     personal preference     all play a part  ,     most cartridges out perform me  to be honest !!  

 

[Cosmicblue]

I've said this before but there is a tendency to overthink the cartridge thing.   As most of us shoot lead loads consider, just for a moment, what's happening when that firing pin hits the primer after you pull the trigger - we are using high explosive to accelerate from rest to supersonic a bunch of soft lead shot down steel tubes with constrictions in (forcing cones and chokes).    Steel is much harder than lead so the shot always comes off worst - so by the time load exits the muzzle a whole bunch of them are no longer perfect spheres but rather misshapen and will likely start to deviate from the path we hoped for.   

It seems remarkable that we have any level of consistency at all considering the above.    For myself, when I started out, I used to shoot expensive shells - and then, over time, seasoned shooters suggested that it was actually mostly a head-game and that budget brands work just as well at my mediocre level of ability.   So now I'll shoot those Jocker shells, they smoke targets at range just as well the expensive stuff.

For those of you buying expensive shells...the ones with the high-brass etc - please don't let me put you off and do continue as you are most likely subsidising the bottom end of the market 

 

[MartynB]

For those of you buying expensive shells...the ones with the high-brass etc - please don't let me put you off and do continue as you are most likely subsidising the bottom end of the market 

I bought a slab of eye watering expensive super duper 20g game shells the other week . One of the unique selling points of this particular shell according to the marketing bullsh*t , is ,

“ low brass to aid extraction “ ... you couldn’t make it up could you

 

[ips]

Aye those high brass jobs are a right bitch to extract

 

[Sian]

For a good few years now I’ve used Fiocchi TT 28g plastic because they are reasonably priced and plentiful in my area and they do what they are supposed to do.