Ever been out in sub-zero temperatures, perhaps exacerbated by a brisk wind-chill factor, just before sun-up in the field or next to the water and, after a few abortive shots at passing birds, wondered if something was wrong with your cartridges? Well, if you have, I’m happy to tell you that you were probably right.
The shotgun cartridge and the pattern it produces are affected externally by, among other factors: atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind. Then, internally, there’s the crimp and wadding; powder burning rate and pressure produced; shot size, hardness and uniformity of shape; length and width of the shot column; the bore size, its state, choke and barrel length. While the internal factors can be controlled to some extent by judicious cartridge and gun selection and/or reloading, we…
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Man Magnum (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2016