Many of my shooting friends, even those that are well-traveled, are surprised to learn shot shell sizes are not the same everywhere. So when you read that Lord Ripon was shooting driven pheasants with size 7 shot, it was really an American size 6 shot. This rich English tradition on even the toughest of driven birds, known for being shot well overhead, when understood in the proper pellet size, undermines a lot of American thought towards bigger shot sizes, longer shells, and more powerful shot shells.
|
American Size |
English Size |
European Size |
Australian Size |
|
Pellet Diameter Inches |
Pellet Diameter mm |
Pellet Weight (grains) |
Lead Pellets Per Oz. |
Steel Pellets Per Oz. |
||||
|
11 |
12 |
12 |
|
.062″ |
1.57 |
.35 |
1250 |
||||||
|
11 |
11 |
|
.066″ |
1.68 |
.42 |
1040 |
|||||||
|
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
.07″ |
1.78 |
.52 |
848 |
|||||
|
9 1/2 |
|
.075″ |
1.91 |
.63 |
688 |
||||||||
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
.08″ |
2.03 |
.75 |
568 |
|||||
|
8 1/2 |
8 |
8 |
|
.085″ |
2.21 |
.97 |
472 |
||||||
|
8 |
7 |
8 |
7.5 |
|
.09″ |
2.31 |
1.29 |
399 |
|||||
|
7 1/2 |
6 1/2 |
7 |
|
.095″ |
2.41 |
1.46 |
338 |
||||||
|
7 |
6 |
7 |
6 |
|
.10″ |
2.59 |
1.62 |
291 |
423 |
||||
|
6 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
.11″ |
2.79 |
1.99 |
218 |
317 |
||||
|
5 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
|
.12″ |
3.05 |
2.57 |
168 |
243 |
||||
|
4 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
|
.13″ |
3.25 |
3.12 |
132 |
192 |
||||
|
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
.14″ |
3.43 |
3.65 |
106 |
154 |
||||
|
2 |
B |
2 |
|
.15″ |
3.81 |
4.38 |
86 |
125 |
|||||
|
1 |
BB |
1 |
BB |
|
.16″ |
4.09 |
5.47 |
71 |
103 |
||||
|
BB |
A |
|
.177″ |
4.50 |
6.25 |
55 |
72 |
||||||
|
BBB |
AA |
AA |
|
.19″ |
4.83 |
7.29 |
42 |
61 |
|||||
|
T |
AAA |
AAA |
|
.20″ |
5.16 |
36 |
53 |
||||||
|
F |
|
.22″ |
5.59 |
27 |
39 |
||||||||
|
#4 Buck |
|
.24″ |
6.10 |
21 |
30 |
||||||||
|
#3 Buck |
SSSG |
SSG |
|
.25″ |
6.83 |
19 |
28 |
||||||
|
#1 Buck |
SSG |
|
.30″ |
7.62 |
11 |
||||||||
|
0 |
SG |
00/SG |
|
.32″ |
8.38 |
9 |
|||||||
|
00 |
|
.34″ |
8.64 |
8 |
|||||||||
|
000 |
LG |
|
.36″ |
9.14 |
6 |
