Recognising the quality of a cartridge......

[Choke]

I've been wondering recently if I'm at the level where I'd notice any benefits from a better quality cartridge.  I've done a few searches on here and haven't been able to find this, so apologies if it's been covered already.

I've been taking my shooting seriously now for just over a year now.  I've had some lessons from a good coach and I shoot at least once a week.

Up to now, I've been in the school of thought that the only way to get better is to practice and part of that practice is to throw cartridges through the gun at a heavy rate to encourage muscle memory etc., my theory being that it gets the process to feeling completely natural.

I've been using the cheapest cartridges that I could find, Eley First 28g 8 at 150 a thousand, because of the rate I go through them.

I've noticed recently that these don't seem to act consistently on clays that are side on & though it may be me and my poor focus, occasionally a different sort of bird will keep flying even though I'd shot it the same way as previous birds.

I know this is opening myself up to a right pasting, but spending the time and money that I do on my hobby, I want to ensure I'm not missing out on a trick.

So, with that in mind,  and if the consensus points this way, what should my budget be for a thousand cartridges? 165, 180, 200   :fie:

 

[Sian]

if you look a little further down the list in this section there was a discussion on cartridges.

 

[Fuzrat]

 

[EdSolomons]

Save your money. It's you...

 

[Jan Powell]

It is you, but that said, equipment is important. Which discipline do you shoot?

 

[Richard59]

Oh to be a good a shot as a cartridge is a good a cartridge

 

[Danny 82]

I've only been shooting sporting for the last few months and have shot the cheap cartridges and relatively expensive ones too.
I shoot Gamebore 24g Super steel for Skeet as there is less punch and the kills are good and equally the price is blooming good!
 

I have tried Eley First, RC2, RC4, Pro Comp, Super Comp, Fiocchi Blues, Fiocchi Trap to list a few but have settled on Eley Superb, not cheap but I personally feel that I get better kills and less kick!!!  Fiocchi Blues are v v nice too and about £20 squid cheaper than Eley Superb's

I did however shoot pretty much the same with all the above cartridges!  It solely came down to how comfortable I was shooting with a certain cartridge!

 

 

[S.Deaville]

I started out around 9 months ago using Hull Comp X. Great cartridge. I practiced a lot using these and by doing that got better quickly. I have since made the switch to Hull Pro One. There is a difference on long range stuff and the kills are a lot different. But use what you can afford to go shooting when you want. Not being able to go shooting due to having the best and most expensive gear is no good!

 

[Choke]

Save your money. It's you...

It is you, but that said, equipment is important. Which discipline do you shoot?

I thought that may be the consensus.

I mainly shoot sporting.

 

[PhilS]

I've been shooting for 10 months now and all I have used for 9 of them is Kent Velocities, approx. £160/1000.

I find them smooth, less punchy than any 28g that I have tried (but I haven't tried them all!) and kill anything that I point them at. 

If it doesn't break it is down to the muppet behind the gun, not the cartridge.

 

[ips]

There are no bad cartridges only cheap ones and expensive ones. A good shooter can shoot good scores with cheap ones an average shooter will shoot average scores with expensive ones. Make of that what you will.

 

[Buffalo]

Give Cocketts Farm (Nottinghamshire) a call you will get Kent Velocity cheaper than £160 a thousand. You can also view their cartridge prices on line too

I've been shooting for 10 months now and all I have used for 9 of them is Kent Velocities, approx. £160/1000.

I find them smooth, less punchy than any 28g that I have tried (but I haven't tried them all!) and kill anything that I point them at. 

If it doesn't break it is down to the muppet behind the gun, not the cartridge.

 

[PhilS]

Give Cocketts Farm (Nottinghamshire) a call you will get Kent Velocity cheaper than £160 a thousand. You can also view their cartridge prices on line too
 
I've been shooting for 10 months now and all I have used for 9 of them is Kent Velocities, approx. £160/1000.
 
I find them smooth, less punchy than any 28g that I have tried (but I haven't tried them all!) and kill anything that I point them at. 
 
If it doesn't break it is down to the muppet behind the gun, not the cartridge.

Thanks Neil.

I shoot there quite often and buy carts between Roger and my local gun shop. By the time I've paid the fuel its as cheap to stay local unless I'm shooting there

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[maddmatt]

I've been wondering recently if I'm at the level where I'd notice any benefits from a better quality cartridge.  I've done a few searches on here and haven't been able to find this, so apologies if it's been covered already.

I've been taking my shooting seriously now for just over a year now.  I've had some lessons from a good coach and I shoot at least once a week.

Up to now, I've been in the school of thought that the only way to get better is to practice and part of that practice is to throw cartridges through the gun at a heavy rate to encourage muscle memory etc., my theory being that it gets the process to feeling completely natural.

I've been using the cheapest cartridges that I could find, Eley First 28g 8 at 150 a thousand, because of the rate I go through them.

I've noticed recently that these don't seem to act consistently on clays that are side on & though it may be me and my poor focus, occasionally a different sort of bird will keep flying even though I'd shot it the same way as previous birds.

I know this is opening myself up to a right pasting, but spending the time and money that I do on my hobby, I want to ensure I'm not missing out on a trick.

So, with that in mind,  and if the consensus points this way, what should my budget be for a thousand cartridges? 165, 180, 200   :fie:

What I would say is: you need to find a cartridge that ticks all of YOUR boxes, based on:

Recoil, how do they feel through your gun and if its multi choked, through the chokes you use the most often

Pattern density, are your kills all ink blots, do they break in half? Look at how the cartridge is breaking targets

Cost, if cartridge A is £175 per 1,000 and cartridge B is £200 per 1,000 does £25 really make a difference? If brand B gives you a little more confidence when you shoot?

I find certain cartridges regardless of cost are just pants through my gun and other cartridges fantastic, you need to spend some time to work out which ones work best through your gun.

 

[jwpzx9r]

I am new to shooting ABT and to me cartridges are something that I have not yet really explored. There are a number of reasons for this but mainly availability. I live out of town and that town is small with few places to buy. I have only tried two makes Mary Arm at €200 per thousand and my usual Solognac at €160 per thousand from Decathlon not much difference in price really. I have only shot the Mary Arms once and to be honest did not notice much difference in feel or result. I was shooting on Friday and managed a 21 and 22 with the solognacs the round of 22 was made up of 21 first barrel kills and one second. The guy before me was using an expensive Mary Arm cartridge he hit a 23 but had 5 second barrel kills. When I hit on the first barrel the target is powdered just as much as his so, going on what I am seeing at the moment, I am not going to mess up my mind with cartridges at this time. I think you could get hooked on trying to find a 25 straight by buying different cartridges when the truth is if you hit the right bit of sky the target breaks. That said if I stall on say 23 or 24 next year I might just search out a new cartridge that will get me the 25

 

[PhilS]

That said if I stall on say 23 or 24 next year I might just search out a new cartridge that will get me the 25

It's the one you're already using!  All in the noggin!