Piston Type shells

Morning all

I now have a fixed choke trap gun and wanted to know what Piston type shells are out there.  I've shot the Fiocchi Biors which are great.  I know a chap who shoots the hulls in his MK38 trap to great effect as well.  However, I am interested in 21gram and 24gram fibre shells with soft shot in 9's just for the odd close stuff.  Cheap as possible is what I'd like.

Cheers

Geordieboy said:

Morning all

I now have a fixed choke trap gun and wanted to know what Piston type shells are out there.  I've shot the Fiocchi Biors which are great.  I know a chap who shoots the hulls in his MK38 trap to great effect as well.  However, I am interested in 21gram and 24gram fibre shells with soft shot in 9's just for the odd close stuff.  Cheap as possible is what I'd like.

Cheers

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I’ve found these things do very little for wide spread and are expensive. If they still make them, get some Express 21g fibres. Widest spread I ever found. 

I had to look this up just to see what a "piston type shell" is and what it does, so thanks for today's lesson learned. Are these specifically designed to obtain a wider shot pattern with tightly choked guns, or would they (allegedly) also spread a wider pattern in say a skeet-skeet gun? 

Funnily enough, this thread came up in my search and it seems the "soft and gentle Geordie"  had a penchant for Fiocchi back then too 

https://www.shootclayforum.com/topic/20684-hull-pro-piston-9-shot-at-the-range/

Luke_(NL) said:

I had to look this up just to see what a "piston type shell" is and what it does, so thanks for today's lesson learned. Are these specifically designed to obtain a wider shot pattern with tightly choked guns, or would they (allegedly) also spread a wider pattern in say a skeet-skeet gun? 

Funnily enough, this thread came up in my search and it seems the "soft and gentle Geordie"  had a penchant for Fiocchi back then too 

https://www.shootclayforum.com/topic/20684-hull-pro-piston-9-shot-at-the-range/

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So then, I'm back to shooting a fixed choke Mk38. 3/4 Full chokes. 

I shot a superb at a damp bank at 20yds and had a steering wheel sized pattern. 

I then shot a Fiocchi f3 Bior at the same damp bank and lo and behold, the same size pattern. 

Highly unscientific of course but I'm happy to put this to bed.... finally.

As I’ve said before (a while back), even if you find a super spreading cartridge (do we call that a COVID 19 cartridge these days)?.. then you may cause a head-problem. I found it most distracting to think I was chucking a dustbin lid at a 15 yard clay and usually missed, thinking the huge spread would make up for my lack of attention paid. I’m a one shell / one choke chap now. 

Will Hewland said:

As I’ve said before (a while back), even if you find a super spreading cartridge (do we call that a COVID 19 cartridge these days)?.. then you may cause a head-problem. I found it most distracting to think I was chucking a dustbin lid at a 15 yard clay and usually missed, thinking the huge spread would make up for my lack of attention paid. I’m a one shell / one choke chap now. 

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 What is your one shell of choice at the moment will? 

Steelrain said:

 What is your one shell of choice at the moment will? 

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Gamebore Evo plas 28g 8 shot. Nothing special, but actually a very even pattern, smooth recoil and sensible money. 

I'm using gambore dtl at the moment myself but they are a bit pricey, always tempted to try the velocity+ when I see the price difference at my dealers but always wonder what the quality of the budget line gambore cartridges is like. 

Steelrain said:

I'm using gambore dtl at the moment myself but they are a bit pricey, always tempted to try the velocity+ when I see the price difference at my dealers but always wonder what the quality of the budget line gambore cartridges is like. 

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Velocity + plas wad are very good. Not so soft on recoil though. I’ve had dubious variance on velocity fibres..

Will Hewland said:

Velocity + plas wad are very good. Not so soft on recoil though. I’ve had dubious variance on velocity fibres..

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Good to know Will I'll give them a try, I'm starting to think lately I really don't need to be shooting expensive shell's some of my best scores have been with budget shell's, do you find the evos a better overall shell than the velocity, smother and harder hitting and the like? 

Steelrain said:

Good to know Will I'll give them a try, I'm starting to think lately I really don't need to be shooting expensive shell's some of my best scores have been with budget shell's, do you find the evos a better overall shell than the velocity, smother and harder hitting and the like? 

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Certainly smoother and I’ve never doubted them on really long stuff. Expensive shells are used by beginners looking for an advantage and by top shooters who get them at a discount.. or free..

Will Hewland said:

Certainly smoother and I’ve never doubted them on really long stuff. Expensive shells are used by beginners looking for an advantage and by top shooters who get them at a discount.. or free..

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I'll get a slab of velocity+ and evo's and give them a go, thanks for the info Will. 

Steelrain said:

I'll get a slab of velocity+ and evo's and give them a go, thanks for the info Will. 

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Like most “normal” shooters, my results are up and down but I had a decent stretch recently at several grounds where the cartridges would have let me down if not good. They were fine. 

I shot a slab of Evo 28 gram plas wads 8's just before second lockdown and they were very good indeed for the money. I've always shot budget shells (velocity+, superfast, Olympic blues, select ect) and I'm looking at going fully onto evo's when my current stocks run out. Rumour has it they are a white gold without the diamond shot.

Jonny English said:

I shot a slab of Evo 28 gram plas wads 8's just before second lockdown and they were very good indeed for the money. I've always shot budget shells (velocity+, superfast, Olympic blues, select ect) and I'm looking at going fully onto evo's when my current stocks run out. Rumour has it they are a white gold without the diamond shot.

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Do you find the Evo's the smoothest of the cartridges you have tryed Johnny,I've had luck with eley blues on the past too but they are after getting a price hike in my dealers lately. 

Steelrain said:

Do you find the Evo's the smoothest of the cartridges you have tryed Johnny,I've had luck with eley blues on the past too but they are after getting a price hike in my dealers lately. 

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I find the evo's are on a par with the olympic blues, possibly slightly smoother. I've found superfast and velocity+ to be a bit on the punchy side for my taste, but they do break clays very well at any range.  I have also shot some of the Olympic blues in fibre, didn't like them at all, far too lively for me unfortunately. The evo's come in a very good selection of wads, shot sizes and load weights, the cases look pretty tidy as well in the see through blue

Jonny English said:

I find the evo's are on a par with the olympic blues, possibly slightly smoother. I've found superfast and velocity+ to be a bit on the punchy side for my taste, but they do break clays very well at any range.  I have also shot some of the Olympic blues in fibre, didn't like them at all, far too lively for me unfortunately. The evo's come in a very good selection of wads, shot sizes and load weights, the cases look pretty tidy as well in the see through blue

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Just shows no need to be spending big on shells, the quality of the budget stuff these days really is on the way up ever year, cheap and cheerful for me from now on I think. 

Jonny English said:

I find the evo's are on a par with the olympic blues, possibly slightly smoother. I've found superfast and velocity+ to be a bit on the punchy side for my taste, but they do break clays very well at any range.  I have also shot some of the Olympic blues in fibre, didn't like them at all, far too lively for me unfortunately. The evo's come in a very good selection of wads, shot sizes and load weights, the cases look pretty tidy as well in the see through blue

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Super fast plastic are the softest shell above 24g I have ever felt. The fibres thump. (Comp x 28g are actually softer but don’t even feel like a serious cartridge, so don’t count )
 

What lead me to Evos initially was that they are available in Uk 8 (2.2mm) which is actually fairly unusual among sensibly priced 28g shells..

My daughter has been using EVO 28g fibres for quite a few years and they are a very solid, reliable cartridge. They are in the mid table speed wise and pattern (in her 101 with 1/4 & 1/2) nicely. She ended up with them because they are low on recoil. My experience matches Will's - only the XComps are better recoil wise. She leaves her chokes in and even at 40 yards+ the EVOs do the job.

I expect with 3/4 and full chokes you will struggle to find much difference between cartridges at 20 yards, even those which are 'advertised' to open out. At thirty it maybe different but I don't see the point in trying to 'defeat' the guns tight chokes at that range. I agree that it would be a waste of time over analysing the spread and messing about with cartridges to much. You may encounter a domed teal at 25 yards with 1/4 choke once in a whilst but if you can't hit that I would spend the money on lessons !!!