Richard Atkins has decades of experience testing guns, cartridges and accessories, and is our expert on all aspects of ballistics, shotgun performance and technical analysis
You can tell that clay shooting is a vibrant sport by the huge number of products that are available, whether that’s guns, clothing, hearing and eye protection... or cartridges! Having more choice is good; there’s plenty of opportunity to find what suits you best, and it keeps prices competitive. Until recently, the choice of cartridge shot loads was simple: 28 grams for domestic competitions, 24g for ISSF disciplines and 21g as an economical option for training and low recoil requirements. Then along came the move to slightly lighter than 28g loads.