I get tighter patterns with 7.5s than 9s.

Trash that ammo , you should have about 200 #9 pellets in a 10" at 50 yards with a 20ga and they should blow through that corrugated plastic. I shot a coyote a few years ago with 9s at 32 steps , I think about every pellet that went in was a pass through. My pattern with 9s is 275 in the 10" at 40 .

You need to get a big poster board to shoot at to check your patterns. No idea about the penetration issue, but 9s will kill plenty dead way out there. I’d find some apex 1 5/8 oz and your .582 should be fine. Shoot at a dot first, then draw your 10 inch circle where the majority of your pattern is located. If you’re shooting a bead, there’s no telling where you’re hitting at 50 yards, but I guarantee you it ain’t centered up on that 10 inch square target you’re shooting at

Loaded and choked properly, that many T9s change the question of whether you can kill one so far to whether you should kill one so far. My .410 with T9.5s patterns well enough to kill a gobbler further than I'll shoot.

You got issues. It's not 18g/cc tungsten shot.

I doubt it’s the shells. Probably not shooting to point of aim.

I’m gonna add this, mainly because I didn’t do it personally, but my buddy killed one this morning (3 1/2 in 12ga with Apex straight 9’s- I know because I gave him the shells) at what he said was 77 steps. Bird hung up and was skirting his set up and he took a shot that turned out much longer than he thought it was. When we examined the bird I noted several of his wing feathers were broken off, turned out he hit much lower than the head and the load penetrated the birds wing and body and killed him on the spot. I’m still shaking my head at this one.

At 77 yards the pattern is dropping off the intended kill zone. That's why you see some loads at higher velocity. They intended for sniping.

I shot one at 40-ish earlier in season. Federal 7x9. I was a little surprised to find a pellet against the bone when I cleaned it. I have little doubt that the guys who “roll their own” get much better performance than the commercial loads. Buddy of mine said the tss pellet didn’t look quite the same color as ones he was rolling. I’ll find a pic and add. I gotta get set up to roll my own.

Looks like Remington zinc plated steel shot for ducks to me Anthony

Some of the guys on duck hunting chat compared single pellet to multiple pellet hits and shot sizes and trauma and so on. Got real technical and scientific. Basically the more hits the more carnage and kills. A lot of larger pellet pulls in feathers so slows advantage of bigger shot. Smaller pellet deeper penetration because of lack of resistance.

I used the load you gave me many years ago and was using up the 7s form long ago. I still have about a half pound or so. If and when I run out I’ll go to 8x9s just simply because Ibsen to like my patterns better with mixed shot sizes versus single shot size. Honestly doubt there’s any difference. LOL just preference.


Also the smallest shot is loaded first with the largest/heaviest in front so as to keep the shot from overrunning the ones in front of it. Or so the theory goes.

I roll my own and use 8’s. Shot one at 20 yds and there were multiple shot in the top of the breast.