Hunting shot along with a bullet and buckshot is a projectile for the cartridge. It is a small metal balls, although it may have a different shape, for example, cubes. Most often they are used for shooting from smooth-bore weapons for bird hunting and a small beast.
Material
Lead hunting fraction often happens with a small admixture of other substances: antimony, tin, arsenic. Different countries have their own preferences and rules for its manufacture. In some countries (France, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and others) there are restrictions or prohibitions on the use of any hunting ammunition containing lead. This is dictated by concern for the conservation of nature.
The English hunting fraction contains about 0.2% of arsenic, which facilitates the process of giving it a spherical shape, makes it harder than the fraction of pure lead. The quality of English shells is recognized as the best in the world. Cast from bismuth and steel.
Fraction sizes
Fraction numbers indicate its size. When buying a product of foreign manufacturers should pay attention to the country of manufacture. In England, Germany, Russia, the smaller the fraction, the greater the number of its designation. In Sweden, there is a different marking - the more pellets, the lower their number. The difference between them is determined at 0.25 mm diameter of the ball.
Hunting shot sizes are as follows:
Diameter | 1.75 mm | 2.00 mm | 2.25 mm | 2,50 mm | 2.75 mm | 3.00 mm | 3.25 mm | 3,50 mm | 3.75 mm | 4.00 mm | 4.25 mm | 4,50 mm | 4.75 mm | 5.00 mm |
room | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | four | 3 | 2 | one | 0 | 00 | 000 | 0000 |
Number of pieces in 10 g | 317 | 217 | 140 | 104 | 79 | 62 | 48 | 40 | 32 | 25 | 21 | eighteen | 15,5 | 13.5 |
There are 11 and 12 numbers with a diameter of 1.5 mm and 1.25 mm, respectively, but are used very rarely. Such a fraction is good for hunting small birds at close range.
Hunting shot with designations from 0 to 0000 is called half-cooked. Shotguns with a diameter of more than 5 mm are classified as buckshot; it is used for larger game.
Fraction marking
In addition to information about the size, there is a special marking indicating the physical characteristics of the product.
Types of hunting shots:
- soft hunting - OM;
- solid hunting - FROM;
- solid sports - ST.
Solid hunting is in great demand, it gives great lethal force and better scree. To reduce the barrel lead process, it is sometimes covered with a thin layer of chromium, copper or nickel (by the galvanic method). A letter is added to the legend indicating the method for making the fraction:
- katana - K;
- cast - L;
- stamped - Sh.
The hardness of rolled steel is 11 kg / mm 2 and cast - 13 kg / mm 2 . In addition, there may be one more clarification on the package: hunting shot by type of game, indicating the distance of the shot. For the convenience of customers, some manufacturers also indicate the preferred time for hunting one or another game (autumn, spring, summer, winter).
Do it yourself
There are hunters who prefer to produce shots on their own. The technology is simple, it requires caution (not to get burned) and some skill.
To begin with, in a old frying pan in the corner you need to make a small hole no thicker than a needle. Then chopped lead (a couple of kilograms) is placed in the container and put it on the fire (stove or blowtorch). Below the hole made, put a metal mug with cold water.
To make the groove, you need to take a piece of cotton fabric 10 x 3 cm, moisten it well with water and fold it in the form of a groove. One end is substituted under the hole in the pan, the second is sent to a mug of water.
When melted, the lead drips onto the gutter and rolls into the water, where, when cooled, it takes the form of a ball. The less time a drop of lead will be in the air, the more regular the fraction will be. This can be adjusted by the water level in the tank or by the length of the groove.
In the manufacture of fractions, the diameter is controlled by the degree of heating of lead: a higher temperature gives a smaller diameter of the balls. It is necessary to ensure that the hunting fraction is obtained of a spherical regular shape, without tails, fistulas and shells.
Application
To reliably hit a game, a minimum of 4 pellets must fall into it. Moreover, each of them should correspond to 1/5000 of the carcass weight. The speed of the projectile is not less than 150 meters per second. Shot distance should not exceed 50 meters.
A large fraction reduces the chances of hitting a game with 4-5 charges, and this can lead to a large number of wounded animals. It is better to use a fraction of a smaller diameter.
Experienced hunters in winter use shells for cartridges a couple of numbers larger than in the autumn. This is justified by the fact that the bird has a denser plumage in winter, and the lower one in animals.
Classification by type of game
Each fraction number is used for hunting for a specific game:
- half-cooked 0000 - goose, wolf, roe deer and other animals of medium size;
- half-cooked 000 - goose, wolf, roe deer and other medium-sized animals (distance no more than 50 meters);
- half-cooked 00 - large bird, roe deer (no further than 35 meters);
- half-cooked 0 - large bird, hare, fox;
- No. 1 - a hare, a goose;
- No. 2 - a hare;
- No. 3 - duck, hare;
- No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 - duck (up to 50 meters), black grouse, young wood grouse, fox and hare (up to 40 meters);
- No. 7, No. 8 - coot, duck, partridge, hazel grouse, black grouse brood;
- No. 9, No. 10 - snipe, hazel grouse, hollow, small Easter cakes;
- No. 11, No. 12 - quail, garnish.
The hunting fraction is classified by type of game and by time of hunting. The number is selected individually by each hunter, but they all adhere to the following recommendations:
- Snipe, quail, hollow. In August-September, fraction No. 8-10, in October-November - No. 7-9.
- Diving, Mallard. In April-May - No. 4-5, in August-September - No. 5-6, in October-November - No. 3-4.
- Woodcock. In April-May - No. 7-8, in August-September - No. 8-9, in October-November - No. 6-7.
- Geese. In October-November - No. 1-00.
- Teal. In April-May - No. 5-6, in August-September - No. 6-7, in October-November - No. 5-6.
- Grouse. In August-September, fraction No. 6-7, in October-November - No. 5-6.
- Black grouse. In April-May - No. 3-5, in August-September - No. 5-6, in October-November - No. 3-5.
- Brown hare. In October-November - No. 3-4, in December-January - No. 1-2.
- White hare. In October-November - No. 2-3, in December-January - No. 2-3.
- Fox. In October-November - No. 2-0, in December-January - No. 1-0.
The right choice of fraction will help to avoid disappointment in the hunt and prevent the useless and painful death of game.