Test acts: how, what and why
Shotgun cartridge performance is something that has interested me since my youth and still does. Some may not understand why this is so but therein is the key: the more testing you carry out, the more differences you will spot. You must then ponder why some cartridges perform differently from others. This still is what makes the topic much more interesting than it might at first appear.
It is definitely a case of the more you discover the more you come to realise that there is always more to learn. That’s primarily how and why my interest is retained after many years of testing, more than 40 of them as part of my job.
The test procedure is fairly straightforward. However, to make the results you achieve meaningful, especially if seeking to fairly compare one load with another – as when choosing a different brand or perhaps trying a budget price option – it is necessary to be meticulously thorough to arrive at a true comparison. A quick couple of shots at a pattern plate, which may ‘look OK’, can suffice if that’s all you wish for. Meaningful tests that will show the true relative performance between cartridges requires some additional input.
Pattern tests
In my case, the tests I conduct have long been based on testing any new cartridges that come on to
