I am sorry this is so long and many will probably pass this by as being too much. I just wanted to give an independent analysis of some things that I and many others on this board have pondered over the years.
Winchester Supreme High Vel. lead #6 (2 0z) 3.5 inch
Winchester XR #6 (2 Oz.) 3.5 inch
Rem Hevishot #6 (1.75 Oz.) 3.5 inch
Hevi 13 #6 (1.625 Oz.) 3 inch
Federal Heavyweight #6 (1.875 oz) 3.5 inch
I took these shells and weighed them out to see what the real deal was on pellet data.
WEIGHT DATA
Win lead #6 (advertised 2 ounce) = (actual wt 2 ounces) calculated 226 pellets per ounce and .1250 grams per pellet (200 pellet average)
1.929 grains per pellet
Win XR (advertised 2 oz) = (actual wt 1.99 ounces) calculated 226 pellets per ounce and .1250 grams per pellet (200 pellet average) YES, I weighed the lead and XR shot three times and on my scientifically calibrated laboratory scale they wound up being the same!!!!
1.929 grains per pellet
Rem Hevishot (advertised 1.75 oz.) = (actual wt. 1.73 oz. with plastic beads/ 1.69 oz of actual shot) calculated 236 pellets per ounce and .1213 grams per pellet (200 pellet average) Yes, I weighed these out three times also. I noticed this hevishot was on average smaller in size than other #6 pellets.
1.872 grains per pellet
Hevi 13 (advertised wt. 1.625 oz) = (actual wt 1.68 oz with beads/ 1.65 oz of actual shot) calculated 189 pellets per oz and .1518 grams per pellet. This shot was "relatively" uniform in size and shape.
2.3426 grains per pellet
Fed HvyWt. (advertised 1.875 oz) = (actual 1.93 oz with beads/ 1.877 oz of actual shot) calculated 158 pellets per ounce and .1789 grams per pellet.
2.7608 grains per pellet
also lead #7.5 shot was 363 pellets per oz and .0780 grams per pellet.
1.204 grains per pellet
I want to use this to calculate the % heavier than lead.
I went back and re-weighed pellets and came up with numbers within 1% of the previous data. My balance will weigh individual pellets but I took 50 pellets and took that weight divided by 50. Then I took 100 and divided by 100 and took 200 pellets weight and divided by 200 to get several numbers of individual pellet weight. All the numbers were within 2% of each other. The most reliable weight is that of the 200 pellet count so I published that data. I also checked the actual pellets per ounce. This can be figured by math but I also put pellets in a petri dish that was tared and added pellets until I reached 28.350 grams (one ounce is 28.349527 grams)
PELLET SIZE DATA:
I took ten random pellets from each selection and used a digital caliper which is ISO 17025 compliant with a traceable certificate of calibration.
Here is the diameter of the pellets in inches:
I will eliminate the raw data after first set.
Win
#6 LEAD
.1060, .1080, .1080, .1085, .1090, .1105, .1110,
.1110, .1115, .1115 in.
(Average size of lead is .1095)
difference of largest and smallest is .0055
Winchester XR
#6
average pellet size .1065
largest .1080 smallest .1050 difference is .0030
rem hevishot
#6
average size .1060
largest .116 smallest .0955 difference is .0205
Hevi 13
#6
average size .1135
largest .1285 smallest .1065 difference is .0220
Fed HvyWt.
#6
average size .1120
largest .1145 smallest .1080 difference is .0065
7.5 lead is
average size is .0942
largest is .0960 smallest is .0930 difference is .0030
The size in order of largest to smallest is :
Hevi 13 largest #6 pellet
Fed HW #6
Lead #6
Win XR #6
Rem Hevishot #6
The win XR is smaller than a regular #6 copper coated lead. This will be the reason the pellets weigh the same. The density of XR is greater than lead but the pellets are smaller. Conversely, the hevi 13 and Federal Heavyweight are larger than lead on average so their weights are slightly inflated due to their size difference. I was suprised to see that Heavyweight is much heavier than lead but not the largest pellet size.
And Finally the DENSITY calculations!!!!!
*Remember that most shot is not pure lead but a lead alloy and things like copper coating will also change overall density.
The density of pure lead is 11.3 grams per cubic centimeter.
Winchester #6 copper coated lead is 11.096 g/cubic cm.
Winchester XR #6 is 12.060 g/cubic cm.
Rem Hevishot #6 is 11.870 g/ cubic cm.
Hevi 13 #6 is 12.100 g/cubic cm.
Federal heavyweight #6 is 14.841 g/cubic cm.
The 7.5 lead shot I tested was 10.880 g/cubic cm.
This left Winchester XR as 6.73% more dense than pure lead, 8.69% more dense than copper plated lead, and 10.85% more dense than lead alloy shot.
The Rem Hevishot was 5.04% more dense than pure lead, 6.98% more dense than copper plated lead, and 9.10% more dense than lead alloy shot.
Hevi 13 was 7.08% more dense than pure lead, 9.05% more dense than copper coated lead, and 11.21% more dense than lead alloy shot.
Fed Heavyweight was 31.34% more dense than pure lead, 33.75% more dense than copper plated lead, and 36.40% more dense than lead alloy shot.
CONCLUSIONS
Not every pellet in the new heavier than lead series is the same size. Manufacturers of many products make claims based on optimal results. I see this every day in the mine is better than theirs adverising. Always shoot what is best for you wether it be lead or hevi 13 or something else. THEY WILL ALL KILL TURKEYS. For those of us that wanted some numbers, here they are. Hopefully someone will replicate what I have done in the future to prove that my methods were sound. If someone sees a problem in what I have done or has a question, let me know.
