lead 5's or 6's

[BigPeck215]

patterned some lead loads to use as back up/short range (less that 40yds) loads in my nef 10 ga, they were the winchester 3.5", 2.25oz, 5's & 6's

the 6's gave me 130's at 40yds
the 5's gave me 120's at 40yds

i cant decide if i should go with the 6's or 5's, both patterns were evenly spread and looked identical, i'm leaning towards the 5's for the extra power, even though the 6's shot marginally better i'm concerned about 6's penetration, What do you guys think?  

[nyhunter]

You said short range ,so you'll have no problem with the 6's. I have personally killed a turkey with that same #6 load in 12ga at 55yds. So i know it will do it but I DO NOT AND WOULD NOT RECOMMEND SHOOTING THAT FAR WITH ANY LOAD, " it was a huge yardage error  on my part". With all that said the #5 pattern is very good to. If you  are shooting close range you should look at your 20" pattern, you don't wanna be to tight at close range.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

I'd go with the #5's, unless I could get 20 extra pellets with the #6's.

[surehuntsalot]

I have always preferred #5's myself

[200racing]

i just got 5 to use. i had a six skip off a toms skull monday.

[stinkpickle]

... i had a six skip off a toms skull monday.

How far away was that?   

[200racing]

... i had a six skip off a toms skull monday.

How far away was that?   

under 40yds found the small chip doing a euro mount

[Reloader]

6s will kill them cleanly to 50yds if the patterns hold, further if the patterns would hold.

Any pellet, even HTL, can glance off of bone.

[dawei]

6s will kill them cleanly to 50yds if the patterns hold, further if the patterns would hold.

Any pellet, even HTL, can glance off of bone.

If we are talking about Pb: just my $0.02, not trying to offend anyone, but; I would not take a 50yd shot at a tom with #6 no matter how dense the pattern. OTOH, if I had a even & dense enough pattern w/#4 or #5Pb I 'might' take a 50yd shot. When shooting Pb I have great faith in my gun(s) ability w/#4Pb.

HTL loads are a whole nuther ball game.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

I can understand people using #6's inside 35 yards all day long, but if I wanted a real-deal head knocker out past 35 yards, I'd stick with #5's for the sheer power per pellet advantage.  I like using shells that have true one pellet stopping power.  On the other hand, I know that #4's excel in stopping power, but there are so few pellets per shell, that most guns will not pattern them well enough to give decent pattern coverage.

I like Lead #5's.  But I'm going to pattern some #6's through my 870, BPS, and all of my turkey chokes here soon.  It's been a while since I looked at #6 patterns.