What constitutes a perfect pattern?

There are lots of opinions regarding this simple question.  Among clay bird shooters, some really want to powder a target when they're right on and will accept misses when they're off.  Others are happy to split targets in two or four pieces all day long.  Wing shooters argue about what size shot it takes to bring them down and the perfect yardage.  All these things effect what is perceived as the perfect pattern.

Here at Shotgun Pattern Services, we take sort of a middle ground.  We try for patterns that kill targets while allowing the maximum operator error.  Sounds simple. In order to achieve this we look for a kill zone that is slightly smaller than it could be to allow extra BBs in the center of the pattern.  This density gradient from the center to the edges is important for feedback to the shooter.  When he is dead center, the target will be obviously dead, breaking into a dozen or more pieces.  As the shooter strays from perfect, the hits will be slightly less crushing but still plenty effective.  As the shooter gets even farther off, single large pieces of target may fly away as the target breaks.  These large pieces show the shooter where the BBs weren't, letting the shooter adjust his sight picture for future shots.

So what do you look for? 

In the ShotScan® Raw BB Counts Report (sample) look for patterns with core variabilty under 15% and ring variability under 30%.  This level of uniformity is hard to achieve but gives the shotgunner the chance to be off target in any direction with the same result.

In the ShotScan® 10x10x10 Percentage Report (sample) look for patterns where the spacing between the 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% rings is uniform or slightly reduced as you go from the center of the target outward. This will assure a density gradient from the center to the outer edge of the pattern which will give the shooter feedback as to how well he pointed his shot.  He will have an opportunity to watch large pieces fly from broken targets before he gets to the point of missing them altogether.

In the ShotScan® 1 Inch Density Report (sample) look for targets where patterns have no weak squares close to the center.  Since this report is tailored specifically for the intended target, this report gives a direct portrayal of what to expect. Holes in the Density Report mean lost birds in the field.