Does powder really change shotshell patterns?

Kingshanks

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Sep 5, 2025
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I've always known powder makes a big difference in centerfire accuracy, but I'm curious about shotguns. If everything else stays the same, hull, primer, wad, shot charge, and FPS, can powder alone change the pattern?
 
I've always known powder makes a big difference in centerfire accuracy, but I'm curious about shotguns. If everything else stays the same, hull, primer, wad, shot charge, and FPS, can powder alone change the pattern?
I'm LOLing here bc I can't answer your question, but I'm in this fantastic forum for shotguning & I was going to provide a link to the forum for you. Then I decided that I'd see about finding a thread in that forum on what you're asking & give you that.
I damn near hooked you up with your own post LOL
I use to shoot an avg of 8k shotgun rounds a yr, just doing trap, skeet, & sporting clays. That didn't include all the dove, quail, pigeon, rabbit, duck, goose, & turkey hunting that I did. But I've never reloaded for shotgun or CF.
I am however into muzzleloading, particularly smokeless muzzleloading which has opened the world of learning about powders, burn rates, burn curves, pressure peaks, how to pair the right bullets with the right powder etc etc.
So, theoretically speaking here, I would think the answer to your question would be " yes ". Based on knowing that diff powders have diff burn rates & pressure curves & they reach peak pressures differently. Though, in the end, they all will end up around the same peak pressure, its how that load reaches that peak pressure that I think would give varying patterns with diff powders.
Thats about as helpful as I can be here.
The other forum, really is excellent & I guarantee you that someone in there will respond with accurate info that you can trust.
 
I'm LOLing here bc I can't answer your question, but I'm in this fantastic forum for shotguning & I was going to provide a link to the forum for you. Then I decided that I'd see about finding a thread in that forum on what you're asking & give you that.
I damn near hooked you up with your own post LOL
I use to shoot an avg of 8k shotgun rounds a yr, just doing trap, skeet, & sporting clays. That didn't include all the dove, quail, pigeon, rabbit, duck, goose, & turkey hunting that I did. But I've never reloaded for shotgun or CF.
I am however into muzzleloading, particularly smokeless muzzleloading which has opened the world of learning about powders, burn rates, burn curves, pressure peaks, how to pair the right bullets with the right powder etc etc.
So, theoretically speaking here, I would think the answer to your question would be " yes ". Based on knowing that diff powders have diff burn rates & pressure curves & they reach peak pressures differently. Though, in the end, they all will end up around the same peak pressure, its how that load reaches that peak pressure that I think would give varying patterns with diff powders.
Thats about as helpful as I can be here.
The other forum, really is excellent & I guarantee you that someone in there will respond with accurate info that you can trust.
Absolutely, I agree! Even if all other components stay the same, different powders burn differently and reach peak pressure at different rates, which can definitely change a shotgun's pattern
 
I'm LOLing here bc I can't answer your question, but I'm in this fantastic forum for shotguning & I was going to provide a link to the forum for you. Then I decided that I'd see about finding a thread in that forum on what you're asking & give you that.
I damn near hooked you up with your own post LOL
I use to shoot an avg of 8k shotgun rounds a yr, just doing trap, skeet, & sporting clays. That didn't include all the dove, quail, pigeon, rabbit, duck, goose, & turkey hunting that I did. But I've never reloaded for shotgun or CF.
I am however into muzzleloading, particularly smokeless muzzleloading which has opened the world of learning about powders, burn rates, burn curves, pressure peaks, how to pair the right bullets with the right powder etc etc.
So, theoretically speaking here, I would think the answer to your question would be " yes ". Based on knowing that diff powders have diff burn rates & pressure curves & they reach peak pressures differently. Though, in the end, they all will end up around the same peak pressure, its how that load reaches that peak pressure that I think would give varying patterns with diff powders.
Thats about as helpful as I can be here.
The other forum, really is excellent & I guarantee you that someone in there will respond with accurate info that you can trust.
Thanks, that actually helps a lot, it makes sense that different powders could affect the pattern even if everything else is identical
 

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