The right load for a successful season

Richard Negus patterns and trials steel cartridges suitable for ducks and geese, from four quality brands

Now my Hatsan Escort is consigned to pest control duties, a Zabala Hermanos 3½in magnum has filled its place as my coastal gun. The scaffold-pole-like barrels sport ¼ and ½ chokes. Teamed with 3in RC Atomic No 1s and No 3s, the gun is a delightful, if somewhat weighty, tool capable of killing geese and ducks at up to 40 yards. Wounding is rare — I either kill or I miss.

Finding the correct combination of gun, choke and load is a somewhat technical but vital part of equipping yourself for a successful season. Pattern testing is something that most of us mean to do, then forget. How cartridges are stored can affect the pattern significantly as well.

My friend Darren Sizer, who helped me pattern and trial the cartridges for this review, has long since persuaded me that warming your cartridges prior to a flight ensures your load will work at its maximum potential. Therefore, with all cartridges having enjoyed an evening spent next to the radiator, we set forth on to a Norfolk grazing marsh in the pre-dawn to review some of the best offerings for fowlers.

Richard Negus calls in a pink-footed goose while out trialling cartridges on the Norfolk marsh