Eley Maximum - a big load for high pheasants

As Gerwyn Jones – an avowed Eley Hawk ambassador – commented on a recent recording of the GunsOnPegs Podcast one of the hardest birds to bring down is a late-January cock pheasant. “With a full season’s feeding and flying behind them, these old warriors take some stopping,” he admits. While we have been unable to get out and tackle January birds this season, come next year you will want to take a look at Eley Hawk’s latest hard-hitting offering – the Maximum cartridge – designed specifically for ‘extreme’ shoot days. These are a devastating cartridge.

A big load for extreme high birds

And when I say ‘hard hitting’, I mean Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Connor McGregor rolled into one. The Maximum is loaded in 38gram No.3 – so there’s plenty of lead! The striking energy – and speed – is delivered by a unique blend of PSB powders engineered in-house by Eley themselves, resulting in ultra-smooth recoil (to counter the heavy load) and the highest velocities (up to 1250fps) to ensure plenty of stopping power at long ranges.

An eco-friendly cartridge for high bird shooting

As we know, all of that power is of no use if the pattern is poor. That’s where Eley have taken it to another level and combined a fibre wad with a unique pattern control disk. This is a cork (so biodegradable) disk that sits between the pellets and the crimp, acting as a gas-seal to avoid losing pressure. This makes for a consistent pattern at extreme distances and lengthens the effective range of your shotgun without resorting to a plastic wad.

Because those late-season days can be a bit unsettled weather-wise, and because so many of the shoots showing ‘extreme’ birds are to be found in the wetter, western side of the UK, Eley have used an all-weather primer, designed to deliver fast, dependable ignition no matter how damp the day.

The product of meticulous research

It is clear that Eley have given this shell some serious thought, and that they’re very pleased with the result. The company’s Managing Director, Rodrigo Crespo, commented: “The Maximum is the product of years of rigorous testing and development and has been refined to deliver the most remarkable results at range,” adding, “the Maximum is without question going to be the choice cartridge for game shots championing high bird shooting.”

Noted high-bird shot and Eley aficionado Gerwyn Jones, recently joined us for an episode of our podcast to discuss high pheasant shooting. Off-air, we chatted a little about cartridges, and he told us: “I’ve used the new Maximums quite a bit over this last season. As you can imagine the kills are very impressive using a number three shot; they’re very, very good high pheasant load.”

See the Maximum’s full specifications