What makes Gamebore the UK's favourite cartridge brand?

This year, as in many previous years, the Game Shooting Census, carried out by GunsOnPegs and Lycetts, has revealed that Gamebore is the most popular cartridge brand in the UK, and of those with a loyalty to a particular brand, 30% went for Gamebore. In fact, when you include the cartridges that are loaded by the company but sold under a different brand, that figure is even higher.

They’re in good company - some of the best and most well-respected shots in the land, including George Digweed MBE and Dave Carrie are dyed-in-the-wool Gamebore fans.

So why do people rate their shotgun cartridges so highly? I felt that it warranted further investigation.

What do people rate about Gamebore?

Our research shows that above all else, game shots want to feel totally confident in the cartridges that they use - 64% of people cite this as the most important factor when they choose their supplier.

Confidence is a nebulous thing (just ask Jonny Bairstowe), made up of a number of factors. In the Census results, Gamebore rank highly for consistency and reliability, which must go some way to making users of their cartridges feel well-equipped to tackle their quarry.

What do people look for in a shotgun cartridge?

However, it is, of course, possible to be consistently and reliably crap (just ask Zak Crawley), so then we must look at what is generally termed ‘performance’, a word that is used to encompass everything from speed to patterning to ‘knock-down power’ and efficacy at range. Again, Gamebore score very highly in all of these characteristics.

High quality components

Ask any cook or chef what the key to a great tasting meal is and there’s a pretty strong chance that they’ll start by telling you that the quality of the ingredients is everything. If you’ll allow me to mix my metaphors, you can’t make a wagyu steak out of a sow’s ear.

“We go out of our way to ensure that each individual component in our cartridges is the very best we can use, with absolutely no corners cut,” said Phil Plowman, Operation Director at Gamebore. “From the powders, wads, cases to the shot itself, we carry out extensive research and development and have a continual investment programme to ensure we are operating with the very best equipment, components and testing facilities available. Couple this with being the only ISO registered cartridge manufacturer in the UK and you have everything in place to produce the best quality shotgun cartridge!“

Quality control

“If you want something done right,” commented Phil, “You may as well do it yourself, which is why where we can, we invest heavily on bringing component manufacturing ‘in house’ where we have complete control, as we have with all our shot and now most of our wads, particularly the new Biowad and Quadseal.”

Many of us may not give too much thought to the shot in our cartridges, after all, shot is shot, right? Well not exactly. Among the many components that are made on site is Gamebore's exclusive ‘Diamond shot’, made in the only working lead shot tower in the UK. “Making the shot on site allows us to put the product through a series of steps that deliver the best possible product,” explains Phil.

“The shot is graded five times and then polished and coated, to make sure that only the most perfectly round and consistent sized shot ends up in a cartridge”, but why is that important you may ask?

This is crucial for consistent patterns as any variations in size or ‘roundness’ means patterns will be disrupted as each individual shot does not fly true. The end result of all this painstaking work is reliable, consistent patterns.

Bespoke powders

Where in-house manufacture is not a possibility, Gamebore use the best products on the market, while exclusivity deals for the usage of their two most commonly used powders - Alliant double base for use in small bore, premium steel and lead-free loads, and bespoke blended powders from leading manufacturers for lead game cartridge loads – to ensure that you get they deliver performance that you simply can’t get elsewhere: high performance yet with less felt-recoil.

Innovation

It is no secret that the proposed transition away from lead shot shook the cartridge industry. However, Gamebore had long been working on an alternative to plastic or fibre wads in the form of their Quad Seal, and were able to adapt this technology to create the Quad Seal Bio-wad. Both products use a 100% environmentally safe biodegradable, water soluble material which perform better than a plastic wad in terms of ballistic consistency, felt recoil and down-range knock-down power.

The company was also the first to use deep nickel brass heads on their cartridge cases to ensure consistent ejection in their high-performance game loads, demonstrating a committment to detail that stands them in good stead.

As well as manufacturing lead shot, Gamebore also manufacture their exclusive Tungsten matrix and Bismuth HD shot, both using patented technology to produce the highest quality non-lead alternatives in the changing world we find ourselves in.

Bismuth HD is a relatively ‘new’ product and the ‘top secret’ manufacturing method used gets round the issue of frangibility (brittleness) found in a lot of bismuth shot to give a product which I'm assured works and performs – through whatever choke you prefer – just like lead.

Real-world testing

But all the cartridge innovation and great components are as naught if they don’t do the business in the field. “I do a lot of testing for Gamebore, alongside George Digweed, Mark Winser Andy Crow and Simon Ward, but I am probably the main ‘in-field’ game cartridge tester and have been influential in some small way in seeing the new Quad Seal game cartridges to market,” said top shot and YouTuber Dave Carrie.

He added: “Gamebore use the very best components coupled with unbelievable intensive testing with some of the best shots in the world to help them decide what goes on the shelf for sale. They don’t leave anything to chance. If it hasn’t been tested and approved by the best it won’t make it to market - that’s a fact - and that is why I have the utmost confidence in both their game and clay loads.”

The cartridge of Champions

George Digweed MBE, widely regarded as the best competition shot ever to have walked the planet, and a pretty decent game shot to boot, is a committed Gamebore man. “They have the best quality components in their shells and actively work hard on recoil reduction whilst improving performance.” he said. “I have to be confident that the product I’m using will perform at a World Championship level without fail and Gamebore cartridges have never let me down.

Dave Carrie, known for his skill tackling the highest birds the UK has to offer, added: “Sometimes Gamebore will put together a few special loads for me (especially when I am going on the really extreme stuff) but most times I’m shooting off-the-shelf Gamebore Quad Seal loads ranging from 32g 5s to as much 36g 4s. I have a couple of favourites that I use for 90% of my high bird shooting - a Quad Seal fibre 34g 4 and 5 and a Quad Seal fibre 36g 4 and 5, all powered by bespoke American powders made exclusively for Gamebore."

‘Proof of the pudding’

Although respondents to the Census ranked marketing and branding as the least important factor in their loyalty to Gamebore, I personally suspect that it has does have more impact than many admit. That said, the product has to be about a lot more than this and deliver where it counts.

Gamebore's products deliver performance and consistency, which perhaps explains the popularity of their products and brand. With more innovations and new products being developed and coming to market, and a loyal following in both the game and clay arena, they look well placed to keep a hold of their top-spot.