What's the best shotgun cartridge for game shooting?

The Game Shooting Census by GunsOnPegs and Lycetts, and in partnership with BASC, Countryside Alliance & GWCT, is the largest survey of its its kind and each year delivers fascinating insights into the habits of the game shooting community. Cartridges are a common topic of discussion in the gunbus, as we seek to improve our shot ratio and achieve clean kills, so knowing which cartridges other guns are using is always useful.

Do you have a loyalty to a certain cartridge brand?

For some guns, all they ask from a cartridge is that it goes bang and makes lead (or some other substance) come out of the end of the gun. According to the 2023 Game Shooting Census this is true for some 55% of guns. But are this group missing a trick? The remaining 45% would say so, who profess to remain loyal to a favourite brand or cartridge.

The benefits of sticking with one brand of shotgun cartridge

Speak to many sportsmen and women and they will tell you that repeatability and process are the keys to their success, this is why so many are superstitious, and why so many successful clay shooters have 'pre-shot' routines.

While we’re not suggesting that you always wear your lucky pants for a day’s shooting, keeping the variables to a minimum is likely to improve your performance. For example, I wear the same leather shooting gloves for all shoot days, regardless of the temperature, not for reasons of comfort, but because I like to keep things the same. 

Of those people who say that they are loyal to one cartridge brand, the single biggest reason that they cite for their loyalty is that they ‘feel confident using them’. Finding and sticking with a cartridge that you like will give you more confidence.

Different cartridges perform differently in different guns, so the use of a pattern plate will help you to determine which product delivers the best results for you and your gun. Just because your mate Bob gets on with Cartridge X, doesn’t mean you will too. Nevertheless, knowing what works for other people may help narrow the field for you.

What are the most popular shotgun cartridges for game shooting?

2023 sees Gamebore retain their position at the top of the tree, with over 30% saying that they are loyal to the brand, a slight increase on 2022. Hull keep 2nd place and also gain nearly 2%, with 27% saying they choose the brand.

Eley hold on to third place, RC are in 4th and Lyalvale Express fifth, despite the proportion who are loyal to that brand dropping from 9% to 6%. These top five brands account for 91% of those who are loyal to one brand or another.

What makes a good game cartridge?

We asked those who stay loyal to one brand what it is about that brand that keeps them coming back. As mentioned before, the most commonly cited reason, no matter which brand they were loyal to, was the general feeling of confidence. 

Gamebore users value the brand’s perceived consistency and reliability, as well as knock-down power. For Hull users consistency and reliability feature strongly, as well as the fact that the cartridges just happen to be the ones that suit the respondent’s gun. For ⅓ of Hull’s loyal customers, the fact that it is a UK brand is a deciding factor. The same few factors also play a role for fans of Eley’s cartridges.

Those who shoot RC value their efficacy at range  and the knock-down power, while Lyalvale users remain loyal thanks in no small part to the fact that they suit their gun. 

Price, something that people are constantly thinking about when it comes to shooting, does not appear to be a huge factor when it comes to cartridge brand loyalty, with just 22% citing it as a factor in their loyalty. It will be interesting to see if this changes over the next season, and whether Just Cartridges - a top 10 brand, 70% of  whose loyal customers place great emphasis on their value for money -  make ground on some of the bigger players. 

Across the board, branding and marketing are the least-cited reason, yet it is the brands with the biggest marketing budgets that lead the table - coincidence, causation, or correlation?!

The top 10 most popular game cartridges

Drilling down a little deeper and looking at the most popular shotgun cartridge products, we see that Gamebore occupy both first and third place. Black Gold takes the top spot once again, with 10% more market share than the second place Hull High Pheasant. Gamebore’s Dark Storm is third, ahead of Hull’s High Pheasant Extreme in fourth place and Imperial Game in fifth. 

Gamebore have now discontinued the Black Gold cartridge product in 12 bore, so it will be interesting to see where those Black Gold aficionados move now that they cannot get their hands on their cartridge of choice. 

One notable change since last year is the arrival of the first steel load in the top ten, in the form of Gamebore’s Dark Storm Precision Steel with Biowad. 

What cartridges do the guns who shoot the most use?

If you needed any confirmation that sticking with one cartridge is a good idea, the fact that those who shot thirty days or more last season are notably more likely to be loyal to one brand. 

Hull are the most popular brand, with 39% of these ‘big guns’ choosing to shoot them. In terms of which products they use, it is a dead heat between High Pheasant, High Pheasant Extreme, followed very closely by Gamebore’s Dark Storm Quadseal.

What is the best game cartridge for side-by-side shotguns

Those with older guns, perhaps with shorter chambers, may not be able to use the 2 ¾ inch cased premium cartridges. This particularly impacts Gamebore, who drop back into third place in the popularity stakes, with Eley moving up into third and Hull taking the top spot.

Hull’s Imperial Game are the most popular product with side-by-side users, followed by the same company’s High Pheasant and Eley’s Grand Prix. 

What do the grouse shots use?

Hull also find favour with those who shot grouse last season, pushing Gamebore back into third place. The most popular product with these luck few is Hull’s High Pheasant, followed by High Pheasant Extreme and Gamebore Black Gold.

Which Gamebore cartridge do people choose?

1. Black Gold Game
2. Dark Storm Quadseal
3. Clear Pigeon
4. Dark Storm Precision Steel with Bio-wad
5. White Gold
6. Regal Game
7. Pigeon Extreme
8. Grouse Extreme
9. Velocity
10. Super Steel
11. Bismuth
12. Supergame Hi Bird
13. Mammoth Magnum Steel
14. Blue Diamond
15. Mammoth Magnum
16. Silver Steel Bio-wad
17. Regal Steel with Bio-wad
18. Buffalo
19. Dark Storm Bismuth HD
20. Regal Game Paper
21. Hyper-Velocity

Which Hull cartridge do people choose?

1. High Pheasant
2. High Pheasant Extreme
3. Imperial Game
4. Special Pigeon
5. Three Crowns Paper
6. Super Fast
7. Driven Grouse
8. High Pheasant Extreme Steel Hydro
9. High Pheasant Extreme Steel 20Ga
10. Partridge Cartridge
11. Steel Game
12. Steel Game Extra
13. Solway

Which Eley cartridge do people choose?

1. VIP
2. Grand Prix
3. Hi-Flyer
4. Bismuth
5. Pigeon Select
6. VIP Steel Pro-Eco
7. Zenith
8. Select
9. VIP Steel
10. Impax Traditional
11. Grand Prix Traditional
12. Impax Paper
13. Pigeon HV
14. Classic Game Paper
15. ESP Steel
16. Superb
17. Zenith Pro Eco
18. Lightweight Steel
19. Titanium Strike
20. Maximum
21. Hushpower Subsoninc Game

Which Lyalvale cartridge do people choose?

1. Supreme Game
2. Special Game
3. Super Game
4. Pigeon Power
5. Ultimate Power
6. Ultimate Steel Game with Earth Wad
7. Supreme Grouse
8. Pigeon Special
9. Ultimate Bismuth
10. Supreme Steel
11. Max Game

Which RC products do people choose?

1. SIPE
2. SIPE Extreme
3. RC4 Hyperfast Game
4. JK6
5. Professional Game
6. RC2 Game
7. RC Steel Atomic Line
8. RC4 Red Shot
9. RC40
10. RC50