Description
The Eley cartridges contain an average of 274 pellets of #7½ (2.3mm) shot. They are loaded with a plastic wad with a long skirt, the fins of which reach approximately half way up the shot column and crimped with a 6-point star closure. The case is a standard 3″ parallel tube plastic case, supplied in red with Eley branding printed in white.
Recoil
The cartridges produced less felt recoil than I was expecting and are very pleasant to shoot, even in a lightweight gun. In comparison to Eley’s long-term offering, the “Extra Long”, the recoil was relatively light and smooth.
Performance
At the time of writing, the author has only managed to complete a handful of pattern tests with these cartridges. In percentage terms, the performance could be considered mediocre, with the best results coming from the 0.015″ and 0.020″ chokes of the test gun which both place around 45-48% of the pellets in the standard circle at 40 yards. The 0.025″ choke is over-tight for the cartridge, creating obviously blown patterns with significantly reduced pellet counts.
In terms of absolute pellet counts, this cartridge is something of a rarity, however, giving standard circle pellet counts in the 120-140 range. It’s a thin, but nonetheless effective 40-yard pattern which has already accounted for some birds at good ranges in the short time they’ve been available to the author to evaluate.