Hull Cartridge Driven Grouse

Hull Cartridge Company has been part of the British shooting fabric for many decades now and as a family started and run business, they continue to innovate and produce the best shotgun cartridges in Britain. Vast numbers of shooters rely on the quality of manufacture, consistency and performance of Hull cartridges for all forms of clay, game and sporting use.

The Driven Grouse cartridge is at the pinnacle of design and retails for £466 per 1000 (Justcartridges price). The load offers high performance both in power and superior shot patterns down range.

The details

This is a very striking cartridge from Hull, both in looks and performance. The purple box and case catch the eye and the internals are special too, as the cartridges contain some new copper-plated shot. This is designed for deeper penetration down range and to provide better patterns. The electroplating process means the surface of each pellet is harder, leading to a reduction in the deformation of the shot and cleaner kills.

Available in a 65mm case with fibre wadding only, you have a choice of 28 or 30-grams of No 5.5 or 6 shot. The load is not just ideally suited for grouse, but all game that needs a velocity of 1450 fps coupled with good energy retention. The average pellet count for the No. 5.5, 30-gram load that I was testing, is 240 pellets, whilst the 28-gram and 30-gram No. 6 shot are 297 and 318, respectively.

The material used for the fibre wad is specially selected for its uniform density and thickness. It is waterproofed with an anti-tear treatment to make an effective gas seal. The powder follows Hull’s ethos of maximum performance and minimum pressure, so the single-based powder is specifically made to optimise burn rate, pressure and velocity. The lead shot is held to very close manufacturing tolerances and then copper plated to ensure integrity down range and on firing.

Testing

I did my testing using a Browning Black Shadow with ½ choke, and the patterns that were produced proved exceptional and evenly distributed. I counted a total of 201 pellet strikes within 30” at 30 yards, with a near-even split between the inner and outer sectors. I have had this before and it proves to me how well those copper-plated, lead pellets fly, as the pattern is quite tight for a ½ choke too. The inner 15” sector showed 92 strikes and the outer 30”, 109. Nothing is going to get through that, and the cartridges provide a little more range before the pattern starts to spread out more.

Conclusion

A very clean burning and smooth firing cartridge that has a good payload of pellets that hit hard and are less susceptible to deformation. The patterns are always excellent from these Driven Grouse loads, making them worth the extra money.