shot size for pheasant?

[Mr. 16 gauge]

Actually, the brass has little to do with anything anymore; it is a holdover from the early days of paper hulls when a higher brass head was necessary for the increased pressures. Today, it is just cosmetic...I have a stash of Activ hulls that I use for steel shot reloading, and they haveNO brass on the outside!
Having said that, I would also reccomend #5 shot, even for preserve birds (more on this in a minute). On the top of the box, look were it says "Dram Equ."....there it should read 3 3/4s (this is also a holdover from black powder days)...in the shot spot, it should read "1 1/4 oz". You should be set for most pheasant shots at reasonable ranges with this load.

I have heard time and time again that preserve birds are "pushovers" and can be shot with light loads (some have even reccomened skeet and trap loads loaded with #8 shot)....I feel this is a BIG mistake! If you have ever cleaned a preserve birds, you will usually notice a couple of things: 1.) there is a fair amount of fat on these birds....a lot more than on wild birds and 2.) they tend to be a bit bigger (more meat) than a typical wild bird. Also, if your preserve operator is a good one, the feathers will be good also.....this combination of fat, muscle, and feathers combines to slow down shot before it can hit vital areas....I have collected many a 'cripple' with my dogs that had lots of pellets in the breast meat (usually #6 or #7.5). but none that made it through to the vitals. I know of one gun writer who went from using #6 shot to #4 on preserve birds, and his crippling rate plummeted!

MHO, FWIW