While a lot of people feel that 'preserve' birds are push overs, I am of a different mind.....my dogs have brought me back a lot of cripples that had the breast meat peppered with #7.5 shot......I'll never use it on a pheasant, wild or pen raised.
One thing a lot of people forget about is that pen raised birds eat WELL....they tend to have a lot of fat on them when compared to wild birds, and that fat stops bird shot!
Add to that the fact that the preserve birds may have better feathering on them due to better nutrition, and again, you have a shot stopper.
The 'brass' nowadays is mostly cosmetic.....back in the 'olden days' the higher brass was needed for support; nowadays it is basically just a hold over from that time.
What I would recommend is that you look at the dram equivelents (this is what the old black powder charge would have been....it roughly will give you an idea of the speed of the load when combined with the pellet wieght). I would recommend that you use 3 3/4 dram eq, 1 1/4 oz of #5 shot (first choice) or #6 shot (second choice). This load will kill birds that might get out there a bit, and that is a possibility with a flushing dog, as opposed to a pointer.
Good luck, have fun, and be safe............oh, and post some pics after the hunt!
