The best plating is Nickle! Unfortunately, you just don't see that offered anymore. Activ used to make a nickle plated turkey load that flat knocked gobblers snoods off. Fiocchi has its Golden Pheasant game loads with nickle plated shot for far flushing roosters. At any rate, as the other guys have mentioned, usually the better patterning load will have plated shot for the reasons given. I use Federal Premium No. Four Buck in .12 gauge 3" persuassion and have recommended that to several others and have yet to hear that it doesn't pattern well. I killed one today out of desperation at 60 yards in heavy brush. It did take two shots though, he was moving and I rolled him with the first shot, he was up and running, I shot again and he yipped so I knew I got him again. He ran on for about fifty more yards and I found him stretched out in a beaver flooded swamp. I was lucky to find him. But it was a really tough shot and asking a lot of a shotgun, choke, and load.