Nic salt shot chart: the figures volume by volume
Pouring a shot into a shortfill looks simple, right up to the moment you have to state the strength you ended up with. The figures circulating online contradict one another, usually because they rest on two different calculations without saying so. The same number of shots does not give the same concentration depending on whether the starting volume is fixed or adds up. Here is a nic salt shot chart with the exact values, volume by volume, and the method for rebuilding it yourself.
Nic salt shot chart: the reference values
A British nic salt shot is a 10 ml bottle at 20 mg of nicotine per millilitre, that being the legal ceiling here, so each bottle carries 200 mg. Every nic salt shot chart starts from that single figure and dilutes it into the total volume obtained after mixing.
| 0 mg base volume | 1 shot | 2 shots | 3 shots | 4 shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 ml | 5.0 mg/ml | 8.0 mg/ml | 10.0 mg/ml | 11.4 mg/ml |
| 50 ml | 3.3 mg/ml | 5.7 mg/ml | 7.5 mg/ml | 8.9 mg/ml |
| 100 ml | 1.8 mg/ml | 3.3 mg/ml | 4.6 mg/ml | 5.7 mg/ml |
| 200 ml | 0.95 mg/ml | 1.8 mg/ml | 2.6 mg/ml | 3.3 mg/ml |
Values are rounded to one decimal place. They assume a nicotine-free receiving base, which is what every shortfill sold on the British market is.
The 18 mg freebase shot gives different numbers
Britain has two shot standards on the same shelf and swapping one for the other quietly changes the whole table.
Freebase shots are commonly 18 mg/ml, so 180 mg per bottle rather than 200. One of them in a 50 ml shortfill gives 180 divided by 60, which is exactly 3.0 mg/ml, and two in a 100 ml shortfill give 360 divided by 120, also exactly 3.0 mg/ml.
That roundness is not an accident. The 18 mg figure was chosen because it lands on whole numbers in the two bottle sizes British retailers stock most, which is why shortfills are so often sold bundled with two shots.
The 20 mg salt equivalents land slightly higher, at 3.3 mg/ml in both cases. A chart that does not state which shot strength it assumes is unusable.
The formula behind the figures
No chart covers every case. Knowing how to rebuild it stops you being stuck the moment a volume falls outside the standard sizes.
The calculation is one line. The final strength is the total quantity of nicotine divided by the total volume after mixing:
final strength = (shot strength x shot volume) / (base volume + shot volume)
An example: 60 ml of base receiving 3 salt shots, so 30 ml, puts 600 mg into 90 ml, which is 6.7 mg/ml. The classic trap is forgetting the shot volume in the denominator, which overstates the result every time.
The chart changes when the final volume is fixed
This is the nuance that makes half the tables online useless for anyone mixing to a target, and it deserves isolating.
When the finished volume is imposed, a 10 ml bottle for instance, the shot does not add to the base: it replaces part of it. The formula becomes much simpler, since the denominator is known in advance.
| Target strength | Shot in 10 ml | Shot in 30 ml | Shot in 50 ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 mg/ml | 1.5 ml | 4.5 ml | 7.5 ml |
| 6 mg/ml | 3 ml | 9 ml | 15 ml |
| 10 mg/ml | 5 ml | 15 ml | 25 ml |
| 12 mg/ml | 6 ml | 18 ml | 30 ml |
| 16 mg/ml | 8 ml | 24 ml | 40 ml |
| 20 mg/ml | 10 ml | 30 ml | 50 ml |
The rule reads at a glance: the shot fraction is the target strength divided by 20, applied to the final volume. The 20 mg/ml row is pure shot with no base at all, and it is also the British legal ceiling, so nothing above it exists lawfully.
Why the headroom caps what a shortfill can reach
The question comes up constantly on 50 and 100 ml bottles, and the answer is arithmetic before it is regulation.
A 50 ml shortfill arrives in a 60 ml bottle. There is room for one shot and no more, which fixes the result at 3.0 or 3.3 mg/ml depending on the shot. Reaching anything higher means decanting liquid out first, which changes the volumes and therefore the whole calculation.
To bring 50 ml of base to 12 mg/ml you would need 75 ml of salt shot, seven and a half bottles, and the final volume would climb to 125 ml. Aiming at 16 mg/ml on the same base would take 200 ml of shot, four times the starting volume. The operation stops making any sense.
That is precisely why ready-to-vape 10 ml bottles exist. Above roughly 6 mg/ml, nicotinating a large format with shots ceases to be a viable route, and the 20 mg/ml ceiling applies to every format without distinction.
The three most common calculation errors
Gaps between the stated strength and the real one almost always come from the same three causes, and none needs a tool to fix.
The first is forgetting the shot volume in the denominator. Three salt shots in 50 ml do not give 600 divided by 50, which would be 12 mg/ml, but 600 divided by 80, which is 7.5 mg/ml. The gap is over sixty percent and it is the most widespread mistake by a distance.
The second is applying a chart built for a 0 mg base to a liquid that already carries nicotine. The existing nicotine adds in, so the starting volume has to be multiplied by its own strength before summing.
The third is the visual estimate. A bottle graduated in tenths is imprecise at small volumes, and pouring a shot roughly into a large format introduces an error of several tenths of a milligram. A graduated syringe settles it.
One further habit covers the rest: recalculate every time rather than reusing a number memorised for a different volume.
Why the same figure means different things on different hardware
A nic salt shot chart gives values, not advice. The number on its own describes concentration in the bottle and says nothing about how much liquid a device turns into vapour.
High-resistance coils above one ohm, on tight-draw devices, consume very little liquid per puff. Low-resistance sub-ohm coils on airy tanks consume several times more from the same tank in the same time.
The consequence is that two people vaping identical strengths on those two setups are not in comparable situations at all, and comparing their labels tells you nothing useful. Any figure has to be read together with the hardware it is going into.
This reasoning is also specific to the salt form. Freebase nicotine sits on a different sensory scale at the same concentration, for reasons of pH rather than quantity.
Nic salt shot chart: the numbers to have in mind before pouring
A nic salt shot chart rests on three data points only: 20 mg/ml in the salt shot, 10 ml per bottle, and a denominator that changes depending on whether the volume adds up or stays fixed. Everything else follows from those.
Checking the free volume in the bottle before starting avoids the most frequent accident, the shortfill that overflows on the second shot. A calculated strength belongs written on the label, since it is the only reliable record of what the bottle actually holds.
Frequently asked questions
Is the strength on my mixed bottle accurate to a decimal place?
Rarely. Filling tolerances on the shots and the precision of the pour introduce a few percent of variance. Chart values are theoretical targets rather than measurements.
Can salt shots and freebase shots go into the same bottle?
Technically yes, and the nicotine totals simply add. The throat sensation becomes hard to anticipate, since only part of the nicotine in the finished mix is protonated.
How do I recalculate after adding more 0 mg base?
The quantity of nicotine is unchanged and only the volume grows. Divide the total milligrams already present by the new final volume.
Does a 100 percent VG shot change the chart values?
No. The concentration is still 20 mg/ml and the arithmetic is identical. Only the finished PG/VG ratio moves, not the nicotine strength.
Why do some charts show 3 mg for a 50 ml with one shot?
Because they assume an 18 mg freebase shot rather than a 20 mg salt one. With an 18 mg shot the exact figure is 3.0 mg/ml; with a 20 mg salt shot it is 3.3 mg/ml.
What a nic salt shot chart is really telling you
A nic salt shot chart is not a set of recommendations, it is a division carried out for you, and its answer changes entirely with two inputs: the strength printed on the shot, 18 or 20 mg/ml, and whether the finished volume grows or is fixed. Get those two right and the rest is arithmetic; get either wrong and the number on your label is fiction. Check the headroom before you pour, use a syringe for anything other than a whole bottle, and write the result down. For what the small bottle contains, see our nic salt shot piece, nic salt vs freebase nicotine explains why the two scales cannot be converted, and 100ml e-liquid with nicotine covers what the large bottle holds before you open it.
Independent editorial content for adults only. Vaping products contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance. Not for sale to under-18s in the United Kingdom. This article is not a buying recommendation.
