NEW Shotgun Pattern Test Results - Detail & Pic' heavy...

Originally Posted By: GCFifteen No. Four Buck inside 10" @ 40 yards is a coyote killer. Now surprise yourself and shoot it at 50 and 60 yards and see what happens...

I don't think it will be much of a surprise. I don't expect it will hold up. The 15 pellets looks ok, but I don't even know yet if that's repeatable.

I have another question. With all the heavier than lead loads disappearing, what are you guys going to in the way of factory loads? Would any of you be comfortable with a copper or nickel plated lead BB around 1-7/8 oz in a 3" shell?
 
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BB Pb loads work fine out to roughly 35 - 40 yards. Those smaller individual pellets lose energy and penetration abilities on bad angle coyotes at extended ranges. I think about shotgunning coyotes at longer ranges like bowhunting. The angles matter...
 
Originally Posted By: GCBB Pb loads work fine out to roughly 35 - 40 yards. Those smaller individual pellets lose energy and penetration abilities on bad angle coyotes at extended ranges. I think about shotgunning coyotes at longer ranges like bowhunting. The angles matter...

That helps to know, thank you! I'm thinking the BB lead may be a good fit with the Carlson's coyote, it's tight, almost turkey choke tight. The BB may still be a good choice on the regular varmints around here.
 
Originally Posted By: RossignolThese are the patterns I shot over the weekend. These are the Mossberg 835 20", Kicks BuckKicker XFull .720, and Federal Premium VitalShok 3" 4 buck copper plated 41 pellet, shot at 40 yards.

I'll show all three shots in order, the 10" ring and then the whole pattern.

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I'd appreciate and welcome any opinions on these patterns. The third looks decent, but otherwise I don't know what to make of it. I heard back from Chuck at Kicks after sending him these same photos, he said the patterns look great to him. I intend to experiment yet not only with this load but maybe a couple others too. I'd even like to try a copper plated lead BB through it. I have one round of Hevishot T left over which isn't really enough to get a good assessment but I've fired one already and it didn't look too bad. It was better than with the Carlson's coyote and better than the Kicks Howler H. I don't know it's worth investing another $50 in to find out if I can do the same thing for less than a third of the cost.

Thoughts? Advice?


I would use this 15 pellets at 40 yards that's a dead coyote. I just got that buckshot choke tube in from Carlson and it is .700. Hopefully once I get down out of the stand tomorrow morning around 11am I will get able to go see how this patterns. I will test 3 different loads Winchester 3" 1 buck 24 pellets (wad with buffered shot), Federal power shok 3" 4 buck 41 pellets (wad with buffered shot), and Remington Magnum Express 3" 4 buck 41-44 pellets (buffered shot). And hopefully post my thoughts on it. I am really curious to how the 1 buck will do.
 
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Originally Posted By: Bernie P.My 835 came with the 24" ported turkey barrel.Does the 20" have ports?

The 20" barrel isn't ported but the ulti-full choke it came with is.
 
Mine came with the Ulti-Mag choke .695 and does not have ports.Maybe the reason your's shoots better with the .720 while mine likes the .745 is your barrel is non-ported.I tried the flush Accumag full-.730 and Trulock' non-ported extended .742 but the larger .745 did better.
 
Originally Posted By: Bernie P.Mine came with the Ulti-Mag choke .695 and does not have ports.Maybe the reason your's shoots better with the .720 while mine likes the .745 is your barrel is non-ported.I tried the flush Accumag full-.730 and Trulock' non-ported extended .742 but the larger .745 did better.

That's interesting. I've been wondering about the shorter barrel too.
 
You can see patterns shrink when you go to smaller chokes, start with .680 and go to a .665 choke!!!

So much BS out there that is 100% in the exact wrong direction it is hard to believe.

Tight chokes equal tight buckshot patterns at 40 yards. The only excpetion to this that I have seen is with Federal's "Flight Control Wad" that likes a std full or modified choke at best.

.700-.690 is std full chokes depending on what maker you are talking about, browning runs tight on their chokes.

I killed a lot of coyotes with a 3" Rem 1100 with a std full choke, I worked hard developing loads that would pattern 100% in a 30" circle at 40 yards. Now with a Carlson's Turkey choke, 100% pattern in a 18-20" circle at 40 yards is the norm, and this puts me solid in at 50 yards with 9-13 pellets on a coyote and 4-7 pellets at 60 yards...knock'em down and keep pulling the trigger.

Buy a carlson's turkey choke and rock on!
 
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Reloading buckshot:

with the price of buckshot being so high and often not available, I thought that I would post this video of how this guy loads Buckshot for long range deer and perhaps Coyotes. He also talks of tight constriction chokes later on in the video.
All of his tight patterns are with an extra full choke of varying constriction that is in the neighborhood of a turkey choke.

With my own testing, I have found great success with the Carlson's Turkey choke with #4 Buck,00, and 000 Buckshot in the mossburg 500, Rem 1100/1187, and the Beretta 390.

START your buckshot testing with a .685 choke and you may hit pay dirt when you get to .655. I have found that the Carlson's turkey choke is fantastic in a number of shotguns, makes and models.

As you will see, a standard Mec Sizemaster can be adjusted for 2 3/4" and 3" shells which is what I use.

Ballistic's products takes the guess work out of a lot of load recipes as well as many different sizes of buckshot from T shot to BB, BBB, F buck, #4 buck, etc.

What most will get from watching this guy shoot buckshot at 70 yards with homemade shells is that it is not rocket science, and he does give his loads. He also uses adjustable Tru Glow sights to get his point of impact adjusted up/down and left/right which I think is critical.

Ebay has Mec loaders for sale used, and mec's customer service is fantastic.



This video shots fantastic shooting with a 12ga Rem .655 choke at 70 yards with home made 00 buck shells that are simple to assemble...nothing fancy.
 
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I am amazed at how tight these patterns are. Wade has shot thousands of buckshot rounds through his extra full, and turkey chokes in his many video's.



In the area in SC where they hunt, they kill deer running them with dogs. Shots with buck shot run a 100 yards per Wade with these simple loads.

They use Tru Glow adjustable sights on their ribs to adust for shotgun fit.

ONe thing for sure, Wade will sure educate a guy on simple techniques for killing with buckshot.

These good ole boys kill a lot of deer, they are not arm chair ballisticians for sure. Now, to test that choke with some home brewed #4 Buckshot.
 
Wade' patterns are great.I started with the only choke I had at the time which was the .695 turkey choke that came with the gun.But it was way to tight because the 835 has a back-bored barrel.Classic doughnut pattern.
 
Originally Posted By: Bernie P.Wade' patterns are great.I started with the only choke I had at the time which was the .695 turkey choke that came with the gun.But it was way to tight because the 835 has a back-bored barrel.Classic doughnut pattern.

Same here. That .695 patterns buckshot terribly. I haven't found anything it patterns well actually. I've tried 00, 4 buck, T shot, B shot, 4 and 5 shot. It's kinda useless to me.
 
Chokes are not all made the same, weird. I have two extra full beretta chokes, one extended and an extra full flush and you would think that they would be the same. The flush mount chokes patterns extremely well, not so much on the extended extra full.

I am going to buy one of those Tru Glow chokes that Wade uses just for grins and giggles, they are tight around .655 or so. Wade has probably shot more buckshot than anyone that I have ever met. He is sponsored by Ballistic Products he does so much testing.

I am going to try and get him onto some #4 buck for predators, perhaps T shot if he can bum some off of ballistic's products.

I know of half a dozen shotguns that shoot the Carlson's turkey chokes with #4 buckshot with exceptional patterns, mossy's, various Rem's, and Beretta's....not a cull in any of them.

I have always considered 50 yards a long shot with a shotgun with a good tight choke at 40 yards putting 100% of the pattern in a 20" circle, but Wade puts Buckshot into another league in killing ability. The issue now is whether or not #4 buck will deliver the pellet energy for consistent kills at 70 yards or whether there is a need to go to a #1 Buckshot for penetration...pattern would dictate.

Wade definitely sets the bar patterning buckshot at 70+ yards. His 00 buck shot patterns are plenty good enough for coyotes, but I like more pellets. I think that he may be a new world with F buck or T shot.
 
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Mberg went with .695 based on the National Turkey Federation survey that determined the average shot distance was 30yds.I get great patterns at that distance shooting any lead shot load from BB and smaller shot.Even at 40 yds it's good for turkeys.
 
Originally Posted By: Bernie P.Mberg went with .695 based on the National Turkey Federation survey that determined the average shot distance was 30yds.I get great patterns at that distance shooting any lead shot load from BB and smaller shot.Even at 40 yds it's good for turkeys.

I'm not even getting decent patterns at 25 yards. Some of my 50 yard patterns with other chokes resembled my 25 yard patterns with the factory .695.
 
Patterned a new Maverick 88 in 12 gauge today. I shot Remington and Federal #4 buckshot (both brands) with 27 (2 3/4")and 41 pellets (3") and (very consistant with all loads, you can hardly tell a difference) everything went well until 40yds.

Got a donut pattern with a 5-8" hole in the middle using a IC .720, M .712 and full .700 chokes. The tighter choke made the hole larger and the IC made it 2" smaller, but still a perfect hole. Never patterned buckshot out this far so maybe this is normal ?


None of these loads had buffer in them so I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not (going to test for grins). Almost like it is still over choked or the loads are too hot.

Still looked good at 30yds or less though.
 
Originally Posted By: TXCOONDOGPatterned a new Maverick 88 in 12 gauge today. I shot Rem and Federal #4 buckshot (both brands) with 27 (2 3/4")and 41 pellets (3") and (very consistant with all loads, you can hardly tell a difference) everything went well until 40yds.

Got a donut pattern 5-8" with a hole in the middle using a IC .720, M .712 and full .700 chokes. The tighter choke made the hole larger and the IC made it 2" smaller, but still a pefect hole.

None of these loads had buffer in them so I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not (going to test for grins). Almost like it is still over choked or the loads are too hot. Never patterned buckshot so maybe this is normal ?

Still shot great at 30yds or less though.


You mention both Remington and Federal loads. Are these the plated loads or just lead, for example the Federal plated is VitalShok and unplated is PowerShok. I don't know how much if any difference that would make though. I wouldn't think .720 would be over choked. I'm using a .720 in my 835 for 4 buck but the 835 begins with a 10 gauge bore diameter of .775 so the constriction is .055 vs your Maverick starting closer to .730.

Are these factory choke tubes? Are any ported? How fast are those loads you mentioned moving? If the chokes aren't ported, you may benefit somewhat from FliteControl or VersaTite loads. Federal makes 1 buck for sure in FliteControl and maybe 4 buck. My cylinder bore guns have benefitted greatly from 00 FliteControl.
 
In my mossburg 500, I shoot a .675 Undertaker choke and the Hastings .660 choke for #4 buckshot, they are as good as anything out of any shotgun that I have ever patterned.

I paid $125 for the slightly beat up Mossburg, then gave it the camo paint.
 
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