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

hello all.. first post on this forum, just wanted to ad my appreciation for the topic at hand. great to see that there are people out there that are willing to spend the time and money to pattern their guns.

I plan to add a little bit of data sometime within the next few weeks, once my choke comes in.. (ordering the Kicks Buckkicker in .690 for my sx2. I plan to test it with 3.5" #4, 3.5" dead coyote T's and the 3.5" Rem HD BB's. at 40 and 50 yards. I plan to test this in comparison to my NEF 10ga 24in with screw in x-full choke.. hopefully i will be able to find the bb's and t's for the 10ga.

with the same barrel length in both guns im pretty excited to see the results.
 
So are we! I just put in an order for some left over newsprint bundles to do some more penetration test with some of this stuff this summer. A contact with the local newspaper is going to get me some tightly wrapped bundles of newspapers that are about 16" thick and should be perfect for testing penetration. I love this stuff! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

From some recent testing
Gun - Mossberg 9200 12 ga.(bore .732)
Load - Rem 3" HD 1 1/2oz. BB's
Range - 40 yds
Turkey Choke - .665 (.067 constriction) - 3 hits in 10" circle.
Full Choke - .701 (.031 constriction) - 17 hits in 10"

I was amazed at the ineffectiveness of the turkey choke with this load. It points out that there is more work to be done to find the sweet spot in constriction. Maybe it's Mod, or maybe it's .040???? Never know until you test.

I'd done some of this work several years ago. That data may be lost now, but the bulk of it was done with Federal 3" 1 7/8 oz loads in BB's and 2's.
 
Sorry for the additional post.... (rookie move)... anyway the Federal loads in the same Mossberg were not affected by choke very much. The turkey choke shoots the Federal best, but not by much over the full, and mod... At the very best it is a 40 yard combination, and I prefer the 2's as I'm mostly shooting fox at night.....If I can find the data, I will post it later.
 
Best price I've found sofar for Rem HD BB's and DC "T" loads have been at Midsouth Shooters. I just wish I had more money to buy more...
 
Finally got out to the range this morning to pattern my recently bought (6 mos ago) Mossberg 835 Turkey 12ga. This shotgun has a 20 inch barrel and will accept 3-1/2 inch loads. It uses a fiberoptic sight.

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Loads were Dead Coyote 2-3/4 inch "T" and Federal 3 inch plated "00" shot.

Chokes used were the Carlson "Dead Coyote" .660 and the Mossberg X-Factor Turkey .695 that came with the gun.

I set my target board out 40 yards and used a sandbag rest. The target board was made of 3/4 inch plywood, using a PVC homemade base.

First patterning target was using the Mossberg choke and using 1 round of each type of ammo. As shown in the picture, the black dots are of the DC load, and the squares are of the 00 load.

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Second patterning target was using the Carlson DC choke, with 1 round each. Dead Coyote "T" load is shown in squares, with black dots as the 00 load.

shotgunpattern005.jpg


I am interested in just what you fellow shotgunners think of these patterns? Being this is my first time using a shotgun for predators, and am interested in your comments. Someday soon, I will try and pattern some #4B and some BB loads.

John
 
can anyone tell me the barrel id for the sx2?? its an over-bored barrel but im not sure what the bore is. I might be testing the gobbling thunder instead of the buckkicker.

the more of this i read, the more things i want to try...

im now thinking that ill find the best pattern between the kicks/carlsons/winchester x-full choke. After the best pattern is determine ill compare it to the 10ga..
 
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Sorry for the additional post.... (rookie move)... anyway the Federal loads in the same Mossberg were not affected by choke very much. The turkey choke shoots the Federal best, but not by much over the full, and mod... At the very best it is a 40 yard combination, and I prefer the 2's as I'm mostly shooting fox at night.....If I can find the data, I will post it later.



"and I prefer the 2's as I'm mostly shooting fox "

Yea..........me to at least to date.

Update- Patterned more through my .695" full choke gun and the ol' Model 12 Mod. choke This thread has been fun but costly (chuckle). I have also now patterned through brush with varoius from 4 buck to 4 shot Turkey as I hunt brush and prefer the #2 shot from the M-12 / Mod. In particular the Remington Nitro #2 (hard shot/buffered/1250 fps range/1.5oz) Like you here in upstate NY I mostly see Fox.
I still need to pattern the Federal lead BB's though. Very impressed with the Rem. Nitro #2's.........give them a try/pattern for Fox /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Also put the ol Lyman Peep/Ghost ring sight back on the M-12 (prior use slugs)and was impressed while patterning and for quick target location.

Here it is on the Model 12
Model 12 w) peep / ghost ring sight


What have I learned to date from this fine thread? Pattern,pattern,pattern /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Really no ryme or reason from what I see and have done.

For myself, fox few coyote and my terrain. Model 12 w) peep/ghost it hits where it points,handles well,swings great and patterns well. If calling brush slip in some #2 Nitros, bit open #4 buck (maybe BB's still not patterned), happen to set up in more open hedge row,field edge and have left the rifle in the truck. Slip in some slugs (day only NY) or go back for the rifle. I will keep all three loads in my fanny pack for various terrain sets w) the smoothbore /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif......."be prepared"
 
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nevjohn: I grew up in NW FL hunting deer with hounds and shotguns only. In and around the Eglin Air Force Base. This was before 3" shells. I have shot and seen many deer shot with 4b-00 and seen the "autopsys" on many. You have killed your coyote with all of your shots shown. With a shotgun though it is more unpredictable how fast they will go down and stay. I to have been trying to decide which load to use in a 3" Benelli. My turkey tube dosen't work with larger shot. My Carlson Dead Coyote tube seems to be ok to about 50 yds max with 3" 4b. and 2.75" bb ok to 35yds max. Around here I will have to order shells. Becouse of high prices I have been reading posts to help me decide what to order and try. I appreciate everyones work and expense behind the data here.
 
Remington has a new rebate on HD shot starting Feb 1st thru April 30th, $15 rebate on 10 round purchase. This is an excellent thread BTW. I'm going to try Dead Coyote 3" from a Patternmaster tomorrow, that seems like a good combo correct ?
 
I just ordered some 3" Hevi-Shot "B" loads because I wanted to compare them to the 3" Remington Wingmaster HD BB loads. I was thinking that the 1-1/2 oz Hevi-Shot "B" load would have more pellets in it than the 3" Rem HD 1-1/2 oz BB load. I got the shells delivered today so I opened up a 3" Hevi-Shot 1-1/2 oz "B" load and did not like the looks of the shot or the total pellet count. I have counted the pellets in two Rem HD 1-1/2 oz shells and one of them had 73 pellets and the other one had 74 pellets. The Hevi-Shot 3" "B" load had 73 pellets, this was not what I was hoping for. I knew that in the past Hevi-Shot was very inconsistent in size and shape. I thought they had improved the quality of the shot but they have not. The sizes of the pellets in the Hevi-Shot "B" load look like they very from #4's to T's and some of them are stuck together. The Rem HD BB's are very round and are very close to being the same size. In this picture the ugly dark pellets are the Hevi-Shot and the copper colored pellets are the Rem HD BB's.
IMG_1710.jpg
 
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Bob.... that Hevi-Shot is some "ugly" shot !! Geez for the price we pay for that stuff, you'd think the QC would be abit better than Wolf ammo...
 
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Bob.... that Hevi-Shot is some "ugly" shot !! Geez for the price we pay for that stuff, you'd think the QC would be abit better than Wolf ammo...



I really like how the Rem HD performs but I am not sure if it is going to be legal in the Condor Zone. If I spend anymore big bucks for Hevi-Shot I will buy the Dead Coyote "T" shot.
 
Took all the advice and checked out that dead coyote shot. Worked like a charm on two yotes, 45 and the other 65 paces away. I was very impressed.
 
The Dead coyote T is very uniform as it is made from compressed powder, the b's and other heavy shot are molten metal, they couldn't get the T' to form well so they made them out of compressed metal powder and you get way better uniform pellets!
 
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I have an original Pattern Master for my 10ga BPS. It was purchased somewhere around 1992-1994?, can't remember exactly when. It does have wad stripping lugs in it. I was never particularly impressed with it's performance with lead shot, but it did pattern the slower (
 
Why would anyone want to use a tactical shotgun for predators? I think they look cool, but they really don't belong in the hunting world. If you're going to use a shotgun you need the most shot, and max distance.

Turkey guns in 3 1/2 make the most sense, and for me the gun has to be a pump. Now, I am not saying an auto shotgun isn't the cat's meow, but for me I need to use the ultra reliable pump. I live in Alska in very heavy cover and when you're hunting at -40 F (without windchill) you need to be sure the gun is going to do what it was made to do all the time.

I missed a cross fox last week shooting a Remington 870 Super Mag shooting 3 1/2 Heavyshot. The fox was well past what I thought I might hit, but I had to try. My buddy had missed with his .17 and I had to see what this load could do. Obviously it was too far. When you are judging distance in the snow sometimes you think things are closer than what they are. I'll try again Friday...Ohhh and Saturday, and Sunday! Keep calling!
 
I went out today and shot at some paper and shot some catalogs to check out some penetration on the different types and sizes of pellets. Here are a few of the pattern pictures.
IMG_1959.jpg

The first picture is a pattern from 40 yards with a Carlson's Dead Coyote choke using a Federal Premium 2-3/4" number 4 buck load. This load has 34 pellets in it. The only reason I shot the number 4 buckshot load was to check the penetration out. It put 9 total pellets in the 12" circle, one of those was in the center 3.5" circle.
IMG_1965.jpg

This picture is a Hevi-Shot 3" Goose load with "B" shot in it. This load had 73 pellets in it, 56 of those pellets hit the 18" X 22" paper. The 12" circle had 25 pellets in it, 5 of those pellets were in the 3.5" circle.
IMG_1953.jpg

This picture is of a Remington Wingmaster HD 3" #2 waterfowl load. This load had 124 pellets in it, 108 of those pellets hit the paper. The 12" circle had 55 pellets in it, with 10 of those pellets being in the 3.5" circle.
IMG_1969.jpg

Here is a picture of the catalogs I shot into on the penetration test at 40 yards. On the first catalog I shot into, I shot it with a Hevi-Shot "B" load, a Rem HD #2 waterfowl load and a Federal Premium lead copper coated BB load. The first pellet I found at "80 pages" was one of those ugly Hevi-Shot B pellets with two smaller size pellets that were stuck to it. At "page 115" I found 1 Rem HD #2 pellet. I only found two of the lead copper coated BB pellets in the catalog at "pages 211 & 279". The Hevi-Shot B load I found a total of 9 pellets, 7 of those were between page 80 and page 279 and the other 2 B pellets were found at page 359. Of the 25 Rem HD #2 pellets I dug out of the catalog, most of them were between pages 211 and 319. 4 of the #2 HD pellets were between pages 359 and 429. The next catalog I shot was kind of a shocker to me. I shot it with number 4 buckshot, Dead Coyote 3" T shot and Rem HD 3" BB water fowl load. The 4 copper coated lead number 4 buckshot pellets came out of pages 316 to 337. They were all mangled up. I found 7 Dead Coyote T pellets, 1 at page 218, 1 at page 291 and 1 at page 316. There were 3 T Dead Coyote pellets at page 367 and 1 at page 420. Here is the shocker part. I found a total of 10 Rem HD waterfowl BB pellets in the catalog. The first one was at page 290, 3 pellets at page 413, 1 pellet at 465, 2 pellets at 507, 1 pellet at 581 and the deepest pellet was at page 610.
IMG_1977.jpg

This is a picture of the pellets I removed from the catalogs. The top row is the messed up copper coated lead #4 buckshot. The second row is the Dead-Coyote Hevi-Shot T pellets. The 3rd row is Rem HD BB and on the right are the copper coated lead BB's. The 4th row is the Rem HD #2 waterfowl pellets. The 5th or bottom row is the Hevi-Shot B goose load pellets. So what I got out of this was my old favorite Federal Premium lead copper coated BB's are not near as good as the Rem HD 2's or BB's. I was pretty sure the Dead Coyote T shot would out penetrate the 4 buckshot. The Rem HD BB's out penetrating the number 4 buckshot and the Dead Coyote T loads was a surprise. The Rem HD #2's look to be much better than the Hevi-Shot B goose loads also. The HD 2's out penetrated the Hevi-Shot B pellets and there was 51 more HD number 2's per shell than the Hevi-Shot B load.
 
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