# patterning shotguns



## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

The first time I went out I had federal 3" BB&BBB,winchester 3"BB&BBB and tested these loads at 30 yards on a rest using the modified choke that came with the gun.The federal BBB patterned terrible with 2 big clumps of shot on the upper left and lower left of the bulls eye.30% of the shot was outside of a 30" circle.The federal BB was a little better with most pellets inside the circle but there were holes in the pattern the size of a football.Winchester was no better.I didnt have access to kent or remington loads so I couldnt test them.I tried a briely modified choke tube today and it really worked well.Both federal loads had no noticable holes in the pattern and the shot pattern had no clumps.All but a few pellets were inside a 30" circle.The winchester loads were similar.Thanks Chris for telling me the basics on patterning(really pretty simple).Now bring on those honkers!


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

How much was the Choke??


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

I think it was about 35$.I talked to a salesman I kind of know out there and he said try it out and if it doesn't work,clean it up and bring it back.Tyler,if you need paper I have a ton of it that I bought recently.PM me if you want to try the choke out before you buy one,the choke works for either benneli or beretta.


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## duxnbux (Feb 25, 2002)

I did a bunch of testing earlier this summer with a a variety of goose loads from a variety of manufacturers. I did all my testing with the benelli modified as well. It is amazing what you can learn from the performance of your shotgun/choke system and various manufacturers loads! I am planning on doing some more testing before the end of the summer. I have heard good things about the briley chokes from other sources as well...sounds like it is a good investment.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

I am happy with the choke and after testing the patterns of different loads,with the beretta choke, I was also amazed that I hit anything at all during the hunting season.Now I will have to practice some on the trap range.


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## FACE (Mar 10, 2003)

What gun? What choke?


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Maybe that was why that one day I was hammering the honkers and you where not? Or the day I wacked all those ducks and you missed alot??? J/k Dean, ...................I couldnt help it.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

It is a beretta AL 391.I tested the modified choke that came with the gun the first outing and the briely modified,the second time I patterned.Tyler maybe it was the gun,or most likely I had an off day or days.The more I miss on an off day the more I analize my shooting and my connecting with the target goes down hill.Frustration I guess.Of course Tyler is quick draw McGraw in the goose blind and you better be on your toes when you are hunting with him.If your pattern was off in the fall &spring season,man watch out,you could give Tom Knapp(the guy with the benneli cam) a run for his money.


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## Dan Bueide (Jul 1, 2002)

If you ever get the chance, be sure to attend a wounding loss or other shooting seminar put on by Tom Roster of CONSEP. CONSEP is a project sponsored by 25 state game agencies, USFWS, CFWS, the game agencies of several other countries and some of the gun/ammo manufacturers.

CONSEP has shot and tested just about every load/choke combo and has x-rayed and autopsied thousands of shot birds to develop its data, the accumulation of which is represented by the CONSEP game/shot chart you can find, among other places, in the ND waterfowl proc.

Roster is a wealth of knowledge and very helpful in sifting through all of the myths and inaccuracies surrounding shotgun loads, especially non-toxic. I could go on and on about all we learned that day and a half, but here's a little bit we learned at the seminar and from some pattern testing we did later.

Don't get hung up on speed or any of the fancy non-toxic's. Some, but not all, of the non-toxic's will help you more easily reach minimum pellet counts, but with a little work, you can get there with plain old steel, at less than half the price of the other non-toxic's. For steel, you need about 1250-1300 fps to do the job at any range, and anything faster doesn't mean very much downrange, and the very minimal advantage of extra speed comes at too great an expense in terms of other lethality features. Per Roster, for each 100fps beyond 1300, you only retain about 3fps at 40 yards. This has something to do with the physics of pushing spheres and the friction they create. Since a shotgun shell only has so much capacity, and you must trade payload for increased muzzle velocity, you're much better off with a slower, yet lethal, speed and a greater payload. All other things being equal, a denser pattern is also achieved at slower speeds, as the knuckle-balling effect of the more imperfect pellets within any load is more sever at higher speeds.

And all steel is not created equal. Take apart one BBB shell from several manufacturers and you'll see what I mean. Some mfg's pellets look like the surface of the moon - others smooth as a baby's bottom. The rough ones won't fly as true, and will provide a much less dense pattern.

All of this becomes very apparent at the pattern board. I was horrified to see how my "honey" load/choke combos performed at extreme ranges. The CONSEP lethality chart lists a target pellet count that represents "lethality" for many different species, and this count remains the same regardless of range. For example, for big geese, you need to achieve 50-55 hits in a 30 inch circle regardless of the range. Because of the cone pattern of a shot string, it follows that if you can make the 50-55 at 60 yards, you'll also do so (and then some) at 30 yards. So, we tested at extreme ranges, so we knew a few of our shots (the ones at long range) and the majority (at better range) would all meet the criteria. We aren't done messing with this yet, but let's just say it's darn hard to meet the criteria at outside ranges, and the only way to do so is to get past the trend towards speed and pick up more payload. Also, by using the smaller of several acceptable shot sizes, it's easier to reach pellet count minimums because you've got more pellets to begin with. I think to reach the minimum pellet count on goose loads at 60 yards, I'm going to need a 3.5', BBB, 1 9/16 oz. Federal W135 in the modified or improved modified range choke. The W135 load is rated at 1300fps.

Of course, it's much easier to meet the lethality criteria (minimum pellet count) when testing and hunting at closer ranges, say 30 yards. Part of the seminar was to help hunters understand this and encourage them to shoot within themselves, which for most means 30 yards. But we all take some longer shots from time to time, especially follow up shots, and so we're doing our testing at extreme ranges knowing that if we achieve minimum pellet count there, we'll be way above the count at shorter, more typical ranges.

Happy patterning!


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## fishhook (Aug 29, 2002)

I'm thinking of buying a new shotgun for under $300. What is everyones favorite? I know the good ones are out of that range, but the remington 870 is in it. What does everyone think of that gun. I shoot an older winchester right now.


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## Austin Bachmeier (Feb 27, 2002)

Rem 870 Super Magnum Synthetic or Benelli Nova.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

Go with the 870 supermag, my benilli is a big piece of ****!!!


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