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How Does Your Pattern Match Up..


gregor187

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I AM STARTING BACK TURKEY HUNTING THIS YEAR. AND WAS WONDERING HOW MY PATTERNS STACK UP.

 

I am getting about 5 to 9 pellets into the brain and spine area using several of the top turkey targets on the market.. At 40 yards.

This is with no. 5,s with several guns. I just believe I should be doing a little better. How do I stack up againest your guns?..

Thanks in advance,,

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I AM STARTING BACK TURKEY HUNTING THIS YEAR. AND WAS WONDERING HOW MY PATTERNS STACK UP.

 

I am getting about 5 to 9 pellets into the brain and spine area using several of the top turkey targets on the market.. At 40 yards.

This is with no. 5,s with several guns. I just believe I should be doing a little better. How do I stack up againest your guns?..

Thanks in advance,,

 

With #5's, that's really not too bad. The brain and spine area of most turkey targets are pretty small. If you are really shooting at 40 yards, then it's probably fine.

 

The real question should be how many are you putting in the 10" circle at 40 yards. If you cover that 10" area, you should not miss many birds. The spine & brain is too specific in my opinion. My guns put about 80 #5 Hevi-13's in a 10" circle at a true 40 yards and #5 lead & H-13 run around 170 pellets per oz. It goes up to 120-160 when I use #6 Hevi-13's, but there are about 200+ #6's per oz, so I expect more hits.

 

Nitro is cool and I shoot it sometimes. With their triplex loads, you get; 22 #4 pellets, 81 #5 pellets and 382 #7 pellets for a total of 495 pellets in the shell. With 495 pellets, you dang well better be getting 200+ hits!

 

I would check your patterns to see how many hits you are getting in the 10" or at least on a 8.5" x 11" piece of paper.

 

Also, I'd try 34-36 yards just for fun. My patterns really run out of gas at 40 yards, but they are good at 36 and in. I just try to get that bird in a bit closer.

 

Good luck!

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I've been patiently awaiting the Hevi-13 patterning results. Inquiring minds want to know which shell/choke combo it will be this year, Mudhen.

 

So far, the H-13 is looking good. I'm getting 40% (160+- hits) in the 10" at 40 yards. 1.75 oz of H-13 in #6's through a Primos Jellyhaid would be my first choice right now. The Win XR's in #6 would be close behind. The H-13's are only going 1090 fps and the XR's are going 1225, so I might flop and stick with the XR's.

 

However, a new 2007 version of the H-13 is now out. I am waiting for my new Indian Creek choke tube to arrive before testing anymore shells. The new H-13 is faster and heavier. Indian Creek makes the slotted HS tubes for M.A.D.

 

Also, I'm getting decent patterns with Nitro H51013 and the new Federal HW in straight #7's.

 

What to do, what to do :confused:

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What is the velocity of the 2007 Hevi-13? I posted back in Oct asking about the Indian Creek chokes and nobody responded. How do the Federal #7s compare to the XR #6s? At what point is Benelli USA going to acknowledge you as their R&D consultant and start paying for your chokes and shells?

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What is the velocity of the 2007 Hevi-13? I posted back in Oct asking about the Indian Creek chokes and nobody responded. How do the Federal #7s compare to the XR #6s? At what point is Benelli USA going to acknowledge you as their R&D consultant and start paying for your chokes and shells?

 

No one knows the fps for sure yet on the 2007 H-13. I'll ask around. I'm guessing 1200. The 2007 12 ga shell is red.

 

There's more #7's. I hand counted 233 FHW #7's per oz. I hand counted 193 XR #6's per oz (Win' catalog says 207). So that's 437 #7's to 386 #6's. Do 51 extra pellets matter? Dunno. But I have kilt bird with 1-3 pellets in the head before, so I'll take all I can get.

 

Indian Creek, Rhino, Pure Gold, and the Primos Jellyhead seem to be the favorites in Benellis these days.

 

I just want guys to be successful :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I recently patterned my Stoeger M2000 for Turkey using the factory supplied extended Turkey choke, and had fairly good results.

 

At 40 yards with Remington Nitro #4 lead in 3" 1 7/8oz, I averaged 10 hits in the kill zone and roughly 130 hits on a 10" circle. When switching to Federal #6 lead 3" 1 3/4oz the kill zone hits averaged 6 but the the number of hits on a 10" circle fell off around 100.

 

Either I try another choke or shell and repeat or do you think the results are acceptable out to 40 yards?

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  • 2 weeks later...

mudhen,

i am new to the forum and new to the semi-auto and made by benelli club. i bought a stoeger m2000 in camo with 26" barrel. it is alot nicer than the mossberg 500 i have been turkey huntin with for the last few seasons. have you used the jelly head in the stoeger? also how are the winchester 3" #5 high velocities? what is the best load/choke combo you have found in the stoeger if any?

 

i patterned mine with the factory turkey choke and some win. #4 high vel. at 40 yds. one pellet in kill zone. then i shot some 3" remington nitro #4 and had 8 in the kill zone at 40 yds. i want something that will lay the birds down and have no idea where to start. i shot the hs strut undertaker with my moss. and had no problems with the winchester's

 

this factory choke aint goin to the woods so what should i buy?

 

thanks, jle

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mudhen,

i am new to the forum and new to the semi-auto and made by benelli club. i bought a stoeger m2000 in camo with 26" barrel. it is alot nicer than the mossberg 500 i have been turkey huntin with for the last few seasons. have you used the jelly head in the stoeger? also how are the winchester 3" #5 high velocities? what is the best load/choke combo you have found in the stoeger if any?

 

i patterned mine with the factory turkey choke and some win. #4 high vel. at 40 yds. one pellet in kill zone. then i shot some 3" remington nitro #4 and had 8 in the kill zone at 40 yds. i want something that will lay the birds down and have no idea where to start. i shot the hs strut undertaker with my moss. and had no problems with the winchester's

 

this factory choke aint goin to the woods so what should i buy?

 

thanks, jle

 

Sorry, but I know little about the Stoeger. I would probably start with a Primos Tightwad and 3" Winchester HV #6's. I shot the HV's for many years before moving up to XR's and Federal HW's.

 

I would not be happy with less than 150+ pellets in the 10" at 40 yards with #6's of any kind.

 

This is the minimum that I find acceptable, but they are #7's:

 

IMG_1548.jpg

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thanks for the quick response mudhen. what is the benefit of using #6's over #5" or #4's.

 

if i plan on my shots being 30-50yds should i use 4,5,or6?

 

 

More pellets. Better pattern. #6's have plenty of power out to 40. If you are certain you need to shoot 50, then maybe 5's or 4's might be better.

 

Some of the new non-tox can really hammer past 40. I shot some Win XR's today and the targets were just getting hammered.

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jlefud,

 

You said that you would like to be able to shoot and kill a bird out to 40 to 50 yards. I don't have a problem of taking shots at 40 yards however, when your talking 45 to 50 yards then you might have an ethics problem. Yes, your shot will travel that far but your ability to cleanly kill the bird drops tremendously. This is partly due to loss of velocity and also your shot string continues to disperse at the longer distances. I have a friend who is a game biologist and he has told me at a minimum a hunter needs at least 5 pellets in the spine and head of a turkey to kill it. He has cited a study his department had done on the number of wounded birds that was shot at 45-50 yards. The number of lost birds wounded yet were able to get away went up exponentially. What he was trying to tell me and the others in our group was that ethics should play a larger part in our hunting.

 

Now this is just my personal opinion but I hope you would consider working the bird in a little closer before attempting that long range shot and if you do decide to do that, please for the birds sake pattern your gun out at those distances and then decide if it is worth the risk of the bird getting away, crawling into a brush pile or hole and dying. Remember turkeys don't leave a blood trail!

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krr6581,

 

i never take shots unless i feel confident in doing the job as quick as possible. i am not one that likes to see a runnning wounded bird, or a spinning coyote, or a 1 mile blood trail on a deer. if my gun won't pattern past 40, than i won't shoot past 40.

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jlefud, one thing going for the shot past 40 yards is that with a 3" magnum your velocity is faster than if you were shooting a 3 1/2". You just won't have the as many pellets going down range.

 

Urban legend. Debunked by many in the shooting industry. Might have applied to the older slower loads though.

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