Patterning Oddities

[fishunt247]

My roommate and I went out today to pattern our guns (make sure they were still on). I put 57 pellets in the head and neck (I didn't count ones that were touching the line) at 35 yards, but only 5 at 50 (I would NEVER shoot 50 anyway, just checking). He put 20 pellets at 35 yards (not a great pattern really), but 9 at 50. I was shooting 6's, him 4's. Any ideas why his patterned a little better at 50 despite being nowhere near mine at 35? I'm sure there's an explanation; I just don't study this stuff.

[jdb]

man we've been having a tuff time getting our guns patterned well also.

[BLKBEARKLR]

length of barrel, type of shot, type of choke lot of things that could make that differnce.

Joe

[Turkeyman]

Its all about choke constriction. What is the constriction on your choke? Guns with back bored barrels like mossberg, winchester X2 & X3, shoot better with a .670 or .680  Other guns with out back bored barrels   you can go tighter .650 to .670

[WDFW-SUX]

Internal choke geometry.

[fishunt247]

I'm not complaining about my pattern at all. It would be hard to complain about nearly 60 pellets at 35 yards. Just wondering why his pattern didn't lose as much of its value out to 50 as mine did. I don't care, because I'll never shoot that far, I was just curious. I shoot a Benelli with a .665 choke. He shoots a Remington with a more open choke.

[turkeydancer]

FH - Maybe the BB gods like him better .... 

[jackelope]

It would be interesting to see where your #6's ended up at 50...I wonder if the weight difference caused them to drop off and hit low. His 4's with more weight didn't lose their momentum as fast??
 

[dawei]

My roommate and I went out today to pattern our guns (make sure they were still on). I put 57 pellets in the head and neck (I didn't count ones that were touching the line) at 35 yards, but only 5 at 50 (I would NEVER shoot 50 anyway, just checking). He put 20 pellets at 35 yards (not a great pattern really), but 9 at 50. I was shooting 6's, him 4's. Any ideas why his patterned a little better at 50 despite being nowhere near mine at 35? I'm sure there's an explanation; I just don't study this stuff.

I'm not complaining about my pattern at all. It would be hard to complain about nearly 60 pellets at 35 yards. Just wondering why his pattern didn't lose as much of its value out to 50 as mine did. I don't care, because I'll never shoot that far, I was just curious. I shoot a Benelli with a .665 choke. He shoots a Remington with a more open choke.

What gun, what gauge, what choke, what ammo, and shot size did you use? Was your ammo Pb or HTL?

[fishunt247]

That'd be my guess, that they dropped of or when awry.
Benelli SBEII 12 gauge, Primos Jellyhead choke, Win. Double X Magnum 3" #6. They are the best load I've tried for this gun...and I've tried quite a few. And I'm special and don't know what Pb or HTL means.

[Intruder]

A lot of variables....tough to answer.  Did you guys trade shells and see how they perfermed in different guns. 

Possible factors....
1.  Having frewer larger pellets sometimes means they deform less and thus pattern better at longer ranges
2.  Wads/Buffering
3.  Chokes
4.  Barrel design
5.  Speed/Pressure

[satchel3006]

Pb= lead HTL= heavier than lead

[fishunt247]

Oh ok. They are copper plated lead. I've shot hevishot and Federal's heavier than lead, and both didn't pattern worth a *censored* out of my gun.

[Bofire]

 :)patterning is weird. in my testing I have yet to find a load that did not do well at 20 yards. At 40 yards I have never used a 3.5 inch load that worked well, some 3 inch work well and 2.75 work REAL well. I also got better 40 yard patterns with a normal full choke than my extra full or turkey full.
Worst pattern I ever got was a #4 3.5 inch load at 40 yards, no hits in the pie plate at all!!LOL
Carl

[CP]

Smaller drops loses velocity quicker than larger shot.  The #6 that does stay in the pattern will not have much energy at 50y while the #4 not only stays in the pattern but will actually penetrate and kill at 50+ yards.

[fishunt247]

Noted. Thanks. Most of the places I hunt you can't even see 50 yards...I've only shot two gobblers ever that were even at 40 yards.

[bow4elk]

Here's a 30 yard pattern from my Rem 870 Super Mag (26" barrel) with a .655" TruGlo choke shooting 3" Remington Nitro Turkey loads (6 shot, 1 7/8 oz).  At 40 yards it opens up a bit more but still has about 13 pellets in the red.

Food for thought...