Best way to learn the shot pattern?

darcy32171

darcy32171

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Sask
Hey guys. I bought a beautiful old Remington Wingmaster 12 gauge 2.75 full choke. Someone told me a dime should no
t fit in the end and it does. I cant hit anything with this and Pheasent season is upon us. Whats the best distances shooting at cardboard to see the different patterns?
 
The current school of thought is to start by determining your average range you will use the gun at, set-up a pattern board at the distance and shoot it with the load you intend to use, do this at least twice, 3 times is preferred to figure out your POI, and relative pattern density. Shotgunning is a law of averages, one pattern may be vastly different then the one that follows, with the same load through the same gun. The POI should remain close. Also, how time at the trap/skeet field did spend with the gun since you bought it?
 
We pattern shotguns at 25 and 40 yards, carefully shooting from sitting position to centre the pattern on the "x".
I use a 48 inch brown paper at 40 yards, and 30 inch paper at 25 yards is usually good enough.
You can get newsprint roll ends from your local paper for pennies usually if you don't already have paper.
Once you know what kind of patterns you get for the specific load you are shooting, then you need to move to clay birds.
Shooting straightaway birds from a hand cocked Trap machine, or an electric Trap machine set to fixed straightaway, you can then find out how much bead you have to see on a rising bird to break them consistently.
Once you establish where the gun is shooting with your gun mounting style, you can get down to practice on more difficult shots.
Get help from an experienced shotgunner if you don't have much experience yourself.
 
We pattern are shotguns at 30 yards. Seems right for hunting guns . Poa vs poi. I find point of impact the most important. We shot a lot of turkey shots all winter so point of impact really comes into play with the small target.
 
You guys are forgetting, choke constriction is relative to bore diameter, most 12ga shotguns aren't .729", and also the dime trick referred to the diameter of a US dime, not a Canadian one. A 12ga bore can be anywhere from .725" to .741", 0.035" full choke constriction means the full choke 12ga muzzle can be anywhere from .69" to .706" and still be classified as a full choke. Then one can divulge into the whole, Full choke, lead shot/Full choke steel shot thing, this is why most chokes will have the inside diameter or constriction marked on them these days.
 
The only thing that matters is pattern on the paper pattern board with the load that you are shooting.
All measurements are theoretical assumptions.
 
In other words, why would anyone pattern, lets say your grouse gun at 40yds? I start at 15yds and move out at 5yd increments until pattern is not usable for a clean kill. Same for your goose gun, Turkey, whatever distance your prey is going to be at. It's time consuming for sure. Once you have the load/shell, choke and distance that works, then it's time to hunt.
 
Every different brand of shotshell will pattern differently in every different barrels. For example, if you pattern your gun with high velocity Federal 11/8 oz #6s, chances are it won't pattern the same with Winchester high velocity 11/8 oz #6s, and if they pattern as expected in your Mossberg, they might not in your Remington, your Benelli, or in your other Mossberg. Things to watch for when patterning are patterns that are linear rather than round, patterns that doughnut, that is they form a ring with no or with few strikes on the inside of the ring, and large open spaces between pellet holes that would allow your game to escape unscathered or only wounded.
 
Actually, you could go a step further, 2 guns, rolling off the assembly in sequence may pattern differently. As Boomer pointed out, the actual percentage is of little value, you're looking for a reasonably evenly spread, round pattern with few open spots for your target to slip through.
 
The mathematics of shot distribution is complex. You need enough patterns to establish a statistically valid analysis.
Take away message - one pattern does not tell you much, due to variability. One pattern with a bird size hole or two might mislead you. Shoot at least half a dozen patterns once you decide on a distance and load you want to evaluate.
Yeah, I know, its a lot of work.
There are a variety of sources on analysis of shot patterns - you can find out more than you want to know by looking over on Shotgunworld or Doublegun bulletin board sites.
Recent analysis has brought the conclusions of some classic books like Oberfell and Thompson into question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom