Anyone use this stuff? I heard nothing but good stuff so bought two boxes of 5 rounds from Cabela's. At $9 per box I would rather shoot it at critters rather than targets or at least minimal targets. What choke are you guys having luck with? I will be trying it in my Henry single shot which uses Remchokes, I have a full, mod and IC for it, not sure which would work best.
Federal flight control buckshot
- Thread starter FLYBYU44
- Start date
I have used it with Improved and Full chokes, shoots better with the Improved choke.
I have used this type of ammo in Turkey loads, it likes the more open chokes better, if I had a cylinder bore I would look at using that too.
If I were going to use a shotgun for a shotgun only zone again I would get some 3" Flight Control Wad OO Buck through the improved choke, this would give me the best groups with my slugs at 74 yards and still put a pile of pellets on target at 25 -30 yards when in tight and wanting to use buckshot.
I have used this type of ammo in Turkey loads, it likes the more open chokes better, if I had a cylinder bore I would look at using that too.
If I were going to use a shotgun for a shotgun only zone again I would get some 3" Flight Control Wad OO Buck through the improved choke, this would give me the best groups with my slugs at 74 yards and still put a pile of pellets on target at 25 -30 yards when in tight and wanting to use buckshot.
I just did some testing with a pile of loads and posted on another forum, here is my post.
I said I would do some buckshot testing, I am up for testing more if someone wants me to. What I got out of this test is what anyone who uses the stuff for deer ethically has said, pattern your gun, use what you know and limit your range.
As all the ethical users of the stuff have mentioned here, 30 yards is the limit I would be shooting buckshot at deer, this was the range that I patterned at. I used an 8 1/2"x11" piece of paper turned landscape attached to a cardboard box, this is approximately the size of an adult deer's vitals, any pellet that cut the paper was a good hit for this test, some that were close and may also have been fatal have been noted but not considered as fatal in that case.
The shotgun was a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum 23in turkey barrel with Williams clamp on sights, they have been sighted in for slugs, patterning with these sights was done to accept both slug and buckshot use. The chokes used are standard Remington Rem Chokes, Full and Improved, no special buckshot chokes have been used. I did want to also shoot some of these rounds through the 28in barrel and a bead but my neighbour had some constructions workers show up to do some work and I did not want to cause any neighbourly issues so I quit for now, I can always go back to that.
The results are listed below, these were with my gun only, this testing does not mean to prove anyone else's gun, these are for fun and any ethics of the user are their own to be determined by their own testing.
Remington Magnum 3 1/2" OO Buck 18 Pellet Load SP1235MAG-00BK - Full Choke
- 7 fatal hits, 10 pellets hit high, sight adjustment may place more pellets inside the vitals, more shots required to determine that
Winchester Magnum 3" OO Buck 15 Pellet Load XB123OO - Full Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 2 within 1/2" of the paper
Federal Magnum 2 3/4" OO Buck 12 Pellet Load F130 00 - Full Choke
- 7 fatal hits
Federal Maximum 2 3/4" OO Buck 9 Pellet Load PFC154 00 - with Flightontrol Wad - Full Choke
- 4 fatal hits
Remington Magnum 3 1/2" OO Buck 18 Pellet Load SP1235MAG-00BK - Improved Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 2 within 1/2" of paper
Winchester Magnum 3" OO Buck 15 Pellet Load XB123OO - Improved Choke
- 7 fatal hits
Federal Magnum 2 3/4" OO Buck 12 Pellet Load F130 00 - Improved Choke
- 2 fatal hits
Federal Maximum 2 3/4" OO Buck 9 Pellet Load PFC154 00 - with Flightontrol Wad - Improved Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 1 within 1/2" of the paper
What these shots showed me is that the Federal Flightcontrol loads in my improved choke are just as good as any other the other loads with a full choke, that coupled with the fact that the slugs do not shoot well out of a full choke but shoot very well out of an improved choke leads me to lean toward the Flightcontrol loads, potentially to the 3" loads with the improved choke for further testing.
I have killed deer with the 3 1/2" loads, ranges were under 20 yards, they did not recover.
I also had some 16ga buckshot loads kicking around, one was a paper hull Imperial SG load and another was a Winchester #1 Buck load, both contain 12 pellets, the SG is essentially #1 Buck. At 30 yards shot from the full choke barrel of a double gun the following pattern was found.
16ga Modern #1 Buck load
- 4 fatal hits
16ga Paper Hull Imperial SG load
- 6 fatal hits, 3 within 1/2" of the paper
If I were to need to use the 16ga to stop something I would like to have those paper hull loads rather than the modern stuff in this particular firearm.
I am willing to go back out and take a few more shots, I have 3rds of everything but the 3 1/2", that box only has 1 round remaining.
I picked these boxes of buckshot up on a trip back from Sudbury, essentially the low cost option for the average hunter, Hornady or other "specialty" buckshots were not considered, the Flightcontrol wad Federal was $9.95 a box from Canadian Tire, the Federal Power Shok was $9.29 a box from the same store, so no reason not to buy the premium if it works. I chose not to get the 3" flightcontrol at the time because I wanted to compare it to the standard 2 3/4" load.
I said I would do some buckshot testing, I am up for testing more if someone wants me to. What I got out of this test is what anyone who uses the stuff for deer ethically has said, pattern your gun, use what you know and limit your range.
As all the ethical users of the stuff have mentioned here, 30 yards is the limit I would be shooting buckshot at deer, this was the range that I patterned at. I used an 8 1/2"x11" piece of paper turned landscape attached to a cardboard box, this is approximately the size of an adult deer's vitals, any pellet that cut the paper was a good hit for this test, some that were close and may also have been fatal have been noted but not considered as fatal in that case.
The shotgun was a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum 23in turkey barrel with Williams clamp on sights, they have been sighted in for slugs, patterning with these sights was done to accept both slug and buckshot use. The chokes used are standard Remington Rem Chokes, Full and Improved, no special buckshot chokes have been used. I did want to also shoot some of these rounds through the 28in barrel and a bead but my neighbour had some constructions workers show up to do some work and I did not want to cause any neighbourly issues so I quit for now, I can always go back to that.
The results are listed below, these were with my gun only, this testing does not mean to prove anyone else's gun, these are for fun and any ethics of the user are their own to be determined by their own testing.
Remington Magnum 3 1/2" OO Buck 18 Pellet Load SP1235MAG-00BK - Full Choke
- 7 fatal hits, 10 pellets hit high, sight adjustment may place more pellets inside the vitals, more shots required to determine that
Winchester Magnum 3" OO Buck 15 Pellet Load XB123OO - Full Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 2 within 1/2" of the paper
Federal Magnum 2 3/4" OO Buck 12 Pellet Load F130 00 - Full Choke
- 7 fatal hits
Federal Maximum 2 3/4" OO Buck 9 Pellet Load PFC154 00 - with Flightontrol Wad - Full Choke
- 4 fatal hits
Remington Magnum 3 1/2" OO Buck 18 Pellet Load SP1235MAG-00BK - Improved Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 2 within 1/2" of paper
Winchester Magnum 3" OO Buck 15 Pellet Load XB123OO - Improved Choke
- 7 fatal hits
Federal Magnum 2 3/4" OO Buck 12 Pellet Load F130 00 - Improved Choke
- 2 fatal hits
Federal Maximum 2 3/4" OO Buck 9 Pellet Load PFC154 00 - with Flightontrol Wad - Improved Choke
- 6 fatal hits, 1 within 1/2" of the paper
What these shots showed me is that the Federal Flightcontrol loads in my improved choke are just as good as any other the other loads with a full choke, that coupled with the fact that the slugs do not shoot well out of a full choke but shoot very well out of an improved choke leads me to lean toward the Flightcontrol loads, potentially to the 3" loads with the improved choke for further testing.
I have killed deer with the 3 1/2" loads, ranges were under 20 yards, they did not recover.
I also had some 16ga buckshot loads kicking around, one was a paper hull Imperial SG load and another was a Winchester #1 Buck load, both contain 12 pellets, the SG is essentially #1 Buck. At 30 yards shot from the full choke barrel of a double gun the following pattern was found.
16ga Modern #1 Buck load
- 4 fatal hits
16ga Paper Hull Imperial SG load
- 6 fatal hits, 3 within 1/2" of the paper
If I were to need to use the 16ga to stop something I would like to have those paper hull loads rather than the modern stuff in this particular firearm.
I am willing to go back out and take a few more shots, I have 3rds of everything but the 3 1/2", that box only has 1 round remaining.
I picked these boxes of buckshot up on a trip back from Sudbury, essentially the low cost option for the average hunter, Hornady or other "specialty" buckshots were not considered, the Flightcontrol wad Federal was $9.95 a box from Canadian Tire, the Federal Power Shok was $9.29 a box from the same store, so no reason not to buy the premium if it works. I chose not to get the 3" flightcontrol at the time because I wanted to compare it to the standard 2 3/4" load.
Improved cylinder is the tightest choke I would use with the Flitecontrol buckshot, based on my testing. As noted above, choke is counterproductive with this style of wad.
Federal Flitecontrol or Hornady with the Versatite wad (both are the same design) would be my choice if I had to use buckshot on anything living.
Federal Flitecontrol or Hornady with the Versatite wad (both are the same design) would be my choice if I had to use buckshot on anything living.
That is awesome guys, thanks so much! I did a Google search on this and honestly came up blank, about a 100 different opinions with nothing to back any of them up. Yet again, CGN pulls through. My plan is to use these shells on hopefully wild hogs and some coyotes when my buddy get's some time off to go with me.
After watching this I had to try the Federal Flitecontrol Ammo. I have a 13" barrel DA Kodiak that didn't like other standard loads, but the flitecontrol was awesome!
[youtube]41wBr7-QQlI[/youtube]
Here is my best pattern at 25 meters - using the flitecontrol personal defense (slightly lower velocity). It is a 4 inch spread. DA Kodiak with IC choke.
[youtube]41wBr7-QQlI[/youtube]
Here is my best pattern at 25 meters - using the flitecontrol personal defense (slightly lower velocity). It is a 4 inch spread. DA Kodiak with IC choke.
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