Hornady "Varmint Express" 12ga., 2-3/4", #4 BUCK

.22LRGUY

.22LRGUY

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Hey guys~I'm an avid groundhog hunter and from time to time, a shotgun is great for this application. Rather, it is now. 0/0 Buck never guaranteed contact (remember, not much of them showing usually), can't often get close enough, etc. Sure, a few have fallen to #7-1/2 bird shot from close range when I was patrolling around a barn looking for pigeons, but I mean the 30-60 yard range where they're super cautious, but curious. I consider most of the land I shoot to be too flat, and too hard for slug use.

Last weekend, I remembered I'd bought some of this Hornady stuff from a shop up north, covered in dust, pretty pricey...but worth a go I thought. Anyhow, I put the rifle-sighted barrel on my 870P, went for a walk and as fate would have it, a small groundhog was checking me out from about 40 yards away. I took aim, and touched the shot-off. I expected the whole groundhog mound to be a big puff of dust but instead...a small plume shot straight up. Tight group!! Upon investigation, I'd made contact, and it was Hornady=1/Groundhog=0.

Wondering if anyone else has tried this (for varmints/coyotes)...what your experience has been, etc. Anybody know who sells it? I've never seen it for sale anywhere else, and that gun shop is 7 hours north of me. Are there any other tight-patterning, varmint/coyote loads anyone could recommend?

Thanks for taking a moment to comment.
 
I never had much luck with Hornady loads.i have some I'd this number 4 buck as well as turkey loads and there slugs.over priced and not any better then federal buck shot.
 
dutchhunter said:
I never had much luck with Hornady loads.i have some I'd this number 4 buck as well as turkey loads and there slugs.over priced and not any better then federal buck shot.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I've tried at least 3 types of buck shot, and missed groundhogs with all 3. (not sure if Federal was one of them) Eventually, I put a small, empty Gatorade bottle about 50' away...and took a couple of shots at it. No pellets made contact using 0/0 buck. Too open a pattern likely. The Hornady didn't seem to have the same problem.
 
I love the federal flight control wad buck shot . number 4 buck. I pattern my shotgun at 30 yards with.it and the federal seems to pattern best out of most shotguns. This us the best way to find out what your shotgun likes . Dutch
 
I have tried all kinds of shot to find a coyote load. I have not tried hornadys #4 buck but I did try there 3 inch "coyote" 1 1/2 ounce lead bb load. out of my gun its a 30 yard coyote load, tats it. I looked everywhere for the 1 7/8 ounce federal copper plated bbs, couldn't find them in Canada but found out that challenger makes a very similar load and tried it and settled on it for me, as it patterned best. I tried all kinds of #4 buck but couldn't found nothing I liked on the pattern board. my 870 with patternmaster did better than my versamax with #4 buck.
 
Running an extra full ported choke I've had great performance with federal 3.5" #4 buck. About a 20" pattern at 40yds with 45-50 of the 54 pellets on target.
 
Hornady has never patterened well for me and is usually quite expensive to other manufacturers similar offerings. I stick with Federal.
 
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