Long Range Gelatin Test - Hornady Varmint Express Lead #4 Buckshot

Brobee

Brobee

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Got another one edited up this weekend:

Hornady's Varmint Express Lead #4 Buckshot:


I got out this past weekend and filmed a bunch of different slug reviews...will get to editing them pronto!

Cheers, and thanks for watching.

Brobee
 
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Good job, i like your videos. I subscribed. Hope you test some Hornady Zombie Max 2 3/4 00 buck next. Box says its 1600fps at the muzzle! 8 Pellets.
 
Impressive reviews!

Could you test some 2.75" 16 pellet #1 buck at some point?
 
Interesting to see the pattern differences of 00 Buck vs #4 Buck, both using the flight control wad. At 20 yards the 00 Buck was 3.5 inches, while ~40% of the #4 Buck missed the block (8.5"x8.5" target). I wonder if this also has a lot to do with the fact that the 00 Buck was plated, and therefore didn't deform once fired, and the #4 Buck was not plated and heavily deformed on firing.

The Box O'Truth tested the Federal Low Recoil #1 Buck with Flight Control and got similar pattern results to your 00 Buck tests at 20 yards. However, at 35 yards his #1 Buck with flight control pattern was ~6-8 inches. At 40 yards, your 00 Buck with flight control had 66% of the pellets missing the block.

I wonder what the cause could be. The pellet size difference? Velocity? (his load advertised at 1100fps). Different chokes? (he used a Cyl bore 870, you're using an IC 870).

http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot56_2.htm
 
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I've done a lot of varied media testing and found that #4 buck pellets get noticeably more badly damaged relative to its size compared to larger buckshot, sometimes winding up as shapeless scraps of lead.

Ballistic gel seems to be more gentle on pellets on average than wet phone books or meat or whatever, but it seems that even just going down the bore can beat up #4 buck pretty significantly.

Hardening and plating seems to help #4 buck a lot, both in patterning and after it hits.
 
Been meaning to get this done for a couple years now, but graduate school and work were always getting in the way. Finally - a real-world close-range-deer-hunting performance test of this round...


Would I use this round again? Only if the range was 25 yards or less, and only if I had to! I think rifled slugs are a much better choice.

Cheers, and thanks for watching!

Brobee
 
Brobee. Great review. Validates my own experience with this ammo. These rounds are the ####!

Now, do yourself a small favour. Sell your 870's and get a 590A1. :)
 
machman said:
Brobee, great vids, but you know this is the "Black Shotgun" forum?
You may get even more appreciation in the"Hunting" shotgun forum.
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Yeah, I realized that after I looked up my old gelatin test thread and found it here in the black shotgun forum....so I posted it over in the hunting shotgun forum too. If a mod wants to do the huge favour and merge this thread with the one in the hunting forum (and then delete this one!) that would be super-fantastic.

Brobee
 
jparent said:
Now, do yourself a small favour. Sell your 870's and get a 590A1. :)
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Ha! Been there and done that...actually a couple of times. I can never make up my mind on which one I like best.

I might actually commit the ultimate sin and sell all my pump guns to get a single Blaser B95 combo gun (12 gauge over 30-06).

Brobee
 
Brobee said:
Yeah, I realized that after I looked up my old gelatin test thread and found it here in the black shotgun forum....so I posted it over in the hunting shotgun forum too. If a mod wants to do the huge favour and merge this thread with the one in the hunting forum (and then delete this one!) that would be super-fantastic.

Brobee
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Or you could just throw on a bayonet & we would all be happy ;-)
 
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