Poor patterns with buckshot - updated need more advice, POI issue as well

Farlsincharge

Farlsincharge

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I'm having trouble getting any type of reasonable pattern at over 15 yards using #4 buck. I tried a full choke and then went down to a modified thinking I was deforming the shot. At 25 yards I am only getting 2 hits on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
I am using remington shells and cut one open tonight. They do not have a shot cup. Do you think finding another manufacturer who possibly does use a shot cup would help?
I ordered a Carlson dead coyote choke as well and am going to try that.
 
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2 on a sheet of plywood is terrible...

If you're not blind folded, something definately needs to change. I'd try different ammo.
 
At 15 it is decent, probably half inside a 10 inch circle and the rest scattered around but all on the board. I'm going to try the plywood vertical next time, as I'm starting to wonder if this isn't a POI issue as well.
 
Hopefully that helps, but is sure seems pretty spread out to me. Maybe try at 20 and see where they are starting to go.
 
If it were me I would try a cylinder bore choke and if no improvement was observed I would then try a #4 Buck load from another manufacturer. If still no improvement was observed I would opt for a different shot size and start again.
 
Definitely consider another brand of ammunition. In #4 Buck I've had good results from a modified choke with copper-plated Federal Premium 2-3/4" shells.
 
I have also had poor results with Remington buckshot.

Federal buckshot uses a plastic shot cup. This might help. Copper plated shot may also give you better patterns, as it resists deformation better than plain lead.
 
I think your gun barrel is bent. I can throw more pellets than that onto a 4X8 sheet at 25 yards. IIRC 2 3/4" has 27 #4 pellets 3" has 41 #4 pellets. I bet your gun is shooting high. I have patterned alot of buck over the years and have found one thing, ALL gun load combos are different.The best patterning gun I have now is a early '60s Mossberg 500 fixed MOD with old Imperial unbuffered SSG loads(0 buck) It will consistently put the entire charge of 9 pellets onto a 8.5"x11" paper at 20 yards. At 30 (the max I feel for buck on deer) it will put 4 pellets consistently on the piece of paper. The only bad is that Imperial has not made any of these shells for over 25 years.... Keep shooting ,you will find the problem or answer.

regards, Darryl
 
Try a reduced load with no shot cup the pellets deform from tje blast off the ignition after 15 yards or so they turn like my golf ball and end up 90 degrees from whare intended. Copper platying is a waste don't buy into it. Try another brand. Challengers work good. Federals are ok. Buffalo bore as much as I love them there buck loads are to hot I load mine to 1200fps and I have good patterns out to 40 yards killing patterns out to 50 or so
 
Farlsincharge said:
I'm having trouble getting any type of reasonable pattern at over 15 yards using #4 buck. I tried a full choke and then went down to a modified thinking I was deforming the shot. At 25 yards I am only getting 2 hits on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
I am using remington shells and cut one open tonight. They do not have a shot cup. Do you think finding another manufacturer who possibly does use a shot cup would help?
I ordered a Carlson dead coyote choke as well and am going to try that.
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That's really bad. What gun are you shooting? It may be a p.o.i. thing? I know ply wood is a fair sized target, but could you have missed? You should try the broad side of a barn because contrary to the saying it is hard to miss. #4 pellets are quite a swarm and it is unusual that the rest of them could have vanished. Locate the whole pattern before you decide it is a bad one.
 
Covey Ridge said:
That's really bad. What gun are you shooting? It may be a p.o.i. thing? I know ply wood is a fair sized target, but could you have missed? You should try the broad side of a barn because contrary to the saying it is hard to miss. #4 pellets are quite a swarm and it is unusual that the rest of them could have vanished. Locate the whole pattern before you decide it is a bad one.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I am going to try next. (if it ever stops ####ing raining and blowing)
I have a suspicion that I am in fact shooting high. I had the plywood on its side before, I'm going to stand it on end and try a lower cheek weld. I have a whole slew of chokes to try now. As far as the different brands of ammo go, wouldn't it be nice to be able to purchase whatever ammunition you wanted to, whenever you wanted to? All I can find is Remington, so I guess I'm going to have to make it work as best I can.
 
Like has been said, your gun may be shooting to a different place than your sights. I always seem to get better patterns with standard 2 3/4 inch loads than with magnum loads in buck if that is what you are using.
 
some guns just do not like buck shot but trying different brands and chokes is an excellent idea but in the end it may not work out for your gun.
 
All the Federal I have ever bought has buffering material and a shot cup. The fancy stuff from Winchester and Remington as well IIRC. A shot cup doesn't mean you're gonna get better groups but it may help. My coyote load was plain Remington 3" #4 buck shells. I smacked coyotes from 20-60ish yards and none made it far. I used brown parcel paper to do my patterning. It's a little cheaper than plywood:p.
 
Shoot stuff closer to see where she's hitting, you might just be missing the board altogether with a relatively tight pattern. Try a different brand of shell, different choke for each. I find brand of shell and load affects pattern by a bit, my 590 with it's cylinder bore has twice the pattern size with Remington 00 buck compared to Federal, needless to say I'm shooting the latter.
 
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