strange thing happened patterning a shotgun

[farmer47]

a few of us were patterning guns this afternoon for turkey hunting using seven eights plywood to hold our targets. one fellow fired a round of number five shot and he got a nice shot pattern but unbelievably he blew a hole through the plywood about a foot to the side of the target . it looked like a slug had gone through it . i have never seen anything like it .the only thing i can think of is the wad went through the plywood. is this possible? this was some very old ammo possibly twenty years plus. any thoughts.

 

[SUPER TENERE]

If they were reloads, maybe a large hunk of lead mixed in with the shot. No way would the wad go through 7/8 plywood.

 

[hogiron]

do they still produce 7/8th plywood? but a wad would not go through anyway. a wad wouldn't go through 1/4 ''

 

[Ashcroft]

I've heard of steel shot clumping together from rusting, never anything like this with lead. .???

 

[The Baron]

I'm guessing a bunch of shot stuck in the wad. Factory ammo or reloads? If it did it a 2nd time, I'd cut one open and investigate.

 

[Winchester-1897]

.......

 

[kodiakjack]

If it was clumped or stuck together lead, I'd think it would still hit the wood within the pattern of the rest of the shot.

Shot stuck in the wad makes more sense to me as the wad could maybe help redirect it so far to the right.

Did you look behind the plywood? Was there an extra mangled wad laying around?

Were you guys shooting slugs at all? Did someone behind the shooter have an ND at the same time the other guy fired...?

 

[Uplandguy]

It is possible for lead to mash together through super tight (turkey) chokes. It would not pattern with the rest of the shot for obvious reasons, just like a slug doesn't act like birdshot. You can google the conditions that create this.

 

[farmer47]

thanks for all the ideas. i will look to see if i can find a wad behind the plywood , actually it was particle board and is seven eighths. it was through a extra tight turkey choke. no one was shooting slugs of any kind and only one person was shooting at once so definitely was not some prank. whether they were reloads i can not say as it was loose rounds with no box . was talking to a fellow about it and his idea was a clump of shot as the hole was right and low.

 

[FLHTCUI]

If they were reloads, maybe a large hunk of lead mixed in with the shot. No way would the wad go through 7/8 plywood.

Sure it would... after the shot string cleared its path
How far back where you guys from the patterning board.
Rob

 

[struff55]

What was the distance

 

[mrgoat]

Too many unknown's like distance from backboard and exactly what loads were being used to give an accurate opinion. But I can say from personal experience that using my 1oz. skeet loads at 1200fps and at distance of about 25ft. I embedded the one piece plastic wad into the side of a cat. Penetrated the hide and into the flesh about 1/4". Cat was exiting the bird feeder at warp 6 at the time.

 

[Uplandguy]

Too many unknown's like distance from backboard and exactly what loads were being used to give an accurate opinion. But I can say from personal experience that using my 1oz. skeet loads at 1200fps and at distance of about 25ft. I embedded the one piece plastic wad into the side of a cat. Penetrated the hide and into the flesh about 1/4". Cat was exiting the bird feeder at warp 6 at the time.

Say what now?