Skychief
69 Cal.
Greetings turkey hunters and smoothbore fans!
I made time to shoot some turkey loads this afternoon.
I dusted off Ol' Betsy, my half stocked 12 gauge as she has been neglected the last few years. I felt for her.
In gathering my gear, I found some cushion wads which I had soaked with olive oil months ago. Lubed still, but, not sloppy by any means, I threw them in my bag to shoot just as they were.
My experiment for the day was simple. The load chain would be my regular loading, but, I would try loads of 4, 5, and 6 shot, respectively, and see how each performed.
I set some virgin newsprint paper at 22 yards and commenced firing. I cleaned the bore between each try as that will be its condition a week from tomorrow (our opener). :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Today's results were interesting. I thought of Wattlebuster after reviewing the sheets of paper once the smoke cleared. I believe he favors larger sized shot.
I found that the 4's actually patterned best out of this short barrelled gun today. At the 22 yards, it averaged a pattern roughly 18-20" in diameter.
Upon the paper, I had placed a strip of duct tape to simulate Tommy Three-Toe's neck. They averaged about 20 shot strikes.
The 5 and 6 shot loads weren't far behind the 4's in pattern quality, but the 4's performance have convinced me to give them a shot this year.
After firing the shotloads, I took a .715 ball and patched it with some of my cleaning flannel. This being the last shot of the day, I felt the urge to wake up my gong. I can still hear it ringing. :haha:
I easily found the flannel patch. It was unscathed and worthy of using again. None of my rifles can shoot this material without ripping it. Lord love a smoothbore!
I STILL feel the need to take a whitetail with one of these cannon balls. Perhaps this Fall, but, that's fodder for another thread. :slap:
I may see if Spence is up and mail him a pic of a #4 shot target and get his take. Maybe he will paste it hear for this low tech turkey! :idunno:
Best regards all.
Please send good thoughts my way that I will make it through the next week with little whining, slobbering and sniffling! :surrender:
Waiting for the opener is hard. Harder than Super Man's kneecap!
Skychief.
I made time to shoot some turkey loads this afternoon.
I dusted off Ol' Betsy, my half stocked 12 gauge as she has been neglected the last few years. I felt for her.
In gathering my gear, I found some cushion wads which I had soaked with olive oil months ago. Lubed still, but, not sloppy by any means, I threw them in my bag to shoot just as they were.
My experiment for the day was simple. The load chain would be my regular loading, but, I would try loads of 4, 5, and 6 shot, respectively, and see how each performed.
I set some virgin newsprint paper at 22 yards and commenced firing. I cleaned the bore between each try as that will be its condition a week from tomorrow (our opener). :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Today's results were interesting. I thought of Wattlebuster after reviewing the sheets of paper once the smoke cleared. I believe he favors larger sized shot.
I found that the 4's actually patterned best out of this short barrelled gun today. At the 22 yards, it averaged a pattern roughly 18-20" in diameter.
Upon the paper, I had placed a strip of duct tape to simulate Tommy Three-Toe's neck. They averaged about 20 shot strikes.
The 5 and 6 shot loads weren't far behind the 4's in pattern quality, but the 4's performance have convinced me to give them a shot this year.
After firing the shotloads, I took a .715 ball and patched it with some of my cleaning flannel. This being the last shot of the day, I felt the urge to wake up my gong. I can still hear it ringing. :haha:
I easily found the flannel patch. It was unscathed and worthy of using again. None of my rifles can shoot this material without ripping it. Lord love a smoothbore!
I STILL feel the need to take a whitetail with one of these cannon balls. Perhaps this Fall, but, that's fodder for another thread. :slap:
I may see if Spence is up and mail him a pic of a #4 shot target and get his take. Maybe he will paste it hear for this low tech turkey! :idunno:
Best regards all.
Please send good thoughts my way that I will make it through the next week with little whining, slobbering and sniffling! :surrender:
Waiting for the opener is hard. Harder than Super Man's kneecap!
Skychief.
