What do you think ofthese patterns?

[LHolden]

I’ve followed with interest the posts on loading options. I shoot a Centermark 20g., mainly for squirrels, grouse, and turkey. This last week I’ve tried 7 variations. The best three are as follows:

#1:
25 yards
70 gr. of 2F powder
1-thick over powder card
1/4” fiber wad greased
70 gr. of #6 shot
1-thin card
then one greased patch run down bore

28 pellets in the 10” circle (abt 25%). These pellets are more evenly distributed and without as many big gaps as I got when using a 1/2” fiber wad. Looks like a good pattern for squirrels and turkey



#2:
25 yards
70 gr. of 2F powder
1-thick card
1`/4” fiber wad greased
paper cartridge with 70 gr. #6 shot in rolled newspaper
then one greased patch run down bore.

29 pellets in the 10” circle (abt 25%) but there are big gaps between the pellets.


#3:
25 yards
60 gr. of 2 F powder
1- thick card
1/4” greased fiber wad
1-thin card
70 gr. of #6 shot
1 - thin card
then one greased patch run down bore:

20 pellets in the 10” circle (abt 18%), but the shot looks more evenly distributed over a larger 32” diameter area than any of my other trials. Looks like a good pattern more suited to wing shots on flying birds (which I’ve never tried and not much interested in at this time)


What do y’all think of these patterns? Any suggestions for improvements?

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

They look fairly dense, but the pictures are small, looks like there may be a hole in the first and second one, just can't see them that well.

 

[Wayne/Al]

#3 looks good to me. I would use that for tree rats. Have you ever tryed the cloth shotcups? Some folks on here have had good results with them.

 

[bob4st]

...i think they look decent... have you tried a little lighter powder charge?... mine seems to work well in the mid 60's... oops, just noticed #3 used 60 gr... oh well, they still look decent... heck, i've never seen a perfect pattern from mz's, british bests or anything in between...

 

Two,
I haven't shot my 20 ga with shot but I have a 12 ga that I patterned. Using 7.5 shot with equal, by volume, powder and shot. 3 drams of 2F with 1 over powder card and 2 over shot cards, no cushion wad, shot a 51% pattern on an 8.5X11 paper at 25 yards. Very dense pattern with no donuts. 300+ pellets with 153 hits on paper. Keep at it, it's fun to play and productive in the end.
Mark

 

[Moose_Owner]

All three of the patterns look like they would work for squirrels or grouse. Unless you really like patterning your gun, I would pick one of the two equal volume loads and go have some fun hunting.

If are going to get serious about patterning, you can not really draw too many conclusions from a single pattern. There is quite a bit of variation between patterns using the same load and wad combination. In order to evaluate different loads and wad combinations, you should probably shoot at least five shots and average results. From looking at your three patterns, my guess that they are not statistically different from each other.

In terms of improving your patterns, you are currently using a 1 ounce load of shot. You might try a 7/8 ounce load and see how that shoots. I have a prejudice towards lighter loads and a little higher velocities.