Would you hunt turkeys with these patterns?

[roundball]

JRH, I may have missed it but what was the yardage?

 

[roundball]

JRH, I may have missed it but what was the yardage?

 

[George]

The wads need to be tight. Most of us agree that it's a big problem if too much gas blows past the wads and up into the shot, so I always work hard to make a good gas seal no matter what wadding I'm using.

I've killed a fair number of turkeys with MLs, and I've never shot anything but #6 shot. I've killed them out to 40 yards, #6 has never let me down.

Spence

 

[George]

The wads need to be tight. Most of us agree that it's a big problem if too much gas blows past the wads and up into the shot, so I always work hard to make a good gas seal no matter what wadding I'm using.

I've killed a fair number of turkeys with MLs, and I've never shot anything but #6 shot. I've killed them out to 40 yards, #6 has never let me down.

Spence

 

[Dave K]

I would still be looking for a better load. Just looks real weak to me. It is not a pattern I would hunt with or even shoot clay with. The size of the cards DO make a difference. Unfortunately, Mike Lea sent you the size you asked for and probably what the barrel is marked as. Again, unfortunately, not all barrels marked as shall we say 20ga. are true 20ga. You have to measure the exact measurement of each barrel. It is not real uncommon at all to have a SxS and the right and left barrels be a different dimension. Yes, it is a PIA when that happens, but it does happen. If the bores of the barrels are fairly close in dia. I use the larger sized bore, as the one to buy components for for and then still stuff them down the smaller bore. This is if they are about .005 apart in size. Greater than that, I just need to see how far apart. Between the low numbers of shot hitting the target and the low numbers of shot actually fired, I think you really need to go to a smaller sized shot like 6's or 5's to get more shot in the air. Raising the shot population, tightening the pattern and getting more velocity , appears to be three goals you need to work with. JMHO

 

[Dave K]

I would still be looking for a better load. Just looks real weak to me. It is not a pattern I would hunt with or even shoot clay with. The size of the cards DO make a difference. Unfortunately, Mike Lea sent you the size you asked for and probably what the barrel is marked as. Again, unfortunately, not all barrels marked as shall we say 20ga. are true 20ga. You have to measure the exact measurement of each barrel. It is not real uncommon at all to have a SxS and the right and left barrels be a different dimension. Yes, it is a PIA when that happens, but it does happen. If the bores of the barrels are fairly close in dia. I use the larger sized bore, as the one to buy components for for and then still stuff them down the smaller bore. This is if they are about .005 apart in size. Greater than that, I just need to see how far apart. Between the low numbers of shot hitting the target and the low numbers of shot actually fired, I think you really need to go to a smaller sized shot like 6's or 5's to get more shot in the air. Raising the shot population, tightening the pattern and getting more velocity , appears to be three goals you need to work with. JMHO

 

[jrhills]

Oh, sorry. They were all at 25 yards.
JRH

 

[jrhills]

Did you see the right barrel target with 75 grains FFg and 70 grains (volume) #4 shot. That looked like a pretty tight pattern to me, No?

And sorry, what does PIA mean?

Thanks.

 

[Dave K]

Yes, the right barrel is showing real promise in that picture. I am also disappointed in the penetration with these loads. Maybe with more shot in the string, the patterns will get more shot in the target, but that will also mean using more powder. But yes, as far as pattern, the right barrel is pretty good. PIA is family friendly for Pain In the(A)donkey.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You have to measure the bores, as you now know. YOU CAN'T GUESS, nor can you rely on any markings on the barrels!

You are NOT the Lone Ranger on this. I have a custom-made fowling piece that was suppose to be 20 gauge( .615" nominally). When I used 20 gauge OP wads and OS cards, they all went down WAY TOO EASILY! I then measured the bore and found it measures .626-.627"- almost a nominal 19 GAUGE( .629")!!! I ordered 19 gauge OP wad and OS cards, and the MV rose some 250 FPS! Talk about a difference in POI( Point of Impact using Round Balls) and patterns!

All wads serve the function of sealing gas behind your load of shot, or holding the load in place until you fire the gun. An OP wad seals the powder from the shot. A " Cushion wad"- that 5/8" thick wad you used normally is lubricated with some grease, or oil, or combination to grease the bore going down, and soften BP carbon fouling in the barrel after its fired.

The Over Shot card holds the load of shot in place inside the barrel. However, the OS card also provides resistance and therefore increases COMPRESSION within the barrel to insure that the powder charge burns completely and uniformly, shot after shot. Its the uniformity of compression shot after shot that creates uniform( Predictable) patterns down range.

If you have a barrel that has muzzle choke, you may find it next to impossible to fit a correctly sized OP wad, or Cushion Wad down the muzzle. It depends on how much choke is in the muzzle.

The answer is to use OS cards instead of the OP wad, and cushion wads. The thin OS cards can be bent to fit thru the choke, then turned and run down the bore. The OS card should easily pivot 90 degrees and go down the bore square to the bore.

Put an off-center hole in each OS card, to let air escape thru the hole, rather than turn an edge and ruin the SEAL! Turn the cards at least 90 degrees, so that you don't turn the same edge where the card pivots, nor align the holes up with one another. That prevents "Dieseling", and speeds up loading in the field.

I carry a bag of greased cleaning patches and run one down the barrel before loading the first shot to be fired out of the gun. After my first shot, I run a greased patch down the bore and out after seating the load of shot and the OS card(s) to hold the load in place. This protects the bore from rusting on wet days and keeps subsequent fouling soft. I also found that greasing the bore protects the shot pellets from rubbing off lead on my bores, which makes cleaning the gun much easier. I don't have to use modern lead solvents to remove lead streaks in the barrel. Without the flats, a few more pellets seem to always end up in my shot patterns, too. :grin: :thumbsup:

 

[jrhills]

Would I use an awl or a push pin to make the hole in the OS wad? Need an idea about the size of the hole.

 

[jrhills]

Can't see how you can see the lead streaks in the barrel. When I remove the nipples to get a little light down at the bottom, what I get is a VERY little light down there.