ORIGINAL Federal Grandslam 3.5/2/6 pb pattern. 835, polished and chromed bore, slug gun trigger job, truglo .670 Smackdown choke.
That is a nice pattern.
The 20 pattern looks like a hevi shot pattern. It's about the size of a soccer ball. Scary all those pellets. That combo has decapitated a couple birds actually.
What were (triple plus wad) federal grand slam 3.5" turkey loads like?
In 4,s
In 5's
In 6's
O to 40 yards?
Answer. Flat out Killers :character0029: :smiley-char092:
Quote from: owlhoot on March 03, 2018, 01:08:14 PM
What were (triple plus wad) federal grand slam 3.5" turkey loads like?
In 4,s
In 5's
In 6's
O to 40 yards?
Answer. Flat out Killers :character0029: :smiley-char092:
Them and the XX Winn loads are the two best lead turkey loads made...until longbeards. Lol
I never found a winchester load that patterned well in my mossy. I always had my best patterns with federal #5's and 6's both pre flight control wad and after. If memory serves me right I averaged around 100 and 130 respectively
Mossberg 835 non-ported 24" barrel, Stardot, polished
Win HV 3.5" #6 @ 42yds
Mossberg 835 non-ported 24" barrel, Stardot, polished
Win 3.5" 2.25oz #5's @ 42yds
I am a fan of the older Fed's and Winchester Supremes in 3". They always patterned well out of my 1300's.
I have quite a few boxes of the Win Black 5's and 6's stashed just in case...
They never failed to break 100 at 40 with a good choke.
Federal Grand Slams, Winchester black supremes and the earlier Win red shell 1 7/8 oz load, vintage killers all.
I used to shoot Win. Double X Mags., Federal Premium, and I don't know if anybody remembers them but, Activ was awesome in my Mossberg 500. I shoot XR Longbeards now.
30 years ago before the ten round boxes..... We used to buy shells 25 in a box. Winchester had the Double XX, magnum copper plated shot..... Remington had the 3" Nitro Mag's in the 25 in a box... I don't remember Federal...
Wasn't long I remember them making "turkey" loads ten in a box for the amount of the 25 round box.
However todays shells are light years ahead of them from yesteryear.
I also asked this in the lead shooters section.
I found some Federal Premium 3 inch #6 2 ounce loads in a gold and blue box. They don't say Grand Slam and they don't say Triple Plus Wads on the box. I was wondering were these worth buying and are they as good as the ones that said Grand Slam on the box. I have one box of the old Grand Slam 3 inch 6s with the Triple Plus Wads and they are only 1 7/8 ounce loads.
They'll be fine probably. They might be real old. Should be real deal on price. Good luck.
About a dollar a shell. How old do you think? I think I will try them.
I can get 128 in the 10 at 40 yards with the 3.5 inch 2oz #5 grand slams and indian creek choke with a nice even pattern out to 20 inches. However, the 2 1/4 oz version doesn't pattern nearly as well.
Late 90s maybe even 2000-2002. Not very old.
Thanks 10gaugemag. PM sent.
My favorites were the Fed Classic 3.5" 2.25 oz #6. Put down a ton of birds with my 835 and factory turkey choke, which i believe is a .690. 130-140 pellet patterns were common.
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The old gold box federals shot well in my 1187 and the Winchester hv shells shot well in my 870. The Winchester hv 6s seemed to like a very tight choke. I never could get the xx's to do anything in my guns and the flight control shells patterned so so.
Before Longbeards i was using old stock of the original Federal Grandslam's in the blue and gold box with the turkey feather on it. I still have quite a few of the newer versions in the solid red/orange boxes and they perform just the same. I'm not so sure about this third revision though, I have not tested them. I also used a bit of vintage Remington Mowhawks as well.
The black box Winchester Supreme HV's were bad to the bone !!! Run 'em through a Comp-N-Choke XXX-Full tube and turkeys die.............
nice. my daughter still shoots the Win super x 2 3/4 1.5 ounce #6 and it flat crushes heads at 35 yards. it patterns beautifully, more even than my tss and hevi loads in fact, it just lacks the pellet count so it falls apart around 40
Remington Nitro turkey #5.
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Quote from: ShootingABN! on June 08, 2018, 12:05:07 AM
30 years ago before the ten round boxes..... We used to buy shells 25 in a box. Winchester had the Double XX, magnum copper plated shot..... Remington had the 3" Nitro Mag's in the 25 in a box... I don't remember Federal...
Wasn't long I remember them making "turkey" loads ten in a box for the amount of the 25 round box.
However todays shells are light years ahead of them from yesteryear.
Winchester Double XX, magnum copper plated shot #6's in a 25 round box....I saw these on my ammo shelf yesterday and it made me smile :-)
Quote from: Yoder409 on January 26, 2019, 08:13:49 PM
The black box Winchester Supreme HV's were bad to the bone !!! Run 'em through a Comp-N-Choke XXX-Full tube and turkeys die.............
Yes sir!! Those were great. I still have 3 or 4 boxes.
Quote from: wchadw on January 27, 2019, 11:09:57 AM
Remington Nitro turkey #5.
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I still use them Rem Nitro 5's and 6's. Dirt Cheap (got some at Bass Pro for $7 + change last year). Doubled with them on opening day. I keep my shots to 30 yards or less and them Toms are DRT. Mossy 500 20" barrel and Carlson flush fit extra full tube.
The black 3.5" Winchester Supreme in size 5 accounted for a good many birds in my SBE before HTL came out. Those shells really patterned well and hit hard. Never lost a bird with that combo. Was shooting a Comp-N-Choke XXX Full.
Still hunting with the Win XX, Super-X, and HV shells.
162 in a 10 @ 40. Rem 870/ Ventilator .655. Win XX 3/2/6's
125 in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870SM/ Rem SF .665. Win HV 3/ 1 3/4/ 5's
140's in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870/ Kicks .655. Win XX 3/2/6's (21"bbl)
*The old red shells with the exception of the HV 5's.
Quote from: Longshanks on April 28, 2020, 09:56:56 PM
Still hunting with the Win XX, Super-X, and HV shells.
162 in a 10 @ 40. Rem 870/ Ventilator .655. Win XX 3/2/6's
125 in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870SM/ Rem SF .665. Win HV 3/ 1 3/4/ 5's
140's in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870/ Kicks .655. Win XX 3/2/6's (21"bbl)
*The old red shells with the exception of the HV 5's.
Barrel length on the HV 1 3/4 oz 5s?
Quote from: 10gaugemag on May 03, 2020, 09:48:58 AM
Quote from: Longshanks on April 28, 2020, 09:56:56 PM
Still hunting with the Win XX, Super-X, and HV shells.
162 in a 10 @ 40. Rem 870/ Ventilator .655. Win XX 3/2/6's
125 in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870SM/ Rem SF .665. Win HV 3/ 1 3/4/ 5's
140's in a 10 @ 40 Rem 870/ Kicks .655. Win XX 3/2/6's (21"bbl)
*The old red shells with the exception of the HV 5's.
Barrel length on the HV 1 3/4 oz 5s?
28"bbl with the choke. Most of the patterns were 100-115. Shot some down in the upper 80's as well.
Polishing and deep cleaning on the regular have increased my lead patterns.
for the price and performance i think the lead loads would kill 90 percent of the birds taken but its all personal preference. i love the federal fc loads but they definitly come with a mixed bag of optinions.
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Have a 870SM/ Ventilator .655 polished shooting Win XX 3/2/6's (red shell). Shoots 140-160 consistently in a 10" @ 40yd. Have 20 boxes of 3/2/6's. $13 a shot for TSS is ridiculous and have seen serious issues with Win LB. POA/ POI, shooting a slug out to 25yds, guns jamming, etc.
I always liked them Double X. After some LongBeard inconsistencies I still prefer the Double X if I'm shooting lead.
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Bought a Carlsons chrome lined 24" barrel for my Rem 870. Put a Rem SF .665 in it. Only shot the Double XX HV 5's so far. Shot pretty good. Trying the Hevi 13 3/2/6's, 3/2/7's and Double XX 3/2/6's next.
Amazing seeing the advancments in shells chokes and loads since the 70's to now. Back then squirrel or duck loads were all that I remember having. We didn't even own a 3" magnum. My uncle had one and we thought he was big time! :TooFunny:
Going back to my roots in the late 1980s and 1990s I shot my first several birds with 3" Winchester XX #6 and Federal Premium #6s. Back then I was limited to factory full choke and if I had pictures of a 40 yard pattern, I'm sure no one would be impressed. We always went by the old timer wisdom that it only takes one pellet in the right place, so it we had a handful of hits in the head/neck target we went hunting. And we killed birds probably as well as we do today. I honestly can't recall any performance issues if you kept your shots limited to 40 yards. Then about the time I got my first interchangeable choke gun (Mossberg 500), Winchester came out with their Supreme High
Velocity and I tried those 3 inch 2oz #5 loads and it was like a revelation! With a Xtra full Mossberg tube I remember the first time I saw 100 pellets in a ten inch circle and I thought I had the deadliest rig east of the MS! I killed a bunch of birds with that combo and eventually shifted to HS magnum blend which I shot for some years before switching to LBXR. Not sure if I'm turning into an old fart or what, but despite how good LBXR prints on paper, I've had some bad luck with it and I mean inside 40 yds. Doesn't seem to penetrate even as well as other lead loads. So I went full circle and back to shooting cheap Winchester XX 5's again. I think I'm done chasing pellet counts and HTL loads and all that other stuff. Unless I eventually switch to a 410 rig, in which case I'll probably shoot TSS. But other than that, I'm just gonna buy cheap lead loads, keep my shots reasonably close, and HUNT.
Like you Jakebird, in the late 80s and 90's. Winchester supreme the red 3" 2oz #6 and I'm sure some of you guys remember them but my favorite was the active 3" 2 1/4 oz #6s. I hated it when they stopped making them because that load would flat more shoot in my 870 and 11-87 spt.
Interesting.
I still use older XX #5 and some even older Win # 4s, but these work well in my old LC Smith and AH Fox doubles.
I do have a really ancient box of rolled crimp Winchester Super-X # 6s- a box from the late 1940s. These even have the US Patent
number on the side of the shell.
With a double shotgun, the gun can be loaded with 4s, 5s, or # 6 shotshell loads, and have a barrel
registered for range that you may have worked out.