Need advice SBEIII patterning

[StickString96]

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I've got a SBEIII I'm going to use for turkey this spring. It was my waterfowl gun but I since I rarely waterfowl hunt these days it will be doing double duty. Its 28" barrel 12 Ga. So far I've patterned it with Hevi-Shot Strut X, Hevi-Shot Mag Blends, and Fiocchi Golden Turkey loads. The Mag-Blends are the only load that perform somewhat well. Most patterning was done with a dirty barrel, but that didn't noticeably alter my patterns.

I've shot the Mag-Blends through a Rob Roberts .660, .655, and a Jebs .650. The .660 was okay, the .655 was better, and the Jebs was laughable. With the Rob Roberts .655 I'm getting a great pattern at 20 yards, less than ideal at 30, and 40 isn't even worth mentioning. I'll try to post pictures of the 20 and 30 yard patterns below.

What would you all do from here? Ideally I would like this 20 yard pattern to be my 30 or 40 yard pattern, and my 20 yard pattern to be baseball sized. I ordered some Winchester LBs XR 3.5" #5s to try out of all the chokes next. If this doesn't work I'm kind of at a lost. I've spent quite some cash just getting this far. I'm really looking forward to turkey hunting this season, but I would rather not do it with a 20 yard gun.

Here are the specs of everything I've tried so far:
Hevi-Shot Mag Blends 3.5" #5,6,7 (best load so far)
Fiocchi Golden Turkey 3.5" #6
Hevi-Shot Strut X 3" #5,6
Rob Roberts .660
Rob Roberts .655
Jebs .650

I'll let you know how the LBs perform once I get them in. Thanks guys.

[SumToy]

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If top was at 40 go have fun.   Now if it was at 30 it will work at 40.    Now my next step would be go to TSS or Change choke make and model.   That said the Jebs I have seen some good patterns so may just but shells.   

[wchadw]

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I had one a couple years back. I tried a bunch of chokes and I thought the Rob Roberts 660 pattern best. I shot Nitro TSS.
Sumtoy was a close 2nd
Jebs was good but not great
Might try the IC with long beards. It didn’t pattern great with the TSS I was shooting. It was way off right compared to all others. May have been bent or something?
I will say under 20 it was really tight.


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[StickString96]

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If top was at 40 go have fun.   Now if it was at 30 it will work at 40.    Now my next step would be go to TSS or Change choke make and model.   That said the Jebs I have seen some good patterns so may just but shells.   

Top was 20 bottom was 30.

[StickString96]

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I had one a couple years back. I tried a bunch of chokes and I thought the Rob Roberts 660 pattern best. I shot Nitros
Sumtoy was a close 2nd
I will say under 20 it was really tight.

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What shot size did you like with the Nitros?

[wchadw]

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I had one a couple years back. I tried a bunch of chokes and I thought the Rob Roberts 660 pattern best. I shot Nitros
Sumtoy was a close 2nd
I will say under 20 it was really tight.

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What shot size did you like with the Nitros?

I was using an 8x10 blend. The 3 1/2 kicked like a mule. I’ll see if I can find an old pattern. I was real tight in mine and I even missed a couple real close


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[wchadw]

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I had one a couple years back. I tried a bunch of chokes and I thought the Rob Roberts 660 pattern best. I shot Nitros
Sumtoy was a close 2nd
I will say under 20 it was really tight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What shot size did you like with the Nitros?

I was using an 8x10 blend. The 3 1/2 kicked like a mule. I’ll see if I can find an old pattern. I was real tight in mine and I even missed a couple real close


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Sorry. It was a 7x9 blend. Here is pattern at 35.


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[StickString96]

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That does look good. I think between the 3 chokes I have, it's just a matter of finding a load that patterns well in one of them. I've got some TSS and LBs on the way. If those don't work i'll add the Nitros to the list. Thanks.

[StickString96]

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Tried 2 new loads through the Rob Roberts .660 today. Can only shoot 20 yards at the house. And can only fire 2 shots before the home owners association complains! Went with the .660 choke because that's what seems to do the best. What do you all think of these patterns at 20? I'm going to try them at 40 on Friday when I can make it to the range. I've also got some LB #6s and TSS #7s on the way to play with as well.

The Hevi-13s definitely have more pellets, but the LBs are pretty tight which makes me think they might be a winner at 40. What y'all think?

Top
Rob Roberts .660
20 yards, 45 degrees, no wind
Clean Barrel
3.5" Winchester LB #5s, 2 1/8 oz
About 260-280ish in 10"

Bottom
Rob Roberts .660
20 yards, 45 degrees, no wind
Clean Barrel
3.5" Hevi-13 #6s, 2 1/4 oz
About 280-300ish in 10"

[Spark352]

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The top pattern with the RR .660 and WLBXR looks pretty good. I'd bet it shoots well out to 40yds. Only one way to know though. If you really looking for pellet count you might want to take a look at some of the TSS loads.

Not sure if you can shoot #9's in your state but my Nova through an IC .675 shot Apex 3" #9 shells lights out. Photo attached is my patterns at 20 and 40yds. Sounds like this is what you're looking for. Looking over the chokes you have listed, they might be a little tight for TSS loads. From my reading, it seems like TSS likes a more open choke. Shells might be $10-$15 each but I'm lucky to shoot 2-3 a year if that. after factoring in all the other expenses, the ammo is the least of my worries.

[StickString96]

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The top pattern with the RR .660 and WLBXR looks pretty good. I'd bet it shoots well out to 40yds. Only one way to know though. If you really looking for pellet count you might want to take a look at some of the TSS loads.

Not sure if you can shoot #9's in your state but my Nova through an IC .675 shot Apex 3" #9 shells lights out. Photo attached is my patterns at 20 and 40yds. Sounds like this is what you're looking for. Looking over the chokes you have listed, they might be a little tight for TSS loads. From my reading, it seems like TSS likes a more open choke. Shells might be $10-$15 each but I'm lucky to shoot 2-3 a year if that. after factoring in all the other expenses, the ammo is the least of my worries.

So far I've settled on the Winchester LB XRs #5s with the Jebs .650, patterns great out to 40 yards. I'm going to try some 3.5" Heavyweight TSS #7/9 mix through a .665 Jebs and that will be the final test. If that isn't any better I'm sticking with the LBs and .650. Thank you for the reply.

[StickString96]

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3.5" Federal TSS #7,9s mix 2.5oz
Jebs Final Strut .655
Shots are at 20, 30, 40 yards
Clean barrel each shot, no wind
Suffice it to say I am done patterning. I've spent enough money and put enough time into this already. This will do.

[lacire]

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Those look pretty good to me, good luck and show us a picture of your Tom when you get him.

[Gobbler428]

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That dog will hunt

[StickString96]

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Thanks guys! I can't wait for our season to open.