For those who know.
I have read many post discussing Federal HW and the flight control wad/shot cup and not shooting it through a ported choke. Now is this practice not recommended by Federal or just by the independent testers such as yourselves? What negative effects are present when doing this?
I currently shoot Nitro shells through an Indian Creek choke with much happiness and success (and will soon be testing a Rhino) however like many of us I like to experiment with other equipment.
What say you, should I buy and pattern some Federal HW #7 3"? Or should I just leave well enough alone?
Those recomendations are because:
A. Ported chokes bleed off gases, potentially interfering with how the wad brakes deploy and can cause poor patterning because the wad requires those gasses to actuate the fins on the wad.
B. Ported chokes of the wad stripping or more to the point WAD COMPRESSING types can strip off wad material causing the same problems as already noted AND can cause a build up of the plastic wad material in the choke and potentially higher and dangerous pressures. Have I ever seen one single truly documented case where the latter happened (other than with the BDS chokes last year that were reportedly due to a bad batch of steel)?...nope but it's not to say it couldn't happen! FWIW, the FC wads actually perform pretty darn well through my Jelly head choke, despite the porting and wad ring...
Indian Creek specifically warns against using Federal Heavyweight shells with their Black Diamond Strike ported chokes.
The Flite Control Wad used in these shells is very thick, and not pliable. My BDS choke split last year when shooting Federal Mag Shok lead loads with the FCW. Indian Creek replaced the choke citing a bad batch of metal (mine was not the only one that split). Stuart at Indian Creek did suggest that I refrain from shooting any FCW shells through the Indian Creek choke, regardless of shot type.
I have shot FCW shells through various ported and non-ported chokes ranging from .643" up to .670". Some of the best patterns came from the .643" ported choke. I inspected each wad and noted the wad did not travel as far when fired through ported chokes.
Thanks for the replies thus far. I've not had any issues with my IC BDS choke and hope I never do. I wonder if there is a way to see if my choke is, "made fom a bad batch of steel"?
The updated models are made from Stainless Steel and then blackened. The older models were made from high carbon steel. It seems the batch of IC chokes that split were manufactured late 2009 and sold in big box type stores.
I bought mine at a Bass Pro Shops retail store and it failed within about 20 rounds. The folks at Indian Creek shipped me a new SS model choke before receiving my damaged choke. They were aware of the problem and were super to deal with.
Well I've had mine since 2008 or 2009, can't remember, and it was ordered by my gunsmith from IC directly so I'll keep shooting until something bad happens.