Well I had been wanting to try out some LB's, and I found some at dicks, I took off work early today so I could go shoot. I bought a box #4, #5 3", I had my hopes up that they would do well, the shotgun I was using is a Rem 870 special purpose made in '87, the only turkey choke I have is a older Tru glo made by mark bansner, I think it's .665, I have deep cleaned the barrel before, but not polished it.
At 40yds the #4's put 96 hits in 10", and the pattern was 4" high, and 2" to the left.
At 40yds the #5's put 94 hits in 10", and the pattern was 6" low, and 4" to the left, I may have pulled that one. I only shot twice, one each, I will go back out Sunday and try again, I'd hoped for a better results, but to honest the 4's actually had a better pattern, and since they shot high I wouldn't be afraid to use them. The 5's just seem to be less even in the group, and I really like 5 shot. I did not measure the yardage, but stepped off 40, I can usually get pretty close, and if I was off I wasn't by much.
The numbers do seem awfully low for longbeards. My 21" 870 shoots 120s iwith LB #5 and 150s with LB #6 in the 10" @ 40. I shoot a .660 Jellyhead in it, but plan on doing some testing with a .665 jellyhead and a .655 remington ventilator come spring, as I feel there is more in my gun. The longbeards generally are not picky when it comes to chokes though.
Are you sure you are catching the full pattern? Being that your POi is off, I wonder if you are seeing the edge of a pattern. Maybe invest in a set of adjustable sights to correct any pattern issues.
How clean is your barrel, I generally clean my barrel before testing and between shots.
That does seem low for longbeards. I have a couple of questions. Did you shoot a few dove loads for POA/POI at 12 to 15 yards before you shot the LB's? How big of a piece of paper did you use at 40 yards? How cold was it when you shot?
I'm sorry I forgot to add that I'm using some large masking paper for bodyshops, it's 36" wide, so I made a frame that is 36x36 and staple it on and cut it off. The barrel is 26", and I cleaned it with method used on here, but I did not take time to polish it. Prior to shooting I ran a bore snake down it 3 times and remove the debre, the core pattern was consintrated in the center of the paper, I was using a six o'clock hold on the target, and this shotgun usually shoots high, which is what would like anyway so I can hold on the base of the neck, and get the pattern in the head. I have thought about getting some add sights, but all the ones have seen look kinda cheap, I think I will clean the barrel and go shot some more today, I can say that those LB's kick like the devil, you don't have to pump the gun it kicks the empty out like an auto, I wish I could post pics but I ain't that smart!
I recommend the TruGlo Pro-Series Magnum Gobble Dot Sights. They are held in place with allen screws and in my opinion are built well. They have all the adjustments you will need to make and seem to be built very well in my opinion. Bought some for my 870 that I've been getting ready for spring.
First thing to do is get some good sights on that shotgun and get the poa/poi fixed. Then I suggest investing and a Truglo SSX or Jellyhead .660/.665, That gun will wake up big time!
Kicks .655/.660 are business with the Winchester HV, XX, and LB's. Try 6's if you are looking to go over 200 in a 10 @ 40 with LB's.
Rem 870/ Kicks .660. 3"/5's. 160's in a 10 @ 40
Rem 870/ kicks .655. 3"/6's. 214 in a 10 @ 40
*Winchester loads and Kicks chokes are the most consistent thing I have found in building turkey guns.
*Hevi 13 and Hevi 13 chokes runs a close second.
I haven't had the chance to try Longbeards , but I did go to a.660 choke tube from a .665 in a mcs. All I could say is "WOW" it was amazing on what .005 did, I do think it could go the other way too, just depends on gun and load.
Longshanks-
How evenly spread was that pattern of 5's with the Kicks? Was it center dense or have good even coverage out to around 15"? I would like to try LB's again in my 870,but they shot a little tight for my liking in my 870 with a Ventilator.thanks
Definitely do a couple shots with dove loads to check your POA/POI. You don't want to cripple a gobbler and never recover it. Still early in the game shoot that gun a lot more. :firefighter:
I know they work, but it's still just lead....
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Quote from: Izzyjoe on February 06, 2015, 11:35:20 PM
Well I had been wanting to try out some LB's, and I found some at dicks, I took off work early today so I could go shoot. I bought a box #4, #5 3", I had my hopes up that they would do well, the shotgun I was using is a Rem 870 special purpose made in '87, the only turkey choke I have is a older Tru glo made by mark bansner, I think it's .665, I have deep cleaned the barrel before, but not polished it.
At 40yds the #4's put 96 hits in 10", and the pattern was 4" high, and 2" to the left.
At 40yds the #5's put 94 hits in 10", and the pattern was 6" low, and 4" to the left, I may have pulled that one. I only shot twice, one each, I will go back out Sunday and try again, I'd hoped for a better results, but to honest the 4's actually had a better pattern, and since they shot high I wouldn't be afraid to use them. The 5's just seem to be less even in the group, and I really like 5 shot. I did not measure the yardage, but stepped off 40, I can usually get pretty close, and if I was off I wasn't by much.
You are correct about the Mark Bansner choke having an exit diameter of .665. It's an excellent choke tube with quite a following.
I'm curious about the temperature when you shot. Do you recall what is was?
Thanks,
Clark
I have 870 with Mark Bansner choke as well and with LB 3.5" #6's it shoots pretty darn good.
The temp was in the lower 50's, I just finished cleaning the barrel, I scrubbed it good, and did some light polishing, now it looks like a mirror! I do think this choke prefers 6's, cause it shoots pretty good wth W#6xx's, if i remember it was around 100 hits at 40yds. I would like to get somewhere around 130-140 maybe less, but at least a 100 hits with a good margin in 20" to give me room for error. I guess I'll looks for a different choke, my boss has a factory Rem Extra full, I'll try it tomorrow.
Quote from: jakesdad on February 07, 2015, 02:18:38 PM
Longshanks-
How evenly spread was that pattern of 5's with the Kicks? Was it center dense or have good even coverage out to around 15"? I would like to try LB's again in my 870,but they shot a little tight for my liking in my 870 with a Ventilator.thanks
Shot tight patterns. Even patterns but tight at 40yds, had a couple of patterns I couldn't explain. Looked like the pattern was cut in half. Due to this I have allot more confidence in the LB 6's.
For all the " it's just lead remarks" lead has a million times fold killed everything that walked , crawled or flew than anything else.
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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True, and I have 12 boxes of Hevi 7's and 7 boxes of Mag Blends I and a couple of boxes with a shell or 2 left. I won't bad mouth something until I tried if for myself and I will not be stoking up on any more Hevi shot untill I try them out. Federal Heavy weight weighs alot more than lead, where hevi shot doesn't, but I noticed their shot load is low. TSS , the super stuff can only be hand loaded and over priced.
:OGturkeyhead:
Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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So they've found a cure for lead and it no longer kills turkeys?
Quote from: turkey buster on February 08, 2015, 07:36:24 AM
:OGturkeyhead:Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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So they've found a cure for lead and it no longer kills turkeys?
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
(http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/eddie234/1300%20Pattern/FDDAB510-1866-43A3-B496-CDC33436763B_zpsfjpgf56n.jpg) (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/eddie234/media/1300%20Pattern/FDDAB510-1866-43A3-B496-CDC33436763B_zpsfjpgf56n.jpg.html)
This is what I got with the LB's 3" #6's 40 yards with a Winchester 1300 and a comp n choke .655, it's the choke they recommend with a short barrel.
Got a couple gobblers under my belt and they all folded with some sort of Winchester ammo LB, ER,XX,. All dropped right there I don't need no fancy ammo to harvest a gobbler. :OGturkeyhead:
Quote from: turkey buster on February 08, 2015, 07:36:24 AM
:OGturkeyhead:Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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So they've found a cure for lead and it no longer kills turkeys?
That is funny stuff right there. I guess lead bounces off now or something. I'll go as far to say there is still more turkeys die even in present times than with all htl combined. Probably twice as many.
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(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/08/2afd0d90092a540975031d15430e0e3e.jpg)
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:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
Quote from: turkey buster on February 08, 2015, 07:36:24 AM
:OGturkeyhead:Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
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So they've found a cure for lead and it no longer kills turkeys?
Not necessarily...
It seems logical that one might want to use the most effective means possible to kill an animal, given that we are killing said animal strictly for fun....
I'm no physics major, but I'm pretty sure epoxy does't increase the weight of lead, but I could easily be wrong....
But that's just my take, YRMV.....
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Meanwhile back the farm, I went out this mourning, and set up my target at the range, it marked of at 25,50,75,100. So I went from the 50yd line and stepped of ten yards back, and up my pattern board when I got back to shooting bench, I thought man that looks closer than I had set up Friday, well the thing is I went down to where I deer hunt Friday to check on my deer stand cause we had a lot of strong winds the weekend before, and i wanted to see if had blown over, well good news it's still standing, bad news is my stepping of yardage sucks, I figure I was closer to 50 more than anything. Well today my boss showed up to and he had his range finder, and I had my target set up at 42yds. So we both shot at 42yds, and I finally forced him to the LB's! Needless to say he was shocked, and so was I, I tried two different shotguns, my Rem 870sp, and my Win 120 ranger, which is a cheap model 1200, but I have a truglo strutt stopper for it also. Here's the numbers!
870, #4 LBs 114 hits in ten at 42yd.
#5 LBs 151 hits in ten at 42yd.
Winxx #6 104 hits in ten at 42yd.
I tried the #4 LBs at 50yds and had 62hits in the ten.
And just for grins I shot some Win AA 7 1/2 trap loads at 30ys. And got 147 hits.
When I got home I counted all the hits and I think I'll start keeping a notebook on this from now on! But I did learn a good lesson, I need to learn to judge yardage better!
I would hunt with those 5's any day.
Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 03:02:44 PM
Quote from: turkey buster on February 08, 2015, 07:36:24 AM
:OGturkeyhead:Quote from: mudhen on February 08, 2015, 12:49:43 AM
And folks used to die of polio too.....
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So they've found a cure for lead and it no longer kills turkeys?
Not necessarily...
It seems logical that one might want to use the most effective means possible to kill an animal, given that we are killing said animal strictly for fun....
I'm no physics major, but I'm pretty sure epoxy does't increase the weight of lead, but I could easily be wrong....
But that's just my take, YRMV.....
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How much more "effective" can dead be? If your chosen setup is used within its limitations,whether its a .410 with lead #7 1/2 at 20 yds or a 10 ga loaded with TSS #9 at 50, it doesnt make a nickels worth of difference what you're shooting............dead is dead.
Quote from: ericjames on February 08, 2015, 05:21:36 PM
I would hunt with those 5's any day.
yep good to go now.
get yourself a rangefinder if you can swing it. It is amazing how you can mis-judge distance in the field.
Just look at the pellet count drop from 8 yards further even with those big 4's.
Good idea testing instead of guessing.
Quote from: Izzyjoe on February 06, 2015, 11:35:20 PM
Well I had been wanting to try out some LB's, and I found some at dicks, I took off work early today so I could go shoot. I bought a box #4, #5 3", I had my hopes up that they would do well, the shotgun I was using is a Rem 870 special purpose made in '87, the only turkey choke I have is a older Tru glo made by mark bansner, I think it's .665, I have deep cleaned the barrel before, but not polished it.
At 40yds the #4's put 96 hits in 10", and the pattern was 4" high, and 2" to the left.
At 40yds the #5's put 94 hits in 10", and the pattern was 6" low, and 4" to the left, I may have pulled that one. I only shot twice, one each, I will go back out Sunday and try again, I'd hoped for a better results, but to honest the 4's actually had a better pattern, and since they shot high I wouldn't be afraid to use them. The 5's just seem to be less even in the group, and I really like 5 shot. I did not measure the yardage, but stepped off 40, I can usually get pretty close, and if I was off I wasn't by much.
I respect your review of Longbeards. At least you shot some and they did not meet your needs. I will do the same, get some and try them out for my self. I will not go through buying new choke tubes to match them. They will work for my set up or not. Thanks for sharing.
I know, my boss noticed that from 42- 50yds it lost about half its pellet count,I do need a range finder, maybe I can save up for one before season starts.
Well on my gun I can't mount a scope, and with my eye sight I purchased a FastFire but would see 3 dots instead of one. So I 'am stuck with a rib barrel and front bead. So I have to keep my shots well in my shooting range. Luckily my bead is right on, knock on wood.
My results with LB 4's :
40 yards = 130
50 yards = 68
Looks like we got similar results, what choke was that yella yelper?
Primos tight wad .655
My boss has the very same choke in his 11-87sm, and he shot the #4 LBs sunday with me, he said he's not counting the hits in a 10" circle, but the pattern impressed him, and me! I'd venture to say it was in the 120's maybe more! His 11-87 has 26" barrel.
It's out now, but hard to find. This years load will have 1/8 oz more shot. Everyone of them little round suckers count.
I went back and bought another box of #5's, and the clerk said there's a rebate if I send in my receipt for the other box, and the upc's I'll get a free Lynch box call. That's just too cool! :cowboy:
I had really good results with a longbeard and several guns shooting a 655 to 660 choke.
When I can locate some #6 LB's I'm gona try them, but I think I need a little tighter choke, maybe a .650. But for now I'm gona use the #5's, went back and got another box, so I have enough for a few years to come!