I have a Mossberg 500 with an Indian Creek .660 choke. I'm shooting Longbeard Xr #5s. At 45 yards I'm only putting 6-8 pellets in the kill zone. The pattern just looks like it's blowing up. Any ideas on what the issue could be or any changes I need to make? I just ordered some #4s and some #6s to see how they perform.
Any advice would help please...
Try those #4 and #6 to see how they pattern. Have you deep cleaned your barrel? This will help. May need to try a different choke if non of these help.
You may be choking too tight. Mossbergs require less constriction due to it being a back bored barrell.
Quote from: Cottonmouth on May 06, 2017, 07:40:43 AM
You may be choking too tight. Mossbergs require less constriction due to it being a back bored barrell.
Is there any way to tell if that's the problem or not?
Quote from: keen4 on May 06, 2017, 09:49:26 AM
Quote from: Cottonmouth on May 06, 2017, 07:40:43 AM
You may be choking too tight. Mossbergs require less constriction due to it being a back bored barrell.
Is there any way to tell if that's the problem or not?
If you have access to a factory full, try it. You might be surprised how tight it will shoot with the longbeards.
Quote from: keen4 on May 05, 2017, 09:42:29 PM
I have a Mossberg 500 with an Indian Creek .660 choke. I'm shooting Longbeard Xr #5s. At 45 yards I'm only putting 6-8 pellets in the kill zone. The pattern just looks like it's blowing up. Any ideas on what the issue could be or any changes I need to make? I just ordered some #4s and some #6s to see how they perform.
Any advice would help please...
I have a few questions that might help determine what's happening with your patterns. Are you shooting from a solid rest? Are you shooting at "big paper" at least 3 feet x 3 feet?
The best way to see what's happening is to shoot at big paper and then circle the best 10" pattern on that paper.
With a new gun/choke/shotshell, it can be beneficial to first shoot at 25-30 yards, from a solid rest, with your turkey choke installed at that big paper with an "X" or a dot in the center. You're wanting to see if your point of aim (POA) and point of impact (POI) are the same. That's better seen at closer ranges. If all is well there, then you can move to 40 yards, the maximum range you should be shooting at a turkey and see how your pattern looks then.
I would recommend that prior to doing all of this, you "deep clean" both your barrel and your choke https://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel That process gets you started on the right foot for range work. It's worth the effort involved.
You may find that your POA and POI don't match. If you find that to be the case, I recommend that you try the factory full choke that came with your gun and that will tell you if it's the barrel itself or the choke that is the problem.
Please let us know what you find and we'll try to be of more help.
Thanks,
Clark
Quote from: allaboutshooting on May 06, 2017, 11:09:18 AM
Quote from: keen4 on May 05, 2017, 09:42:29 PM
I have a Mossberg 500 with an Indian Creek .660 choke. I'm shooting Longbeard Xr #5s. At 45 yards I'm only putting 6-8 pellets in the kill zone. The pattern just looks like it's blowing up. Any ideas on what the issue could be or any changes I need to make? I just ordered some #4s and some #6s to see how they perform.
Any advice would help please...
I have a few questions that might help determine what's happening with your patterns. Are you shooting from a solid rest? Are you shooting at "big paper" at least 3 feet x 3 feet?
The best way to see what's happening is to shoot at big paper and then circle the best 10" pattern on that paper.
With a new gun/choke/shotshell, it can be beneficial to first shoot at 25-30 yards, from a solid rest, with your turkey choke installed at that big paper with an "X" or a dot in the center. You're wanting to see if your point of aim (POA) and point of impact (POI) are the same. That's better seen at closer ranges. If all is well there, then you can move to 40 yards, the maximum range you should be shooting at a turkey and see how your pattern looks then.
I would recommend that prior to doing all of this, you "deep clean" both your barrel and your choke https://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98772615-deep-cleaning-a-shotgun-barrel That process gets you started on the right foot for range work. It's worth the effort involved.
You may find that your POA and POI don't match. If you find that to be the case, I recommend that you try the factory full choke that came with your gun and that will tell you if it's the barrel itself or the choke that is the problem.
Please let us know what you find and we'll try to be of more help.
Thanks,
Clark
Thank you for the help and advice! As soon as my new ammo comes in I am planning to put some time in and figure out what's happening.
The 500 is not back bored/overbored. Having said that 660 may still be a little tight, 665 may work better. 45 yards is a long shot, the recommended maximum shooting range on turkeys is 40 yards. 6 or 8 in the kill zone, it only takes one or two in the right place. 6 shot will give a denser pattern