Federal HW 7's

[stilker]

Any you guys know what the best choke for this load is? I have heard about not using ported chokes with the flite control and all, but not sure what constriction is best. I shoot an 870 with a 3" shell. All I have hunted with since 2007 is the federal heavyweight 5's and I killed a mess of gobblers with them. I ran my factory full (flush) choke, because a gun guy at a show recommended an OPEN choke due to the FC wad. That being said, I would like to have the numbers of the 7's. What do yall think?

[TrkyHntr]

If your current set up patterns the 5's good, then the 7's should be even better. Only time at the range will tell.



Shane

[stilker]

Why should they perform better?

[TrkyHntr]

There are alot more pellets in the 7's, so you would have more hits on target. The 7's have plenty of energy to kill way out there.



Shane

[hookedspur]

There are alot more pellets in the 7's, so you would have more hits on target. The 7's have plenty of energy to kill way out there.



Shane

[Quax]

I have 2 guns I've shot this thru and both have done well with 660s. The 3" browning gold put 184 with a Hastings 660 and a 3" weatherby sa-08 with a Carlson 660 (that I got new for less than $15) put 160 in the 10 at 40. I'd like to see a little more in the weatherby but it's my dads who goes mayb once a yr so it should do without sinking a lot of money in it; it did have a very evenly dispersed pattern tho. I tried a hastings 665 in the gold and numbers dropped to 140

[allaboutshooting]

The 7s will be superior to the 5s in every way, 353 pellets vs 204 pellets, and as has been said, those 7s will kill way out there if you can get them on target. As far as choke, Clark Bush shot alot of those shells in conjunction with the designer of the FC wad and concluded that a non-ported .670-.675 choke was best. But I believe that was with 6s. Experience on this board indicates that the 7s can stand a little more choke than the 6s. I would start at .670 and go tighter if you have the chokes on hand. My Beretta (.722 bores) did much better with that shell with a .660 vs a .670.

You are right on the money. That initial work was with the #6 Heavyweight shot and we've since found that the shell with #7 shot is much more forgiving. It should do well with a .670-.675 choke but may also do very well with chokes with much tighter constrictions. There are folks shooting .650-.660 and seeing very good results.  A non-ported choke with a long parallel section works best in most guns.

Thanks,
Clark