A Little Unexpected

[mattwhit166]

Well, I patterned the gun early this week.  I had narrowed my shell selection down to ole' faithful Winchester Supreme 3.5's 2 oz 5's, and Hevi 13 3" 2 oz 5's.  The Supremes were devastating and performed MUCH better than the Hevi's at 30 and 40 yards, which is not what I expected.  Has anyone else had similar results?  Possibly the difference in the mag and super mag?

[mattwhit166]

my pics didn't come out good

[Philippe]

Why 5's in hevi when you can shoot 7's and have a better pattern and still have the power of the lead 5's?

[Balla1982]

I had similar results last year.

[surehuntsalot]

Why 5's in hevi when you can shoot 7's and have a better pattern and still have the power of the lead 5's?

one good reason is that they don't cost near about what the 7's cost
a very good reason

[BigEz]

The supremes are a very good lead shell for sure, but people still look at HTL through lead covered eyes.  There is no need to use anything larger than #6s in hevishot and even then many will say there's no need to use anything larger than #7s. By using #5s in hevi your just killing your pattern density and if you don't want to spend a couple of extra dollars on the 6s or 7s then just shoot lead and save your self even more money.  Lead Federal turkey thugs at Walmart are putting up great #s and cost $10 for a box of 10. 

[spaightlabs]

Pellet count in lead 5s is a LOT higher than in the Hevi - they should pattern better at 40.

[BandedSpur]

Pellet count in lead 5s is a LOT higher than in the Hevi - they should pattern better at 40.

I will disagree. The difference in pellets between a 3-2-5 shell in lead vs HS is 21 for true sized pellets. I would argue that with the correct choke (big caveat), the HS will out pattern the lead every time at 40.

[Tom Foolery]

Why 5's in hevi when you can shoot 7's and have a better pattern and still have the power of the lead 5's?

one good reason is that they don't cost near about what the 7's cost
a very good reason

How do you figure, the places I see them the Hevi13 3.5" shells are the same price?

[jrmcclure]

The hevi-shot #5's should definitely be patterning better than the lead. I came across a bunch of 3 1/2" hevi #5's 1.75 oz that a store was pretty much giving away and I bought them all. I'm getting between 150-165 in the 10" at 40. I used to shoot lead and and I never found a shell even 2 and 2.25oz that would shoot over 110 in a 10" circle.

[gophert]

Why 5's in hevi when you can shoot 7's and have a better pattern and still have the power of the lead 5's?

I think what he means is that #5's in Hevi is slightly overkill.  The whole advantage of Hevi is that you get an as dense shot at a smaller size, therefore increasing your pellet numbers in the kill zone without giving up "smack down" power. You really should be comparing those lead #5's to some Hevi #7's when it comes to density.  Anyway, I think both are going to get the job done.