Remington 870 21" / Carlsons .640 3" HW 7's and 3" LB 6's

[owlhoot]

Carlson's .640 unported choke

Federal Heavy Weight 3" 1 5/8 oz. 7's  173 in the 10" and 270 in the 15"

Winchester Lbeard xr  3" 1 3/4 oz. 6's  159 in the 10" and 249 in the 15"

65 degrees
40 lazered yards
Boresnake denatured alcohol between shots.

Do you think this is a fair comparison of loads or would you put up Winchester LB 5's to match the effectiveness of the Heavy weight 7 shot for energy and penetration?

[Longshanks]

Those are awesome hunting patterns. If it were me I would stick with those. I've shot 2.5 boxes of the win LB 5's with some awesome patterns but allot of inconsistent POA/POI, hour glass patterns, super tight and the next one a pattern with allot of gaps. I like the results I'm getting with the win LB 6's. Much more consistent.

[Gobble!]

Lead #6s don't compare to the heavyweight #7s. Lead #4s are closer.

[10gaugemag]

I would try the #5 LB's if you have some even though you have good enough patterns there for sure. Plenty of energy and usually good pattern densities. If my SSX comes in today I am trying some Win HV #5's through it against Win #6 and Thug #5/6.

[lowoctane]

 
The quest for perfect numbers has driven me to spend untold $'s and time! You have two sets of GREAT numbers! What will 5's do? Only testing will tell.......

[Izzyjoe]

Have you tried any other chokes, cause those numbers seem low with the LB #6's. There usually around 200, may have to tight a choke, 650 or 660 may up the numbers. But I'd hunt with that 159 any day of the week, as long as it's an even pattern!

[owlhoot]

Have you tried any other chokes, cause those numbers seem low with the LB #6's. There usually around 200, may have to tight a choke, 650 or 660 may up the numbers. But I'd hunt with that 159 any day of the week, as long as it's an even pattern!

No i have not in this 21" gun. A 26" gun i and got 189 in the 10" and 317 in the 20" with Lb 6's and the Hevi .662 choke. at 70 degrees.  But the same choke in this 21" gun has shot some 190's withe HW 7's at 55 degrees , the wad goes within 2-5 yards of the target in the wind.And some say Hw wad not a good idea with the ported chokes. Nut the last shot got 163 in the 10" and 230 in the 15" at 70 degrees and denatured alcohol before shooting in the 15-20 wind, gave up after chasing my cardboard and paper !
Got the Winchester .45 colt trapper to play with after that.