Winchester® Xtended & Remington® Wingmaster HD™

[dawei]

It appears to me that Environmetal® Hevi13™ and Federal® Heavyweight® lead the HTL parade for us 20ga shooters. For me personally my HTL experience is limited to the original Remington® Premier® Hevi•Shot® and Environmetal® Hevi13™. The earlier Remington® Hevi•Shot® performs superbly in my gun(s). Hevi13™ OTOH has been a big disappointment for me. (I tried 4 lots in 3 guns & 10 chokes and it shot like crap.)

What are your experiences with the 20ga HTL loads from Remington® and Winchester®; specifically.......
• Remington® Wingmaster HD™ 1 1/8oz 1300fps #4 (RW20M4)
• Remington® Wingmaster HD™ 1 1/8oz 1300fps #6 (RW20M6)
• Remington® Wingmaster HD™ 1 1/4oz 1185fps #4 (RW20HM4)
• Winchester Xtended Range® 1 1/8oz 1225fps #5 (STXS2035)
• Winchester Xtended Range® 1 1/6oz 1300fps #4 (SWXR2035)

Are any of the five loads I've listed proven turkey slayers in your experience? I'm temped to try the Remington® loads.

[sugarray]

I have NO experience, but would only spend my money on the 6's.  With a 20 gauge shell you will not get many #5's or #4's in a shell to get good patterns.

[dawei]

I have NO experience, but would only spend my money on the 6's.  With a 20 gauge shell you will not get many #5's or #4's in a shell to get good patterns.

Well that makes sense both logically and mathematically. FWIW however in one of my guns #4Pb patterns better than #5, or 6. I think I will try the #6 as you have suggested. 

[shootumindaface]

Dawei upon its debut I tried some of the Wingmaster HD 1.250 6s..

It was a while ago but my biggest problem was consistency.. First shot I believe was in the 130s at 40 yards and I was like Woooh promise.. Second shot in the 70s, third shot above hundred etc etc..

I did not test it through a variety of chokes however and my results could have been a result of over choking..

The load is un buffered however.. I cannot believe that half our HTL loads are not buffered..

As for the Win XTD range.. With the small number of pellets in that load and with my personal standards it would be impossible for that load to meet this standards.

[sugarray]

Just goes to show, you have to shoot them.  Hope it works out well for you, there are lots of people that liked those Rem HD shells, hopefully the 20 gauge load is a good one too.

[R AJ]

None of the H-13 #6s have caught my eye except when shot in the SSX in Remington . Their #7 loads did very well last year in the SSX and Rem SF but that is 7s.

Rem HD is not for me but I only tried #6s in the 3-1 1/4-#6. If I remember correctly they did best in a more open choke. Do not buy a case before you shoot a box. They were not a 40 yard load for me the best I recall.

Have not tried the Win Elite Xtended in 20 because they are #5 shot . A year or two ago the word was that the Winchester Xtended #5 was getting as good or better patterns as the H-13#6s  but I said so what.

[shootumindaface]

Dawei I too saw that on the Win XTD.. But here in lies my beef.. I know that you are into thirty yard patterns..

But at 40 I prefer to have 130-140 in a ten inch circle to assure a 40 yard kill and give a buffer or so for 5 yards.. The load only contains 182 pellets.. In the 20 I look at a 15 inch circle instead of a 20 inch to achieve this.. So with that being said even with only 130 in a ten inch the Win XTD range only leaves 52 pellets to fill in the additional 100 inches from a 15 inch circle.. Its mathematically not possible to achieve what I am looking for..

[stick bow]

I've pattarned the Win  Ext Range in #5's out of a M2 with an IC .555. 22 pellets in head and neck target at 40 yds. Nice tight even pattern.

[hookedspur]

I have NO experience, but would only spend my money on the 6's.  With a 20 gauge shell you will not get many #5's or #4's in a shell to get good patterns.

[dawei]

I've pattarned the Win  Ext Range in #5's out of a M2 with an IC .555. 22 pellets in head and neck target at 40 yds. Nice tight even pattern.

Well whether Pb or HTL we all have our favorites, as well as those we don't care for. Case in point is Federal®, some of us like them quite well. In two of my three 20ga guns the Flitecontrol® Pb loads of #4, & 5 pattern quite well. OTOH, many, many, folks here honestly think the Flitecontrol® loads belong in the septic tank. Some of us like Kent® Diamond Shot®, yet to me and others that shell is a POS!.

One thing I have noticed however, as a general rule; Winchester® Supreme® Pb in both 12 and 20ga is almost the holy grail. You see very few folks, in any Turkey Hunting forum; bad mouth these shells. Now in my case, my 12ga Mossy pump, and Winchester Mdl 37 12ga, (both gifted to my son); Winchester® Supreme® pattern better than any other Pb by any manufacturer. Better than Activ®, better than Federal®, better than Fiocchi®, better than Kent®, better than Remington®, and better than Sellior & Bellot®.  In 20ga Pb Winchester® Supreme® Pb performs the best for me also; although the Federal® Flitecontrol® #4 is closing fast. I tried both Remington 20ga offerings, the Premier® 1¼oz #6 (patterned like crap) and the Remington® Nitro-Turkey® 1¼oz #5 ourstanding.

I was all set to try the Wingmaster HD® until I read the experiences in this thread. Decisions, decisions, hmmmmmmm.

Maybe I should look at the Federal® Flitecontrol® 1100fps 1½oz #7 Heavyweight®, the Winchester® Xtended Range® 1225fps 1 1/8oz #5; and bypass the Remington® Wingmaster HD®.

[dawei]

I wonder why Winchester® doesn't offer #6 shot in their 20ga Xtended Range®, or their Supreme® High Velocity Pb?

[stick bow]

Someone on here had a email on here that you could send to someone at Winchester stating this very thing.

Try and find 3" buckshot for a 20 ga. Federal makes it but hard to find on the shelf. Everyone else 2 3/4 WHY.

[dawei]

Someone on here had a email on here that you could send to someone at Winchester stating this very thing.

Try and find 3" buckshot for a 20 ga. Federal makes it but hard to find on the shelf. Everyone else 2¾" WHY.

I guess it depends upon where you live. Here in WA state you can find Federal® 20ga Buckshot, both 2¾" #3 and 3" #2 Buck; and Remington® in 2¾" #3. I've never found a store ANYWHERE in Washington that sells 20ga Winchester® Buckshot. I believe that in years past Winchester® offered a 20ga 3" Mag Buckshot load but it wasn't #2 buck as Federal®; rather, it was 24 pellets of #3 Buckshot. FWIW, Federal® and Winchester® still offer 16ga 2¾" #1 Buckshot, Remington® discontinued years ago.

[R AJ]

David,
Supposedly the Win Extended gurus tried the #5 in 20 gauge some five or so years ago, took a trip to Florida and started killing turkeys left and right.
They decided that #5 was the ONE most perfect shot size for 20 gauge and never looked back. I wish the best of luck to those who have written them but this is a mute point with them I believe.

My best explanation is that the volume of turkey shot sold is insignificant so they aren't into trying to please everyone.
Your #4 shot patterns in 20 gauge are killing me man.

[dawei]

David,
Supposedly the Win Extended gurus tried the #5 in 20 gauge some five or so years ago, took a trip to Florida and started killing turkeys left and right.
They decided that #5 was the ONE most perfect shot size for 20 gauge and never looked back. I wish the best of luck to those who have written them but this is a mute point with them I believe.

My best explanation is that the volume of turkey shot sold is insignificant so they aren't into trying to please everyone.
Your #4 shot patterns in 20 gauge are killing me man.

I believe your analysis of Winchester® turkey ammunition marketing is "Spot On"! Regarding using #5 shot size in a 20ga; my son shoots a Winchester® pump and his gun and chokes prefer #5 over any other shot size. He has a stash of the older Federal® Grand Slam® 20ga  3" Mag 1185fps 1 5/16oz #5 with the Triple-Plus® wad colum (#GST258 5). Shooting these shells through a Carlson® .575" choke, he has a 40yd gravedigger turkey slayer. IIRC, in one of our many previous phone conversations, you said that same load did very well in your 20ga gun(s).

In their Nitro-Turkey® line Remington® only offers one 20ga load and it is 1¼oz #5 (#NT20M5). This particular loading is "The Hammer of Thor" in my 20ga Remington® SPR220 SxS through the Colonial Arms® .570 & .575" chokes I got from you.

I think I'm going to Cabelas® tomorrow and see if I can find the Winchester Xtended Range® 1 1/8oz 1225fps #5 (STXS2035).