Hitting left with one load not with the other

[Crghss]

So I pattered my shotgun today. Rem nitro did great. Win Super X hit left (4 to 5 inches). Shot 4 of each and same results every time. Win Super X pattern was good but just hit left. Would not have believed it if I didn't see it for myself. Anyone ever experience something like this?

[LaLongbeard]

Not uncommon really. Most times I've seen up and down variations but left right happens a lot also. Different wads different buffers etc can react differently in the same barell or choke. Just pick the best pattern and adjust sights accordingly

[FL-Boss]

swapping chokes can certainly move the pattern as well.

[wchadw]

Yes. Seems strange but I got a new gun this past year and bought several chokes and tried out different chokes with different shells. Some of the chokes shot as far as 4 feet off to the right where the factory choke shot with certain shells.


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[wchadw]

Yes. Seems strange but I got a new gun this past year and bought several chokes and tried out different chokes with different shells. Some of the chokes shot as far as 4 feet off to the right where the factory choke shot with certain shells.


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At 40 yards


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[Crghss]

My distance was 25 yards. The Remington shells where also a little higher, not much.

[Bowguy]

It's not strange at all. Many people hunt years without patterning guns. Once they finally do they're surprised. There's a reason turkey guns have sights or need sights.
I've had guns as a kid when I used em for dif game that threw buckshot straight but there was something bout turkey loads n chokes that caused dif poi. Seemed they were never straight.
Just amazing this isn't more common knowledge and I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone shocked over this.
It's prob more common for them not to shoot poa with a chosen set up than to be on. It'll  be variable load to load, choke to choke often

[Happy]

Yup, my mossberg shifts depending on the load. Its consistent though so I sight in with what I hunt.

[owlhoot]

Yes. Seems strange but I got a new gun this past year and bought several chokes and tried out different chokes with different shells. Some of the chokes shot as far as 4 feet off to the right where the factory choke shot with certain shells.


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At 40 yards


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What gun is this?

[BandedSpur]

Yep, shotguns behave alot like rifles which usually shoot different ammo to different POIs. It's due to barrel harmonics. As the bullet or shot charge move down the barrel, the barrel flexes or vibrates, and different bullets or loads cause it to vibrate differently. POI depends on where the end of that barrel is when the bullet or shot charge exits. I'm sure all shotguns do it to a degree with all loads, but the result is a lot easier to see with the tight chokes and loads we use for turkeys. If a 36" pattern with a dove load is off by a couple of inches it is very difficult to see, but if an 18" turkey pattern is off a couple of inches it becomes very noticeable.

[TalksToTurkeys]

Some information on harmonics in shotgun barrels here.

https://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98758599-harmonics-in-shotgun-barrels

[owlhoot]

Yes. Seems strange but I got a new gun this past year and bought several chokes and tried out different chokes with different shells. Some of the chokes shot as far as 4 feet off to the right where the factory choke shot with certain shells.


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At 40 yards


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What gun is this?

4 feet? You sure you have the right thread chokes in the gun?

[wchadw]

Yes. Seems strange but I got a new gun this past year and bought several chokes and tried out different chokes with different shells. Some of the chokes shot as far as 4 feet off to the right where the factory choke shot with certain shells.


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At 40 yards


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What gun is this?

4 feet? You sure you have the right thread chokes in the gun?

The factory choke shot left 5-6 inches. The bass pro special shot right all the way off the target. Pretty sure it was the choke


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[DMTJAGER]

On one bright sunny absolutely perfect turkey hunting morning some 27 years ago I learned the hard way you MUST pattern your turkey gun. It was my fourth turkey hunting season and I had yet to call in let alone kill a turkey. My friend had an absolutely beautiful Winchester 1300 Ranger NWTF shotgun he insisted I use as it was in his experience a turkey killing machine that shot straight as a laser. About 35 minuets after sun up using my Quaker Boy push button yelped I blind called in a huge paint brush Tom and waited till he was at my decoy about 35 yards away lined up both beads on the vent rib just below his head and fired. Much to my heart break and utter dismay he promptly exited like his fan was on fire and his head was catching.

Related my experience with a farmer I knew where I hunted and he asked had I ever patterned my gun? Kinda like missing a barn from inside of same right? I replied never heard of patterning a shot gun, it's shotgun, how does one miss with a shotgun? well he explained how to me and I proceeded to go to my local IGA secure some paper grocery bags draw an impromptu turkey head on several and using the hood of my pickup as a bench patterned the Winchester 1300. Was using Winchester Supreme XX turkey shells 1/75oz of #5 shot.

To say I was dismayed at the results was truly a great miss-understatement. At 30 yards for all intents and purpose there were so few pellets in the kill zone I might as well call it a clean miss. Thankfully I had my 870 with that had a 20" deer barrel with Remchoke and a full choke tube installed. Tried it at 30 yards and it's pattern was nothing short of devastating, same at 40 and even 45.
Thankfully set up off of the same roost the next day and killed a 19lb Jake. Never forgot that lesson and every year without fail i still pattern both my turkey guns.
I recently purchased two and tried out three new turkey specific aftermarket chokes for my 870's. One a Remington xtra full turkey I had but never used, a Carlsons for LB/XR turkey shells and a Indian Creek BDS.

Was very, very surprised at how dramatically different each one's POI was using the same exact shells Winchester's Long Beard XR's in #6 and #5 shot. No way in no how would I dare use a different choke without re-sighting in the scopes on either of my 870's let alone even consider hunting with a different choke than the one I patterned and sighted in with.

Also was astonished how tight a pattern the IC/BDS choke shot at 20-25 yards. I know it sounds odd to say it but the pattern with the IC/BDS choke was so tight at 20 and 25 yards you could very easily miss if your aim was not right on a Toms head. Even at 30 yards you had better keep the Toms head centered in your sights.

I spent over $400 trying out new turkey chokes and shells this year.