Savage 301 .410 Pattern help

[Spark352]

Was able to pattern my 301 .410 this morning. Shooting the factory choke with Federal TSS shot. The weapon does have a red dot on it. Although the patterns weren't bad and I believe it would kill a bird I think I can get a little more out of it. These are a 20yd and a 40yd pattern. What is yall's opinion on these? Think an IC .390 and some apex #9.5 worth it or are these pretty typical patterns?

[topnotch]

I think you have it dialed in
I used one of these guns two years ago for our juvenile hunt with Federal TSS and your 40 yard pattern was better then the one I had. Main thing is it did what it was made for at the end of the day.

[Spark352]

Glad to hear that's a pretty average pattern. I'm always second-guessing my setup. Especially after I fired my 410 side by side with my new 12ga TSS loads. I did find some Apex Ninja #9.5 I'm going to try. They are the same price as the Federal and I like the larger payload.

[bobk]

Your 40 yard pattern looks similar to  mine with a factory choke  and Federal #9 and what I thought was a clean barrel. 
Next deep cleaned the barrel  and saw improvement in  the pattern.  Change to a Jebs Xfull choke with  Apex # 9 1/2 with a deep cleaned barrel. This  resulted in  major improvement to the pattern.

[g8rvet]

Those look very similar to mine.  I also bought the Apex and am going to try them soon.  The Federals will do fine for shots I would want a kid to take, but I wanted a little better for me. I plan to try to kill one bird with it, take a picture with me, the bird and the gun and give them all to my grandson when it is time for him to use it.

[huntinsomd]

Not to say you can't hunt with em, but Federal TSS has put up the worst patterns in all my .410's. Apex Ninjas have always done better and handloads are usually a step up from there. The 10 packs of Apex are a decent price in the current market too.

[skimerhorn]

Barrel needs to be really cleaned good on them to get the best patten

[Spark352]

I did a deep clean when I first got the gun. Ran a bore snake between shots. I was also able to borrow an IC .390 to try the federal and apex ninja out of. We'll see if those put up better patterns.

[Spark352]

Shot a few more loads this morning. Trying to really find out what this little gun likes. I shot Federal 3" #9.5 loads as well as Apex Turkey Ninja 3" #9.5's. The patterns were at 40yds. Haven't really decided on a load yet. I'm going to run them all through an IC .390 and see if they get any tighter.

[Yote72571]

Not a fan of federal, Nitro's work well for me. 

[skimerhorn]

Don't give up on the factory choke. That worked best in mine

[ChesterCopperpot]

I'd shoot the Apex 9.5s and not change a thing. That 40yd pattern is good and even.


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[Meleagris gallopavo]

I'd shoot the Apex 9.5s and not change a thing. That 40yd pattern is good and even.


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Yep.  Doesn't look that bad to me.


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[ThunderChickenGetter]

Mine shot bad with federals. With the Indian creek 390 and apex ninjas it was plenty to kill a turkey at 40. Last year i shot foxtrot legend load that is 1oz of 9.5x10 with the IC 390 and it's by far the best combo i have found.


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