Weatherby Element Trulock .565 Apex Ninja 8.5’s

[MattinIdaho]

Shot back to back from a dirty barrel. 5 dirty dove and quail to sight it. 40 yards from the muzzle with rangefinder. Shot 6 was the 238 and shot 7 was the 163 with 3" Ninja 1 5/8oz #8.5's. Not sure what a clean barrel would be like. I was surprised with the variance between those two shots though. This is a new gun and I'm looking for a good combo for it. I will run some Apex 1 5/8oz #9's, Rogue 1 5/8oz #9's and Rogue 1 7/8oz #9's with the same choke tube next week and see what it does.


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[nyhunter]

I have the same gun, running a Indian Creek 555 with Winchester tss 9's did 273, cant wait to see how it does with the other loads

[mountainhunter1]

Clean the barrel and shoot it again. From extensive testing, there are most times only two things that can give that much variance with pellet count from shot to shot. One, a dirty barrel or the lesser chance of poor quality control on the shells being shot. I would bet on a dirty barrel and think your numbers will jump quite a bit with a clean barrel. Clean it with a bore cleaner and then follow that with denatured alcohol (Lowes, Home Depot or any paint store or body shop will have DA) to get all residue from the barrel and I will be surprised if you are not much improved with the next shot with those 8.5's.

Long term, I think you will get a slightly better pattern with a .575 Trulock over their .565 that you are presently shooting. Maybe not enough to warrant the $60.00 to get one, but likely so none the less. Wishing you the best - Please keep us posted.

[MattinIdaho]

Weatherby Element, Truelock .565. Apex 1 15/8oz #9's. Shot out of a scrubbed barrel at 40 yards ranged from the muzzle. 235 at 40. Not a bad hunting pattern. But by far the worst pattern we shot tonight. We also shot a Remington and Benelli that I will post in another thread just in case anyone is interested. I didn't want to burn any more ammo out of this choke. It's not quite what I'm looking for. Maybe it would love another load. But I think I will try another choke before next year.
Thanks for the reply and info Mountain!!


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[mountainhunter1]

Weatherby Element, Truelock .565. Apex 1 15/8oz #9's. Shot out of a scrubbed barrel at 40 yards ranged from the muzzle. 235 at 40. Not a bad hunting pattern. But by far the worst pattern we shot tonight. We also shot a Remington and Benelli that I will post in another thread just in case anyone is interested. I didn't want to burn any more ammo out of this choke. It's not quite what I'm looking for. Maybe it would love another load. But I think I will try another choke before next year.
Thanks for the reply and info Mountain!!


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I am beginning to think that maybe your barrel just does not jive with that .565. Rare to see Apex post that low a count with the straight 9's. I have heard that Apex has had some fluctuation of late, but cannot for sure confirm that, but that load should do better than 235 at 40. Hate that for you when it is costing close to 12-13 dollars a shell trying to find a suitable pattern.

If you change chokes, I have had great results with both the .562 and .570 IC, and also the Trulock .575 and .585. The worst pattern I ever got out of the four with straight nines was still around 260 (that was with a dirty barrel which my gun hates). I usually stay between 300-330 with either of those four chokes I listed above with straight nines. You can reference my buddy Bhwana on here in this same section to see a lot of patterns with these exact chokes with different brands of TSS to further solidify my comments. He posted both the IC and Trulock patterns in all four chokes within the past 24 months on here.

[MattinIdaho]

I will for sure dig up those posts. Thanks for all of the info!! I will look around for a different choke to try out of it. I may try a more open choke just to see. My sons 1187 with an undertaker .582 shot a mid 330 with the Apex and a 360 with the Rogue 1 7/8 with that choke. I may look at something in the 575-580 range first just to see. I'm not sure  what the 22" barrel on that Element will end up liking the most. I wouldn't be opposed to the Indian Creek .555 to try either.

[280rem]

Indian creek 562 or 555 would be worth the investment for you

[280rem]

Apex 9s with IC 555 does 360 in 10" at 40 and 129 in 10" at 70 in mine

[280rem]

A buddy has the same gun IC 562 with apex 9s and verdict 9s is 330-340s. Mine doesn't shoot the 562 as well

[mountainhunter1]

One thing to keep in mind is that 300 give or take in the ten will kill birds at ranges we have no business shooting them at. Don't get caught up with trying to hit more than that in the ten, - but instead aim for hitting around 290-300 in the ten with more like 225-230 or more in the outer twenty. If a man is really aiming, be it with a red dot or he is really good with his bead, etc. - a well-tuned shotgun never misses because of a lack in its ten coverage, it is almost always due to a lack of good coverage in the outer twenty part of the pattern.

I man could never go wrong with a gun that shoots a 250/250 pattern (250+ in the ten and 250+ in the twenty), but these days with all the buzz about pellet count and chasing numbers, it is hard to get many to listen to that wise logic. Either way, paying a lot more attention to the outer twenty part of your pattern is the wisest thing you will ever do.

[MattinIdaho]

One thing to keep in mind is that 300 give or take in the ten will kill birds at ranges we have no business shooting them at. Don't get caught up with trying to hit more than that in the ten, - but instead aim for hitting around 290-300 in the ten with more like 225-230 or more in the outer twenty. If a man is really aiming, be it with a red dot or he is really good with his bead, etc. - a well-tuned shotgun never misses because of a lack in its ten coverage, it is almost always due to a lack of good coverage in the outer twenty part of the pattern.

I man could never go wrong with a gun that shoots a 250/250 pattern (250+ in the ten and 250+ in the twenty), but these days with all the buzz about pellet count and chasing numbers, it is hard to get many to listen to that wise logic. Either way, paying a lot more attention to the outer twenty part of your pattern is the wisest thing you will ever do.

That is great input and 100% what I would like to achieve. I want a 40 yard gun that if I misjudge and have a bird at 48, will kill it absolutely cleanly. I nice dense pattern, without an overly hot core would be the ultimate pattern for me. When I decide on another choke to try, I will post pics of the results. I'm kind of leaning towards trying something like a Tru Lock or Carlson in a non ported .575 to try next.

[nyhunter]

One thing to keep in mind is that 300 give or take in the ten will kill birds at ranges we have no business shooting them at. Don't get caught up with trying to hit more than that in the ten, - but instead aim for hitting around 290-300 in the ten with more like 225-230 or more in the outer twenty. If a man is really aiming, be it with a red dot or he is really good with his bead, etc. - a well-tuned shotgun never misses because of a lack in its ten coverage, it is almost always due to a lack of good coverage in the outer twenty part of the pattern.

I man could never go wrong with a gun that shoots a 250/250 pattern (250+ in the ten and 250+ in the twenty), but these days with all the buzz about pellet count and chasing numbers, it is hard to get many to listen to that wise logic. Either way, paying a lot more attention to the outer twenty part of your pattern is the wisest thing you will ever do.

I 110% agree with this!!!