Trouble Patterning Benelli Nova

[joshb311]

Shoot at a 30"x30" piece of paper on your four foot by four foot board and have a small dot as an aim point. Do not shoot at a piece of notebook paper even on a billboard as that tells you nothing when having problems.

Have you tried Win lead number 6 shot in this combo? The supreme or XX 3-2-6 in general likes tight chokes. Good luck on this.

Yes, I've been through every Winchester round made except for the Nitro Turkey and Xtended Range. It has me frustrated a little but I'm determined to figure out what is going on. I sent William from Sumtoy a PM the other day and he offered up a bit more advice. I may end up asking him if he would be willing to help me out a bit further since he's so close by and obviously knows his stuff.

I'm just really hoping that there isn't an issue with barrel.

[tyelper]

can you take a pic of the end of your barrel so we can see what your saying about being off to one side i looked at mine and had no idea what you were referring to,,,,

[joshb311]

can you take a pic of the end of your barrel so we can see what your saying about being off to one side i looked at mine and had no idea what you were referring to,,,,

There appears to be a bit less of a lip on one side where the choke seats inside the barrel. It's kinda hard to judge and my eyes have fooled me before. I will see if my caliper will make it down into the barrel and try to measure it to be sure.

I did notice a little bit of carbon buildup around the outside of the choke. I didn't think much of it at the time, though.

[tyelper]

well mine shoots 6-8'' high i have had to take all my sights off and use factory bead and with just catching the very tip on my vent it still shoots high,,,,,

[SumToy]

put a bigger bead on front to make it shoot lower.

[R AJ]

can you take a pic of the end of your barrel so we can see what your saying about being off to one side i looked at mine and had no idea what you were referring to,,,,

There appears to be a bit less of a lip on one side where the choke seats inside the barrel. It's kinda hard to judge and my eyes have fooled me before. I will see if my caliper will make it down into the barrel and try to measure it to be sure.

I did notice a little bit of carbon buildup around the outside of the choke. I didn't think much of it at the time, though.

So you are saying that you are missing a 30"x30" piece of paper at 25 yards. Or just getting 120 or so shot in it,right?

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

I started out a few years ago, trying to get a Nova to shoot.  I tried a Jelly Head, SSX, Carlson's, several different shells, and finally gave up on the Nova. 

I traded the Nova, and started the whole process over again with an 870.  Much better patterns with the 870, especially with an Indian Creek .665 choke.  Now I also have a BPS, and I'm getting even better patterns with an Indian Creek .665 choke in it.

If the Nova works out, great.  If it doesn't do what you want it to do, there are other options available.

[tyelper]

josh, good luck getting ahold of the jack wagons at benelli

[joshb311]

josh, good luck getting ahold of the jack wagons at benelli

I called them several months ago when I was inquiring about their mercury recoil reducer that goes in the stock. I had absolutely no problems getting in touch with anyone then. I called the support number when inquiring as well. Hopefully I won't have any issues.

[joshb311]

I had the same results with my Nova when I tried to pattern it. It took me a lot of money and frustration to figure out the issue. What I eventually found was that when the barrel was threaded for the choke, it was threaded crooked/off center. I found this out once I chipped the back edge of my full choke. 

If you look from the muzzle end of your barrel with the choke out, you should be able to tell. The lip that the back edge of the choke seats against should be perfectly centered in the bore, mine wasn't. Honestly, it's probably something I should have caught when I was cleaning/polishing the barrel, but who ever expects that to be an issue.

I'm not saying that is your problem, but you might check it out. Benelli sent me a new barrel and chokes, no questions asked.

I did a little tinkering again this evening and it is looking like my barrel may have the choke threads tapped off center after all. I thought I was noticing more of a "lip" on one side when peering down the barrel without a choke in place. I put my factory full choke in and am definitely seeing an inconsistency around that edge where the choke sits flush against.

I'm going to a local gunsmith tomorrow and have them give me a second opinion and try to confirm or disprove my fears.

[Tom Foolery]

My short barreled 870 came that way from the factory, very noticable difference.  It shoots fine though.

[Michigander]

Hope you get it figured out before season.

[joshb311]

Hope you get it figured out before season.

Yes, same here. There have been numerous circumstances that have started to conspire against the upcoming season for me lately. I am about to give Benelli a call and hopefully at least this aspect of it will be able to be resolved.

[tyelper]

they will probably tell you the same thing as they did me today box it up send it to us we will bench test it and send it back when we figure out the problem,,,,,,

[joshb311]

they will probably tell you the same thing as they did me today box it up send it to us we will bench test it and send it back when we figure out the problem,,,,,,

Right on. I didn't get around to it today. Did they happen to give you any kinda idea on turnaround?