Ok, either I have the worst shooting 870 ever or.

[savduck]

There is some BSing about pellet counts in the 10 at 40 or Ammunition has changed by the manufactures. I ordered some more shells from Midway since I thought something may be wrong with the lots numbers I got from Dunns. I also got a Tru glo SSX choke, clean the barrell, and polished it. This is 40 yards measured with a 200 foot steel tape. Some shots were clean and some were dirty. You would be surprised which is which.

Based on others, I was looking for averages at 40 with the federals in the 140 to 170 range depending on choke type. I was looking for Hevi 13s up in the 150 to 180 range based on what others have claimed. Im FAR off on those averages. I cut open a Federal heavyweight and counted 335. Others have said 340, 330, and 320.....so I think 330 is a solid average per shell.



Here is my 10 inch circle.



Here is what I got today. This is the Federal 7s from Dunns. one IC 555, Sum toy 562-5, and Truglo SSX

Sum Toy......105 in 10, 298 on paper



Tru glo......96 in 10, 270 on the paper


Indian Creek, 119 in 10, 307 on the paper

[savduck]

Federals from Midway

Sum Toy at 40. 109 in 10, 294 on paper



Truglo, 119 in 10, 291 on paper



IC 555 at 40, 168 in 10, 317 on paper



The IC pattern from the front side on the turkey.

[savduck]

Hevi 13 7s at 40

Truglo SSX....152 in 10, 321 on paper




IC 555...........109 in 10, 293 on paper

[msgobblergetter]

Are you drawing your 10" circle on paper before you shoot?  Looks like the most dense parts of your pattern are not actually part of the circle.

Pardon me for saying, but shoot the paper first then draw a 10" circle around the most dense part of your pattern if that is not what you are doing already.

[msgobblergetter]

Your numbers with the SSX and H13 7's is on par with what I am getting from same setup.

[savduck]

Are you drawing your 10" circle on paper before you shoot?  Looks like the most dense parts of your pattern are not actually part of the circle.

Pardon me for saying, but shoot the paper first then draw a 10" circle around the most dense part of your pattern if that is not what you are doing already.

Thats how I did it. The target has a 7 inch circle built in around the turkey. If you look at the IC pattern that put up 168 you can see the 10 inch circle coming through from the back side as I found the tightest part. On another target you can see another 10 inch circle drawn in pen where I thought it may have been denser.

I think I may not  be perfect centering the 10.....but Im not far enough off to be losing on average of  30 to 40 pellets per target. Here is where I shifted the IC target that put up 119. I shifted it about 2 inches. It is only 121.

[jtharpe]

shot my encore Friday with fed 7s from midway. got 152 with a sumtoy in the encore and 140 with a dirty mossberg 500.
I polished the barrel on the encore again and the numbers went from 113 to the 152.
I dont know if that is what did it or the shells that differnet. That one came from a different box than the first but the same lot number. I'm going to shoot a few more to make sure they are constant.

i don't think they are going to be many people getting 170 to 190 with the hevis. those do seem like high numbers for 1 and 1/4 once shot.

[savduck]

shot my encore Friday with fed 7s from midway. got 152 with a sumtoy in the encore and 140 with a dirty mossberg 500.
I polished the barrel on the encore again and the numbers went from 113 to the 152.
I dont know if that is what did it or the shells that differnet. That one came from a different box than the first but the same lot number. I'm going to shoot a few more to make sure they are constant.

i don't think they are going to be many people getting 170 to 190 with the hevis. those do seem like high numbers for 1 and 1/4 once shot.

What lot number are your Midway shells just out of curiosity. Im ok with the 150 for the hevi in the tru glo. That a nice pattern. We shot the truglo in a Charles Daly today as well and it did about the same at 40.

[TrkyHntr]

My gun didn't like the ssx or the rsf. Neither did it like a puregold or jellyhead. the best hevi patterns I got was from a truglo gsx .565. My best choke for the fed hw #7's is a hastings .562.



Shane

[savduck]

Here is the interesting data. On the other side of the 10 inch circle is the actual turkey head target just like the one in the picture of the IC pattern that put up 168. Here are the totals in the head and neck of that target at 40. I didnt feel like hearing the "your POI is off comments" So even with some stuff centered and some off target a little here is what is hitting skin at 40.

Sumtoy.......28 and 30

IC.........46, 44, and 28

Tru Glo........25, 34, and 18 ( funny thing is the 34 on this one is the 152 hevi 13, I was high and right, if centered It could have easily been 50 pellets)

I was taught many years ago that your max range is when you only put 8 to 10 pellets in the head. I guess Im whinning pretty bad after these numbers at 40 yards.

[savduck]

My gun didn't like the ssx or the rsf. Neither did it like a puregold or jellyhead. the best hevi patterns I got was from a truglo gsx .565. My best choke for the fed hw #7's is a hastings .562.



Shane

Im looking hard for the Hastings....man they go quick.

[chipper]

I'm on par with you with the Hevi-13 also. Try polishing one more time, I used 3 different grits of pads, I got them from a Solid surface counter top installer, he used them to buff out joints in counter tops, I also used Hoppes to re-deep clean the barrel after polishing. I also soaked my choke in Lacquer thinner overnight and used a bronze brush to clean it, Dylan also shot a bunch of lead out of that choke before I ever cleaned it, I think that helps, it may not but I believe it does, He shoots a lot and he probably run 4 or 5 boxes of dove loads through it before I ever cleaned the choke.

[savduck]

Im wondering how a constriction type choke like a terror choke does with these. I use a Terror 700 in my 12ga for blackclouds and it is unreal.

The hasting is an old constriction based choke. Im going to see if SRM makes a 20 ga terror. Bet could have them make a 570 or 565

Looks like they have a 575, 595, and a 615
http://surecycle.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=74&idcategory=0

http://surecycle.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=77&idcategory=0

[savduck]

I just contacted them to see if the would make a 565 or 560.

[redarrow]

IC 555 at 40, 168 in 10, 317 on paper.

I would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with that.