Need choke help with Benelli M1

[Swamp Hunter]

I am shooting Benelli m1 with a 26" deep cleaned barrel. I have patterned 3" Hevi 6's and Magblend at a measured 40 yards.  My results are not as good as others have reported. In a 10" circle I have a low of 125 and a high of 146. The average is closer to 130 than 146. There does not seem to be much difference between the performance of the two loads. My preference would be to stick with the #6 shot and it did happen to give me the 146 count one time. I would like some advice on another potential choke to use. Any words of wisdom out there on this?

Thanks for your help,
Swamp Hunter

[WiLL B]

What choke you using now? I have a SBE and really like the Heavy 13 choke in it.

[reynolds243]

i dont have an M1 but do shoot a benelli barrel. My results so far are the Hevi-shot choke and the Sumtoy 650 and Sumtoy 670 shoot the Magblends by far the best from my gun.

The IC 665 did pretty well in addition but not as well as those 2. I too was shooting 3" magblends, 3" hevi #6 and 3" hevi #7 from all of those chokes.

I tried all the above as well as the puregold 670 and the Jelly head.

if you want #'s go with the Hevi-shot 656 or Sumtoy 650, if you want a good hunting pattern that may not post crazy numbers the sumtoy 670 or the Hevi 656 is very good with the magblends.  All 3 of those posted better numbers then what you are getting from my gun.

Oh i shoot a stoeger M2000 and Stoeger M3500 both benelli products.

[Swamp Hunter]

I guess it would have helped to include the choke I have now. It is a Jellhead .655. 

[WiLL B]

My SBE shoots a really nice but not too tight pattern with the Heavy 13 .656 choke. Using Mag Blends I get 190 ish in 10 at 40 yards and still get 130 ish at 50 yards. It's a good even 20 inch pattern too. Shooting Nitro 4x5x6 blend I get only slightly less numbers with larger shot. And poa is same as poi, thats seems to be a big issue with a lot of chokes.

[reynolds243]

yeah it shot perfect POI with both of my guns and the 3" was shooting 190ish and the 3.5" was shooting 250ish on average with the magblends.

[Swamp Hunter]

Thanks 243 and Will B. I wonder why two so similarly restricted chokes (JH .655 and Hevi .656) have such different results. Does the Hevi choke have some internals that the JH does not have?

[reynolds243]

the hevi choke and the sumtoy choke have a very distinct ring system in them to slow the wad. obviously every choke is different but this goes in line perfectly with what Clark says about internal construction tend to me more of a factor then exit diameter or atleast just as important to the equation.

[Swamp Hunter]

My SBE shoots a really nice but not too tight pattern with the Heavy 13 .656 choke. Using Mag Blends I get 190 ish in 10 at 40 yards and still get 130 ish at 50 yards. It's a good even 20 inch pattern too. Shooting Nitro 4x5x6 blend I get only slightly less numbers with larger shot. And poa is same as poi, thats seems to be a big issue with a lot of chokes.

Will, Are you shooting 3.5" shells?

[WiLL B]

Yes I am shooting 3.5 shells. Not the biggest numbers at 40 but it hits where it's supposed to with a even killing pattern even out beyond 40.

[reynolds243]

Yes I am shooting 3.5 shells. Not the biggest numbers at 40 but it hits where it's supposed to with a even killing pattern even out beyond 40.

yup and that is what really matters when push comes to shove. Dont get sucked into the numbers game, while it is great to get high numbers a good even killing pattern is what really matters.

I got caught up in it for a while and now i am trying to back my way back out of it to a more hunting type pattern.

[Swamp Hunter]

yup and that is what really matters when push comes to shove. Dont get sucked into the numbers game, while it is great to get high numbers a good even killing pattern is what really matters.

I got caught up in it for a while and now i am trying to back my way back out of it to a more hunting type pattern.


[/quote]

Agreed. It seems like this pattern thing is a sport of it's own. I just want to kill turkeys the most effective way possible way with the gun I have now, with possibly adding another choke to the equation.  My last pattern with Hevi6's was pretty even and would certainly kill a turkey anywhere in a 20" circle but ther were only 130 pellets in the 10 ring. The only bad thing about the wide spread is getting the shot in the body of the turkey. Those little shot are a pain to locate 100% of the time and they can do some damage to your teeth in a hurry if you are an enthusiastic fried turkey eater like I am.

[allaboutshooting]

The Hevi-13 Turkey Chokes are throwing some excellent patterns in the Benelli shotguns that use the Mobile Choke thread pattern like your M-1. They do especially well with the standard "Bronze" load with 2 oz. of #6 shot.

Thanks,
Clark