Hevi-13 shot choice? 6's or 7's

[TBab]

I have a question about shot choice. I'm trying Hevishot hevi-13. I am wondering if the 3" 2oz of #6's or the same shell in the #7's would work better through my 11-87 with a .665 jelly head. A buddy of mine shoots an 870 with the .660 jelly head and the 6's didn't perform as well as the 7's. so my question is would the 6's tighten up better from a less restrictive choke or would the 7's still have that tight high count pattern even thru the less restrictive choke?

I appreciate any help. I've always been the guy that buys shells shoots the gun and then goes hunting but I'm paying more attention to my patterns now.
Thanks alot.
TBab

[Philippe]

Well ask yourself this, are you just looking to shoot big numbers or are you looking at holding a nice killing pattern with plenty of energy behind it. I use to be big on numbers but have gone the oppsite way. I preferr 6's, i feel it has the perfect balance of pattern density and energy. Dont get me wrong, those 7's will smoke a gobbler, its just a matter of personal preferance.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Well I'll be honest that either of these loads will smoke a gobbler at 40yds. I have yet to get the 6's to pattern like the 7's in either of my 2 turkey guns.  They simply put won't give you the number of hits that the 7's will.  But the 6's will do the trick even though the patterns will be less dense.  The 7's just have more shot is all and that means more hits at 40yds.  The 6's will pack more energy and penetration, but the 7's will still have plenty of energy to shoot plum through the head and neck of turkey at 40yds.  But again this is a personal choice.   

[Cutt]

It depends on the gun, my 11-87 seems to like 6's better.

I know I tried 7's and 6's with 3 different chokes, and with 3in 7's , 3.5 7's and 3.5 6's all seemed to shoot a bit over 200 in the 10 at 40 yards. I considered the #'s with the 7's below average with   around 216 but, 3.5 6's shooting about 205 hits, considered that average to good for 6's, and went with the 3.5 6's and a .665, because I'll take the 6's with 10 less bb's than the 7's.

Another choke might get the 7's up there, but tried 3 chokes 2 Jelly's .660 , .665, and Wingmaster, But the 7's would have to rise substainually over the 6's, before I'd switch. For some reason my 11-87 shot 6's better?

[chatterbox]

It really boils down to what your gun likes, and what you want for a pattern.
I went with the 7's because I have a short barrelled 835, and getting good numbers has always been a struggle. The 7's have plenty of energy to kill a turkey at 40 yards.
I now have the best of both worlds out of my gun. A very even, and very lethal 40 yard killing pattern.

[nyhunter]

Keep in mind the reason the 7's are putting more holes in the paper is because there's a lot more of them per oz than the 6's . So it's gonna appear that there patterning better by only counting holes. Look at the overall pattern (both 10" and 20" numbers) for a good combination that your satisfied with. The only real way to know is shoot both and compare them.

[DirtNap647]

i prefer 7's but would have no prob. shooting 6's

[CrustyRusty]

I just patterned my new maxus with both 6's and 7's.  I got around 240 with the 6's and 298 with the 7's.  I dont think I can go wrong either way.   I like to pattern at 10 yard increments to see what it will look like at each point and then will make my decision.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

It depends on the gun, my 11-87 seems to like 6's better.

I know I tried 7's and 6's with 3 different chokes, and with 3in 7's , 3.5 7's and 3.5 6's all seemed to shoot a bit over 200 in the 10 at 40 yards. I considered the #'s with the 7's below average with   around 216 but, 3.5 6's shooting about 205 hits, considered that average to good for 6's, and went with the 3.5 6's and a .665, because I'll take the 6's with 10 less bb's than the 7's.

Another choke might get the 7's up there, but tried 3 chokes 2 Jelly's .660 , .665, and Wingmaster, But the 7's would have to rise substainually over the 6's, before I'd switch. For some reason my 11-87 shot 6's better?

Cutt,

Maybe I can help you to turn that 11-87 into a Hevi-13 #7 shooter.  Neither of the Jelly Heads were much over 200 in my 28" barrel 3" 870.  So I feel your pain. The Indian Creek .665 was a big let down as well.  Around 200.  But then I found the .669 Indian Creek BPS and then was shooting over 260.  The Mad Super Max .675 beats that.  I have got 297 with it.  And 270 to 280 isn't uncommon.  I also have a Pure Gold .670 that turns in consistent 250 patterns.  I now have a Haymaker .670, but haven't shot it yet.  But I can only speculate that it will shoot these 7's extremely well going off of what VaTurkey told me how it shot in his Benelli.  He shot one at 36yds that was mind boggling with the 3.5" 2.25oz #7 loads.  He also got 273 at 40yds with that same gun and choke with the Magblends 3.5" 2.25oz loads.  That my friend is smoking.  Now before you say but that's a Benelli, hear me out.  I'm here to tell you that more guns will in fact shoot only better patterns with a .670 to .675 choke than what they will with a .655 to .665 choke.  Now there might be some exceptions along the way.  How do I know this?  Well let's just say I have done my homework and with the guns I have shot over the years and patterning, I have come to that conclusion.  VaTurkey's Benelli .723 barrel just proved that you don't need a .655 choke(recommended by choke makers typically for Benelli) to in fact make a Benelli shoot its best patterns.  So this has proved what I have said more and more so to in fact be true.  .670 to .675 chokes will more than likely shoot better 20" and 10" patterns in a lot of barrels.  That will go for 835 barrels, Rem barrels, Win/Moss/Browning Invector barrels, Browning/Win SX3 Invector Plus barrels and Benelli barrels I do believe.  I have thrown away the every barrel is different theory and yes like I said some exceptions may apply.  But I would bet that I am for the most part in fact correct.  Ask Ricky what he thinks about that .670 Haymaker choke in his Benelli?  He simply said it's the best choke he has ever shot in his Benelli period. 

If a person wants to believe in the every barrel is different theory, then they might as well get really picky and say every choke is in fact different even if they are made by the exact same choke maker in the exact same constriction.  Naturally your gonna find one choke that will shoot slightly better if you had 10 of the same chokes with same constrictions and tried them all in the same gun barrel with the same exact loads.  But for the most part all will pretty much shoot about the same.  So again that just proves my point that their way of thinking isn't correct.  The same will go for gun barrels from the same model and maker.  The machines they use pretty much duplicate internal dimensions just like they do on making choke tubes. 

[stinkpickle]

I get slightly better patterns with the #7's, but the #6's are still pretty darn good.  I usually hunt with the #6's, because they were available locally, so that's what I stockpiled.   

[mudhen]

H-13 #6's have saved my turkey bacon so many times, I stopped counting 

I'm sure I would be fine with #7's, but since I travel to places like Nebraska & Kansas, I really like having a little more KD power....

mudhen

[30_06]

My gun shoots both just fine, but always better numbers with the 7's due to more being in the shell.

[allaboutshooting]

They both work very well. I shoot #6 shot most of the time since that's what I shoot in competition and I know just what it does in a particular gun. Doris will be shooting #7s this year in her hunting gun because it patterns them better than the #6s in that gun but either way, it's a killing pattern at 40 yards.

Thanks,
Clark

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

7's have more pellets to start with.  6's can't beat them numbers-wise.  But some of those pellets are smaller than 7's.  There are 6's, 7's, 8's, 9's, etc. in that shell.

All Hevi13 is a blend.

6's are still awesome too.  They are a blend too, but have more of the larger pellets.

They are Un-intentional Blends.  I love the shells though.

Win XRHD was not a Blend.  6's were 6's, etc.

Just FYI, not doggin' Hevi13.

[pdaugherty]

The 6s will probably shoot better out of your .665. I've found that my 7s need a little tighter choke like a .662 or a .660. I've seen some STUPID numbers out of the JEBS .650 with the 7s, you better have rifle sights on your gun if you're going to shoot it!!!