So Winchester is Stepping Up to the Plate

[bushwhacker]

I saw some testing done with these shells done on drury outdoors natural born killers the other day and they had good patterns at 60 yards with the 3 inch 4's in an encore and mad max choke. They were saying how they could possibly have an 80 yard gun. I would never think of shooting one that far with any shotgun, but from what I saw the 4's would pattern like 5's in a normal Winchester lead load at 40 yards. A nice even swarm of 4's at 40 yards equals a bad day for a Tom!

[trkehunr93]

It is amazing what Winchester has done with lead in this load.  I know that the turkey thugs from Federal perform well also but the Longbeard XR is worth the $$ in my opinion.  Alot of old school turkey hunters used #4 shot because of the knockdown power, looks like we can start hunting old school again!

[the Ward]

If they got to shoot at 60 or 80 yards their hunting skills suck. Period. Or maybe there just afflicted with the "have to have something dead in the back of the truck no matter what" syndrome of the t.v. "pros"   

[2much2loud]

Has anybody tested at closer ranges like 20-30 yds ... Just wonder how the "glued" pellets separate at close range.... Is it an even pattern or a golf ball size pattern at 20 yds?

[Hooks' n' Beards']

i have no plans of switching from my Winchester supreme 3.5" -5's...killed every bird with this setup i have shot at with my Bps...

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

i have no plans of switching from my Winchester supreme 3.5" -5's...killed every bird with this setup i have shot at with my Bps...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Gotta love those Lead #5's. 

I completely understand that HTL turned almost every shotgun into a bonafide 40 Yard pattern machine.  HTL gave an instant pattern improvement in most of the guns and chokes that wouldn't post up big numbers with Lead.  But if a person finds a combo that rocks with Lead, it's hard to justify paying for HTL. 

Continued improvements in Lead loads, and future price increases in Tungsten-based HTL may put a squeeze on the demand for HTL loads; unless people then use the logic that if these new Lead load technologies were applied to HTL loads, they would pattern at 80-100 Yards.  What if the Longbeard technology were applied to a load of #6 HTL pellets?  It's a slippery slope.  When will it stop?

I like Lead myself.

[Hooksnhorns]

I may be wrong, but with HTL being harder than lead, it wouldn't benefit from the resin. The htl doesn't deform upon acceleration inside the barrel. So, I don't think it would help. JMO...

[mightyjoeyoung]

Has anybody tested at closer ranges like 20-30 yds ... Just wonder how the "glued" pellets separate at close range.... Is it an even pattern or a golf ball size pattern at 20 yds?

The resin apparently pulverizes upon the round being fired, basically turning it into a dense buffer.  Shouldn's have any issues like that.  However...what happens if you DROP one of these rounds on a hard floor or rock and shatter the resin if that's even possible?  Will the patterns suffer or will pressures spike? 

[cluck]

I can see safety issues with the long range shots at over forty yards. Will everyone want a long range load if they make you wear hunter orange to protect yourself and others who you share the woods with? With to days camo and a fifty or seventy yard shot, they won't call it an acident. I can still remember when and why they changed the laws in Missouri that outlawed the use of number two shot for turkeys. It was for safety reasons. Be careful what you wish for, we might get more than we want. Just my two cents.    cluck

[klemsontigers7]

Has anybody tested at closer ranges like 20-30 yds ... Just wonder how the "glued" pellets separate at close range.... Is it an even pattern or a golf ball size pattern at 20 yds?

At 20 yds it looks like any other shell.