Rem 870/ kicks .655, .660/ Win Longbeard 3"

[Tom Foolery]

Interested to see how this turns out.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

I recently read somewhere that #5 shot is best used with .660 to .670

I like .655 to .665 for #6's / .665 to .675 for #5's / .675 to .690 for #4's.

[owlhoot]

Yes i have shot the 3" 5's
47 degrees or so. Snow still piled up by the bench. Damp and muddy. Missouri weather and it felt great.

Anyhow the 870 SM 26" with a polished barrel and a Win. LB 5 went 139 in the 10" = 108 in the 20" for total of 247. This is with a .660 Carlsons un-ported tube.
The Win. X2 with a 28" barrel is un-polished and a Win. LB 5 went 117 in the 10". Sorry no 20" yet.
This is with the Supermax from mad tube made by Indian Creek.
The 870 above with the same .660 carlton only did 91 and 88 in the 10" circle . No 20", no point.
This was the 3" 4's LB .
For the 3" thug load with 5's the same 870 and .660 carlsons tube did 81 in the 10".
And with the 870 again with the straight rifled tube and 3" thug 5 did 81 in the 10". Yes i double checked.

[Longshanks]

  *139 in a 10 with 5's is excellent. That a consistent/good coverage pattern? I've seen some 5 patterns with good numbers but allot of gaps in the pattern.
   Looking forward to seeing what the LB beards will do..been working out of state the last couple of weeks. Still looking for 3" 5's. Guess I will run across them soon. Hoping the .660 in my 21" bbl will shoot the LB 5's. I'm pretty sure the .655 will be business with the LB 6's in either barrel 21" or 28". .655 will turn good numbers with all the Win Pb 6's.
    Been reading allot about different sizes of shot in the 6's..allot of 7's. Anyone checked out the 5's? This may be a stupid question but how does Winchester have a difficult time getting the right size shot in a shotgun shell? They been doing this a long time. I know very little about loading shotgun shells but have done it a few times. Getting the correct shot in the shell didn't seem to be a problem.  I understand that it's a large company but one would think they would have a system in place that works. Killed more turkeys with Win than any other load, not bashing Winchester, just don't quite understand.
   

[owlhoot]

The 10 is pretty even , quartered there is 36, 36, 29, 38
The 20 has a strong half and a  weak one with 38, 14  and a 14 ,16 for what is there is fairly even but gaps from not many hits in the 20, better than a few on here, but they had stronger 10 counts.

291 0n big paper total

[Longshanks]

The 10 is pretty even , quartered there is 36, 36, 29, 38
The 20 has a strong half and a  weak one with 38, 14  and a 14 ,16 for what is there is fairly even but gaps from not many hits in the 20, better than a few on here, but they had stronger 10 counts.

291 0n big paper total

Thanks, just found a box of 3" 5's in bass pro/ memphis passing through on a work trip. Looking forward to running them through the kicks .660.

[owlhoot]

Good deal    20 bucks i hope.

I still have a Ventilator  .655 to try with them.   Also a .640 Carlsons

But for now the snow is coming back and cold for the next ten days.


Also shot a .660 roberts for a 115 in the ten with the 5's longbeard.    That choke will not  shine.

Good luck with the kicks!

[Pressured Gobbler]

I put the 3.5" #5s thru my 870 SM with kick's .665 this wknd at 40 yards. Simply amazing pattern. Never seen anything like it before

I shoot this same set up and it does pattern GOOD!!! But I wouldn't say best I ever saw... Hevi shot still patterns best... I'm just not sold on penetration at 50+ yards

[63beards]

I shot some longbeard 6's in my old 1100 magnum today, 26" barrel,Comp n Choke xxx full choke,  i didn't count pellet holes but  this would be a dead turkey everytime,  tape measured 40 yds... I'm impressed with the longbeards....

[Longshanks]

Looks like I may just be hunting with the 20 guage this year. Torn rotator cuff a couple of days ago. Patterning with the 12 guage Winchester Longbeards will have to wait. Thanks for the help guys. Good luck in the turkey woods!

[Hooksnhorns]

Man, i hate that for ya. I had surgery on my left shoulder in late Jan. I just shucked my pillow sling and will be starting therapy Fri. I shot my 3-1/2" longbeards one handed while my cuz held the barrel down w/ one hand the other day 3 times. That last shot was enough for me. I'm gon try to kill em tho. Good luck brother.

[Tom Foolery]

Sorry to hear about the shoulder.

[Woods-n-water]

My 870 with a 21" barrel put up 200 in the 10 @ 40 through a ventilator. Longbeard 3" 6's. Not to shabby

[Tom Foolery]

I shot a LB 3" #5's today, for some reason I could not find my 10" circle maker so I used a 12" circle.  I know it's not the holy grail 10" circle but it will have to do today. 

Kicks .660
LB 3" #5
Rem 870 20" barrel
41yds

154 - 12" circle - the 20" was very weak.  I will probably use them but from my gun for a hunting pattern I was not impressed.  I like even 10"-16"-20" patterns.  I would have rather had #6's just to see if the holes would fill in.

[Longshanks]

I shot a LB 3" #5's today, for some reason I could not find my 10" circle maker so I used a 12" circle.  I know it's not the holy grail 10" circle but it will have to do today. 

Kicks .660
LB 3" #5
Rem 870 20" barrel
41yds

154 - 12" circle - the 20" was very weak.  I will probably use them but from my gun for a hunting pattern I was not impressed.  I like even 10"-16"-20" patterns.  I would have rather had #6's just to see if the holes would fill in.

Sounds like the pattern with the HV 5's out of your gun may even be a better hunting pattern. Interesting.