Preliminary LongBeard 3.5'' #5, Winchester SX3

[jdavenp3]

Well I got my Sumtoy in today and had to take it out and play with it. Only shot one shell. 40yds taped and put 110 in the 10'' I was aiming at, pulled left. I did a measure around the densest portion to the left and got 165.

I am happy with this for a number of reasons. 1 my barrel was far from clean. I just got the Sx3 and had thrown about 30 light dove loads through it to see if it would stovepipe. 2 it was 35 degrees here today with about a 10mph wind. And finally, I shot off the bead. My red dot is not in yet to fine tune my aim.

I do have to say that these shells are super tame as far as recoil goes. I mean weirdly tame. I shot some Winchester Supreme High Velocity 3.5'' 2oz as soon a I got my gun and it really rocked me back. These were worlds away from that type of recoil.

[SKFOOTER]

Well I got my Sumtoy in today and had to take it out and play with it. Only shot one shell. 40yds taped and put 110 in the 10'' I was aiming at, pulled left. I did a measure around the densest portion to the left and got 165.

I am happy with this for a number of reasons. 1 my barrel was far from clean. I just got the Sx3 and had thrown about 30 light dove loads through it to see if it would stovepipe. 2 it was 35 degrees here today with about a 10mph wind. And finally, I shot off the bead. My red dot is not in yet to fine tune my aim.

I do have to say that these shells are super tame as far as recoil goes. I mean weirdly tame. I shot some Winchester Supreme High Velocity 3.5'' 2oz as soon a I got my gun and it really rocked me back. These were worlds away from that type of recoil.

What size is the Sumtoy choke??

[d.winsor]

I just purchased a SX3, haven't got to shoot it yet.  I have it all cleaned up and ready to go.  I am waiting for it to warm up a bit.  I have been shooting Winchester supreme high velocity for many, many years.  I kind of thought they wouldn't kick as much in the SX3.  I am glad to read your post as I have bought some Winchester Long Beard 3.5 inch #5 shot to pattern also.

[jdavenp3]

SKFooter, Will recommended a 675 for Invector+ barrels and the Winchester SX3 specifically. I was not going to argue with that man at all. However, Clark, AllAboutShooting, recommends a 640-643 exit diameter. And he actually helped on the gun from the inception of it. So I think there is a couple different sweet spots to look for. Right now I think the Sumtoy is going to throw some great numbers once a deep clean, nice day, and optics are installed

D.Winsor. Dude, all I can say is this is my favorite shotgun I have owned. Went from a couple 1100s, M3500, 835, A5 and it is my favorite. Not to say those guns I mentioned are not absolutely great in their own right. This gun just fits me. Like I said though, those Win Supreme High Velocity w/ 1300fps kicked like a mule. I was bracing up for some heavier recoil on the LongBeards and it felt like a butterfly. I cannot stress how surprised I was about the recoil.

I have some MagBlends around here somewhere and I am going to test those out as well but I believe I am just going to stick with LongBeards this year since I have a couple boxes.

[SumToy]

yup the Invector Plus barrels will shoot better in warm temps because of the bigger back bore.  Now the Winchester shell has put up better numbers with the warm temps also.   Now the chokes are shipped with oil on them also.. So if don't clean them they will get dirty faster with the oil.   

[jdavenp3]

Will is dead on with that too. I did not clean the oil off the choke. It went directly from the package to my gun, to shooting. I am real anxious to see what this choke does when I do my part and have things set up correctly. 165 #5s dirty gun and cold weather is a great starting point.