Federal 7.5 lead pattern

[KYStalker]

Finally patterned the Federal 3in, 2oz, 7.5 loads.  The star dot put up 200, Mad Super Max 162, SSX 136.  All from taped 40 yards, 10in circle.  It was very warm ~70 degrees, but windy.  I had to compensate for the wind a little in order to hit the center of the cardboard.  I boresnaked the barrel in-between shots.

[BandedSpur]

Man that Star Dot's got it going on. Those are awesome patterns. Those were great old shells in all the shot sizes. I know a guy that claims to have killed a lot of turkeys at 40 and beyond with those shells, but IME lead 7.5s run out of gas at 35 yds. I have had great success shooting them through the open barrel of my O/U, but I limit my shots with the choke tube I have selected to 30 yds.

[blueridgegobbler]

Til I switched to nitro this is the only load I ever used killed several with them and let me tell you they will smoke a bird at 40 yards

[surehuntsalot]

alot of it has to do with the trauma of so many hits at one time.I used these shells for several years,and I know they are 7.5's,but they will smoke one at 40yds,I know.

[SKFOOTER]

What gun and choke did you guys shoot these Federal 7.5's thru???

[stinkpickle]

Most of mine were shot from an Inv+ BPS with a .670 Comp-n-Choke.  They actually shot a slightly denser core out of my 835 with a .695 Rhino, but the BPS was a little more evenly distributed.  And yes, they do pack a wallop at 40 yards. 

[KYStalker]

The above patterns came from a Mossberg 835.  I also shot these from a Truglo Bansner and Rhino .695 choke but the patterns were more spread out at 40 yards.  The star dot definitely gave the best 10" pattern.  Interesting to add that with 4 of the 5 chokes the wads only landed about 10 yards from the gun.  The star dot wad went a lot further, like 20-25 yards.

[meat grinder]

7.5 at 40 killing turkey's.. No way aparently #6 won't kill pass 40 either must be the magical mark at witch lead falls to the ground

[jfair]

7.5 at 40 killing turkey's.. No way aparently #6 won't kill pass 40 either must be the magical mark at witch lead falls to the ground

Ha ha.  This it so true and it's sad.  There really is not a lot of difference between hevi and lead.  (HW and TSS are a different story)  Hevi 7's will kill as far as the pattern will allow, but lead 6's will not.  Come on.  They both have more than enough energy at 40 yards to kill a bird.

When the 3.5 inch guns became popular, all I heard was how much more powerful the shells were. Somehow a 3 inch shell with 2 ounces wont cut it, however a 3.5 inch shell with 2 ounces was scary good. Good to 60 easy.  I had to waste quite a few 3 and 3.5 inch shells, cutting them apart to show people the same amount of powder in each.  Simply would not believe me otherwise.  They read something and it is true to them.  No need to think about it, just take it as fact.  This is why those marketing guys get paid the big bucks.

The internet is a great place to find information.  Here lies the problem - people can claim anything they want.  It's like chasing that crazy 40 yard pattern.  Someone posts 400 hits at 40 yards.  Well now it's possible I guess.  I gotta do everything I can to get there.  But wait, maybe the guy shot at 25 and just said it was 40.  You need to decide if these outliers are true or are you just believing some made up hype.

Sorry.  Rant over.

[learn2hide]

no doubt lead 6 runs out of energy quicker than HTL loads but that doesn't mean it won't do...much of my issue with guys shooting lead 6's is they would shoot 2 3/4 lead 6 loads that were 5 dollars a box at WalMart out of a modified barrel Remington 1100.  Guess what at 40 yards that is most likely not a consistent killing pattern.  Out of almost any turkey choke/gun combo Full, XF, with the 3" or 3 1/2" loads and the new chokes it works fine.  That's what scares me about posting info on 7 1/2 lead and even the Hevi 7's is that someone will get confused and go buy dove loads and try to shoot a turkey at 40-45 yards cause he misjudged yardage.  Somewhere in between the innovations in chokes and shells the HTL loads came in and made that guy shoot a killing pattern with his old set up and he's happy.  And I'm happy cause anything that stops guys from wounding birds makes me happy.   

[SKFOOTER]

Stinkpickle has used the Federal 3" #7.5 lead loads before and he has attested to the fact that they had more than enough energy to kill gobblers @ 40 yards.  Nuf said.

[surehuntsalot]

shot them for some years myself,and yes they killed birds at 40

[DirtNap647]

looks like your ready

[learn2hide]

shot them for some years myself,and yes they killed birds at 40

Again I don't doubt the pellet size capability as much as the lack of availability of power loads...I think the average turkey hunter or novice might see 7.5 and think they ought to just grab their 2 3/4" Winchester Universals and go to town...obviously that would be OK to a point, could lead to wounded birds.  I'm not sure I've ever seen the load you are describing above for sale, a 3" 2oz Lead 7...just not used to seeing that anywhere. 

[Number17]

Finally patterned the Federal 3in, 2oz, 7.5 loads.  The star dot put up 200, Mad Super Max 162, SSX 136.  All from taped 40 yards, 10in circle. 

There's 682 pellets in 2oz of #7.5 lead. The number of hits in the 10" circle seem pretty miniscule to me for shooting bird shot.

200 (29%)    162 (24%)    136 (20%)

It is peculiar that time and time again on this forum you hear guys preach that #6 lead is almost insufficient at 40 yards because it begins to run out of energy (pellet for pellet). The discussion nearly always turns one of two ways: either go up in lead shot size to at least #5 or shoot an HTL load that "surely guarantees" a dead bird at this mythical, ethical, and physical limit or turkeydom.

Now a poster puts up a 40 yard pattern with #7.5 loads riddled with nostalgia, and post less than mediocre patterns even for larger shot sizes............and everybody's OK with this???

Where is ILIKEHEVI-12 to talk some sense into this thread???

How far can we push the limits in both directions? That seems to be the goal!

I'm going to search for some #12 Steel shot. Wait until you see the patterns I put up at 40 steps.....er, I mean Taped & Lasered yards.