5s or 6s

[Turkey Terror]

What would be better through a full choke with 3 inch shells(Ithaca 87(26" barrel); Remington 870(26" barrel))...Winchester Supreme 1-3/4 1300 fps #5s or Winchester Supreme 1-3/4 1300fps #6s?
Thanks in advance

[BigPeck215]

since your talking full choke you probably wont get good patterns past about 30yds so i would go with the 6's, you get the extra pellets and at the distance of 30yds you dont need the extra power that 5's would give you

go with the 6's for a nice even pattern

[Jbird22]

I like them both honestly. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. Buy a box of each and run a few test patterns. I would go with the one that #1) is most even and #2) had the highest percentage of pellets per load in the 10" circle. In those loads the 5's should have approx 296 pellets and the 6's should have approx 384 pellets. Let us know what you're results are.

[devin4484]

I have only used 5's in lead to kill turkeys, thinking I might give the 6's a shot this year and follow them up with 5's idk though yet lol.  still have 20 days to make up my mind.

[Jbird22]

I like them both honestly. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. Buy a box of each and run a few test patterns. I would go with the one that #1) is most even and #2) had the highest percentage of pellets per load in the 10" circle. In those loads the 5's should have approx 296 pellets and the 6's should have approx 384 pellets. Let us know what you're results are.

I agree that eveness is important. But to quote , pellets not percentages kill turkeys. I would only use 5s if they actually put more pellets in the 10" circle than the 6s regardless of the percentages. Sixes have plenty of horsepower at reasonable ranges (45 yds). Fives won't kill them any deader.

That's a little unfair of a comparison since the chances of getting 5's to outshoot 6's pellet for pellet is slim to none. I know 6's will kill just fine but I have decided to give 5's a try due to the thought of them hitting a little harder. This debate is similar to a fixed vs. mechanical broadhead debate. Both will do their intended job as long as the shooter does theirs.

[Jbird22]

I like them both honestly. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. Buy a box of each and run a few test patterns. I would go with the one that #1) is most even and #2) had the highest percentage of pellets per load in the 10" circle. In those loads the 5's should have approx 296 pellets and the 6's should have approx 384 pellets. Let us know what you're results are.

I agree that eveness is important. But to quote , pellets not percentages kill turkeys. I would only use 5s if they actually put more pellets in the 10" circle than the 6s regardless of the percentages. Sixes have plenty of horsepower at reasonable ranges (45 yds). Fives won't kill them any deader.

That's a little unfair of a comparison since the chances of getting 5's to outshoot 6's pellet for pellet is slim to none. I know 6's will kill just fine but I have decided to give 5's a try due to the thought of them hitting a little harder. This debate is similar to a fixed vs. mechanical broadhead debate. Both will do their intended job as long as the shooter does theirs.

Not unfair at all, and I stand by the statement. My 1187/JH .660 does 88/10" with Winch 3-1.75-6s and 94/10" with Winch 3-1.75-5s, so I would go with the fives. If the numbers were reversed, I would go with the 6s. Neither load is going to have the pattern out at 50-60 yds where 5s would hold an advantage in energy over the 6s. My particular gun/choke combo does better with 5s; most will do better with 6s. I choose pattern density.

Like you eluded to in your second to last sentence, I don't suspect those are typical results.

I do understand your point, however, and agree with you for the most part. But for whatever reason (maybe because %'s are a big part of my daily life), I have started figuring %'s on all of my patterns. It just seems logical to calculate %'s in order to help determine which loads are efficient and which ones are not.

Maybe I'm wrong but I think 5's will have an advantage in energy over 6's long before 50-60 yds. I'm not knocking 6's at all since that is practically all I've ever shot up until this season. I had no intentions of swapping to 5's really but I stumbled across a pretty good load/choke combo. That sparked my interest in trying other loads/chokes in an attempt to maximize efficiency. (That's just a fancy way of saying it gave me something to do... )

Either way, I understand why you choose pattern density as top priority (I do too for the most part), but in my mind once you attain a certain # in a 10" circle the rest is just lagniappe.

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

If both 5's and 6's gave me at least 90 pellets in 10" at 40 Yards, I'd only choose the 6's if they shot 20 pellets better.

5's carry a long way, and the pattern doesn't fall apart as quickly.  I've patterned 5's at 35, 40, 45, and 50 Yards.  I was surprised to have pellets on target out to 50 Yards.  If you think it looks like 40, but it ends up being 50, you still have a chance.