20ga Triple Beard a No Go

[dawei]

I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon patterning 20ga Hevi•Shot® all Pb Triple Beard™ Lot# 110306 in my Mossberg® 26" barrel Mdl 500C. The load has 1¼oz of 5, 6, and 7 shot @ 1300fps. I shot this ammunition through the following chokes.....

• Carlson's® Flush Fit .590" FULL (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Carlson's® Flush Fit .585" X-FULL (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Carlson's® Flush Fit .575" TURKEY (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Hastings® Extended Choke .570" (No Wad Catchers)
• Wrights® SWARM™ .555" Extended Choke (Four Distinct Wad Catchers)

All shots were taken sitting in a chair and the gun resting on a 48" adjustable bipod. Target was 30yds exactly (lasered), from the muzzle.

This patterning cession was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT TO SAY THE LEAST!!!!! First let me state this is a very hard kicking round. Resting the forend on the bipod resulted in complete ejection of the shell case after each shot. After 10 rounds my shoulder was done for the day.

Secondly, and more importantly, was the patterning performance; IT WAS TERRIBLE! Two rounds through the 5 different chokes produced no acceptable patterns of any kind. None! Nada! Zero! After reading eight seven 0's post, about Federal® 3rd Degree™, seeing the good numbers he got through his gun & Primos® Tight Wad™ choke; I was hoping for similar performance, but it was not to be.

The next time I go I will try this load in my Remington® SPR220 (Baikal IZH-43) through two Colonial Arms® Extended Turkey chokes (.575", .570"). I'll also try a couple of shots through my wife's fixed choke NEF Ladies/Youth gun (.597" fixed MOD). At present I am not real hopeful but will see what happens.

After I've tested these other two guns I'll update this post. Stay tuned.

Regards...

[surehuntsalot]

thanks for the heads up, glad I have not bought any yet.

[Philippe]

I bought a box of the 20ga just to have the box, use the loads for rabbit/squirrels.

[WyoHunter]

Glad you posted your results. I was looking for a lead alternative to my Federal HWT 7's but I won't be trying these. Thanks!

[NYlogbeards]

It seems like the Hevi TB are just a lead impersnation of 3rd Degree, just another cheap hard lead load mos likely...

Glad you posted your results. I was looking for a lead alternative to my Federal HWT 7's but I won't be trying these. Thanks!

A good alternative probably would be Winchester XX or Federal Mag Shok, both are superior copper lead loads.

[captpete]

I shot the Triple Beards through my 1187 and got good patterns. It's an 1187, 26" barrel, Sumtoy 562-5 choke at a lazered 31yds. I shot 3 rounds. The best was 135 pellets in a 10" circle and the worst was 125 in 10" circle. The only thing that patterned better was HW 7's(HW 6's were very similar to the Triple Beards, but not as even of a pattern). I shot Federal HW(6's & 7's), Federal HV turkey loads(5's & 6's), Wincherster XX's(5's) and Remington(not sure what they were) and Turkey Thugs (5's). I was looking for something a little more forgiving at closer ranges(15-20yds) than the HW7's for the wife to use and the Triple Beards have a little bigger pattern at 15yds than the HW 7's.

[allaboutshooting]

I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon patterning 20ga Hevi•Shot® all Pb Triple Beard™ Lot# 110306 in my Mossberg® 26" barrel Mdl 500C. The load has 1¼oz of 5, 6, and 7 shot @ 1300fps. I shot this ammunition through the following chokes.....

• Carlson's® Flush Fit .590" FULL (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Carlson's® Flush Fit .585" X-FULL (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Carlson's® Flush Fit .575" TURKEY (Factory Repalcement choke No Wad Catchers)
• Hastings® Extended Choke .570" (No Wad Catchers)
• Wrights® SWARM™ .555" Extended Choke (Four Distinct Wad Catchers)

All shots were taken sitting in a chair and the gun resting on a 48" adjustable bipod. Target was 30yds exactly (lasered), from the muzzle.

This patterning cession was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT TO SAY THE LEAST!!!!! First let me state this is a very hard kicking round. Resting the forend on the bipod resulted in complete ejection of the shell case after each shot. After 10 rounds my shoulder was done for the day.

Secondly, and more importantly, was the patterning performance; IT WAS TERRIBLE! Two rounds through the 5 different chokes produced no acceptable patterns of any kind. None! Nada! Zero! After reading eight seven 0's post, about Federal® 3rd Degree™, seeing the good numbers he got through his gun & Primos® Tight Wad™ choke; I was hoping for similar performance, but it was not to be.

The next time I go I will try this load in my Remington® SPR220 (Baikal IZH-43) through two Colonial Arms® Extended Turkey chokes (.575", .570"). I'll also try a couple of shots through my wife's fixed choke NEF Ladies/Youth gun (.597" fixed MOD). At present I am not real hopeful but will see what happens.

After I've tested these other two guns I'll update this post. Stay tuned.

Regards...

Thank you for your work and having done a good bit of that appreciate it.

Those shells really seem to like the SSX 20 gauge chokes, according to several of my readers. They frankly got ahead of me on them with the Rem-Choke and Win-Choke models. It's not a big surprise since the Federal shells with multiple shot sizes as well as the #7 Heavyweights really do well with them. I've not had an opportunity to try the Swarm with them and to the best of my knowledge, none of my readers have, so I can't speak to that performance.

Again, thank you for your work and report.

Clark