Hey everyone. My first post here. I hunt easterns somewhere below the VA border. I have two small kids, the oldest of which I'm hoping to get into the blind this year
I've wondered for a while what would happen if I shot a broken longbeard shell and couldn't find anything on the web. I had a couple broken shells in 4s and 5s so I decided to find out. Broken as in the resin is broken, not the cap at the crimp.
Obviously if you drop a longbeard shell and it breaks, you have no control over how much so, leading to inconsistency. For the test which is far from scientific or conclusive, I shot two shots each fractured and unfractured 4s and 5s at 40 yards and counted pellets in a 10 inch post-shot scribed circle. Conditions started around 30* f and no wind and progressed to 40* with apprx 6mph wind left to right. Both fractured shells in each size shot were fractured to different degrees. The 4s were shot with a tristar raptor with factory full choke. 5s were shot with Remington 870 with Carlson longbeard choke and vortex venom reflex sight.
4s fractured avg 65 pellet strikes, looking somewhat patchy and unreliable
4s unfractured avg 85 pellet strikes, looking much fuller.
5s fractured avg 122 pellet strikes
5s unfractured avg 136 pellet strikes.
The tristar isn't a 40 yard gun. But at the ranges it's expected to shoot, I wouldn't be scared of a broken longbeard shell. Same thing for the 870 at the ranges it's intended to shoot. I saw more holes in the fractured 4s than the whole 4s. Didn't notice holes per se in the 5s, just not quite as dense. Negligible to me. I did however have one shot that shot below POA, even with the red dot. But it was still a dead bird.
Again, not conclusive and only my observations. And this is a doosey of a first post. Hope it's at least entertaining to someone.
