Patterning? I think the gun is broken.

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Shot 3 different rounds today and my numbers are nowhere near what some folks have posted....im feeling like i need a new shotgun cause those 200s are dwarfing my results is there something wrong with my gun?

New England Pardner Pump 12ga
28" bbl
Truglo TG172X choke

Nitro Turkey load 3"
4 shot


Nitro Turkey load 3"
5 shot


Federal Turkey Thugz 3"
5 shot

 

[Roost 1]

Lol.... Your gun is not broken you just need to try different size chokes...as a rule whichever chokes shoots 6s well will not shoot 4s well and vice versa..
I would still with the 5s or 6s and try a .660 choke.

 

[Benelli 4 Life]

Lol.... Your gun is not broken you just need to try different size chokes...as a rule whichever chokes shoots 6s well will not shoot 4s well and vice versa..
I would still with the 5s or 6s and try a .660 choke.

x2

 

[REN]

For starters throw the nitro loads in the lake. 2nd try 6s if your wanting to shoot the federals or get some Winchester longbeards in 5 or 6.

Also you should not set 200 as a goal or anything. That 107 will flatten a turkey I bet at 30yds no question. If you want to fool around and try and get it better you should be able to with minimal money but don't think you need to shoot 200+ patterns to kill birds. Some of us do it but it's not something you need to hunt birds

 

[Spurhunter]

For starters throw the nitro loads in the lake.

X2. I was sighting in a scope on my son's gun today and I had some 3.5 inch Nitro 5's someone gave me. I shot them to get close to zero before breaking out the good stuff. I was shocked at just how bad they are. I would not even consider going hunting with something so dismal. This was a 870 with a 26 inch bbl and .665 Jellyhead. I've never heard anything good about the Nitro from Remington.

 

[REN]

They are without question the worst turkey shell I've ever seen with the hornadys a close 2nd. I'd hunt with spear before using those

 

[catman529]

Try winchesters. I have the same gun and it shoots fine. Although I have no idea the numbers at any yards. I just know it kills turkeys

 

[REN]

I wish you were closer I would love to get together and see what she could actually do with a different choke and ammo. Id be happy to help you in way i can so feel free to ask of give me a shout. I don't know a ton about that gun but Id be happy to look around and see what i can find.

 

[timberjack86]

Not bad with the turkey thug. The longbeards are supposed to be awesome!

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

If you want big numbers buy some Hevi shot

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Please explain rockhound on the hevi shot........thanks REN im going to look into another choke in the .660 and maybe find those longbeard rounds....i will say those federals kicked the hardest this shoulder is sore

 

[REN]

Hevi shot tends to pattern much better then lead on average is what he is saying. It also packs more energy which is what its really all about.

 

[fredfred]

:D Sorry :D :D Sorry again :blush:

These guys will get you on the right track

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Hevi shot is harder so it doesn't deform through setback, barrel, choke etc. And its heavier than lead so it travels through the air with less air resistance offering better patterns. If you want anywhere close to 200, you will have to try the Winchester longbeards or hevishot

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Do the longbeards contain hevi shot?

 

[REN]

No it's just lead

 

[Setterman]

I'll be the turd in the punch bowl as usual. Every year people go into panic mode over this stuff. In reality we are not trying to shoot a prairie dog in the head at 500 yards with a stiff breeze. We are shooting a shotgun from the ground in densely foliated spring woods at a close target with a pretty large kill zone for a shotgun.

Final Steps Tc and others can vouch for how simple I keep things, and the rarity that is me missing a turkey sometimes at longer distances.

I shoot a kicks which is more open than recommended for #5 lead because its simple and flat out works. I've shot the same load and same choke tube brand in 6 different weapons and everyone will kill every single turkey it's fired at. The only exceptions are me raising my head with a sbe2 and a tree which dove in to save a bird.

Final steps Tc probably recalls my 30+ bird streak without a miss. Keep it simple is my point, this isn't rocket science IMO

 

[Roost 1]

Do the longbeards contain hevi shot?

It's just lead but they are using resin, instead of buffer, that holds all the shot together as it travels down the barrel.

 

[Roost 1]

........and when you learn how to get all your birds to
30yds you can kill them with dove loads..... This reply in reference to Settermans above post. Unfortunately we are all not to the point where we can get birds up in our laps on a consistent basis.....so we do the best we can to get the odds in our favor.

 

[Setterman]

........and when you learn how to get all your birds to
30yds you can kill them with dove loads..... This reply in reference to Settermans above post. Unfortunately we are all not to the point where we can get birds up in our laps on a consistent basis.....so we do the best we can to get the odds in our favor.

Send Final Steps Tc a pm and ask him about what happens to jerk long beards that dance at long distance for me. No one gets them in their laps every time it's impossible.

Rather than tout the effectiveness of 3.5" lead myself ask him, he's seen it on more than a few occasions.

I firmly believe the new age rifle like patterns are completely unnecessary and result in more birds missed at close range than ever before.

Hey it's a free country, please shoot anything you want. I'm just offering an opposing view backed up by a day or twos experience in this game

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Its definitely not needed, I see both sides of the spectrum here. But to some its just something else to do. I would not hesitate to hunt with black winchester #5s again and I have the chokes in case I ever want to. I like the the after effect on turkeys with HTL compared to lead (floppage :) )

But in the end they are still dead turkeys so it is what it is.

 

[deerhunter10]

I agree with the missed turkeys now days. but hunting deer and turkeys is my absolute passion just as for probably everyone on here. for me I personally get the best things I can afford and htl loads imo are the best on the market. but that's just me. I agree lead will kill them deader then dead, but I personally like the htl loads.

 

[Setterman]

I agree with the missed turkeys now days. but hunting deer and turkeys is my absolute passion just as for probably everyone on here. for me I personally get the best things I can afford and htl loads imo are the best on the market. but that's just me. I agree lead will kill them deader then dead, but I personally like the htl loads.

Believe me I get it, and that's why I say shoot what you have the most confidence in and what you like. At the end of the day it's your $ and hunt so shoot whatever makes you happy

 

[Spurhunter]

If I had a GREAT place to hunt, hunted all woods, and knew I could put them in my lap, I would shoot lead and never consider shooting over 40 yards. But, I only have a good place to hunt, there's a lot of fields, and it's harder to put field turkeys in your lap.

Therefore, I limit myself to 50 yards, shoot a tight pattern, Hevishot, and a Leupold turkey scope.

I hope at some point I have perfected the craft enough and there are enough turkeys in extreme West TN that I can go the route Setterman refers to. For now, I have to take every advantage I can. I much prefer hunting in the woods and getting up close and personal.

 

[Grizzly Johnson]

The first thing..... did you aim at the dot and then draw the "count circle" around the dot?

You should put the dot for an aim point..... Shoot the dot, and THEN draw the 10" circle around the most DENSE part of the pattern... this will tell you if you have a POA/POI issue when using the dense area of your pattern as the sweet spot.

You can try a different choke/shell combo to correct for an "off" POA/POI or go to an optic of some type to center up the sweet spot of the pattern with your point of aim.

 

[darn2ten]

If your going to stick with lead these loads have always done the best for me in a variety of guns.

Winchester XX 3-2-6
Winchester super X 3-1 7/8-5 (silver box)

Starting last year they came out with the Federal turkey thugs that they sell at Wally World. Both the 5's and 6's in those did real well for me. A lot of people have good results with the High Velocity Winchester loads, though I never really did consistently. This year I'm trying the Winchester Long Beard shells, I've only shot 1 so far but the results were crazy high numbers. I just like to piddle with guns, but what some of these guys are telling you is 100% true. You don't need the tightest chokes or big numbers to kill turkeys. Before all this number stuff got popular I used to just pattern my gun to see I was centering my pattern and had a even one. I never use to count numbers, and truth be known back then my numbers where probably pretty low. Thing is I never failed to kill turkeys back then, and the ones I kill now a days aren't any deader than the ones back then.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Grizzly i drew a 10" circle then drew a circle in the middle walked back to 40 yds and shot

 

[catman529]

Grizzly i drew a 10" circle then drew a circle in the middle walked back to 40 yds and shot

if those are 40 yard patterns with lead shot and your NEF then those are good patterns, no way I'd get caught up in numbers with that many pellets at 40 yards. It only takes one pellet to kill him, but you want more than that, so say 5 to 10 pellets in the head/neck area will kill the bird. And with your patterns you should get at least that many at 40. Just throwing out numbers, someone is gonna disagree with me but I've seen my Pardner kill to 50 yards with lead Winchester 5's so 40 yards should be no problem. I do shoot a different choke than you and I doubt it makes my patterns any better than yours

 

[Uncle Jesse]

Send Final Steps Tc a pm and ask him about what happens to jerk long beards that dance at long distance for me. No one gets them in their laps every time it's impossible.

Rather than tout the effectiveness of 3.5" lead myself ask him, he's seen it on more than a few occasions.

I firmly believe the new age rifle like patterns are completely unnecessary and result in more birds missed at close range than ever before.

Hey it's a free country, please shoot anything you want. I'm just offering an opposing view backed up by a day or twos experience in this game

I'll second this.

I think new comers should know that inside of 40 they can kill turkeys with WalMart lead and the full choke that came with their gun, assuming 12 gauge here.

 

[muddyboots]

Its the shells. Not the gun or choke.