Patterning Results

[UTGrad]

Tried 4 different shells out of my Beretta with Carlson Turkey choke .673 and the Winchester Long Beard XR 3" 1.75 oz #5 shot gave me 35 hits at 40 yards and 20 hits at 60 yards.

Is this sufficient?

 

[PossumSlayer]

It will kill

 

[Wrangler95]

Hits in bone is critical but I believe it would have killed a turkey in both distant.It only takes 1 hit in neck bone or skull to kill it but I would like to put at least 10 shot in bone!

 

[Buzzard Breath]

It'll be one heck of a tracking job. You'll probably recover it if you let it lay for 24 hours or so. You may want to check the legality of shooting a deer with 5-shot.

 

[Pilchard]

I'm not much of a turkey hunter. Is the result at 60 good? I feel like 60 yds is a heck of a long way to try to kill a turkey with a shotgun. Excuse my ignorance if this is a dumb statement/question.

 

[UTGrad]

I'm not much of a turkey hunter. Is the result at 60 good? I feel like 60 yds is a heck of a long way to try to kill a turkey with a shotgun. Excuse my ignorance if this is a dumb statement/question.

It's a looong way. I shot at 60 just to get an idea how much it's spreading. I'm confident 50 yards in now.

 

[ruger7mag]

No, that's not sufficient. I'd be surprised if 50 was either based off that pic.

 

[deerfever]

I wouldn't shoot at a turkey at 50 yards at all, I would suggest 35- 40 at the most and in. Good luck this season.

 

[Roost 1]

You need to shoot at a bigger target to see where your pattern is hitting. I'd suggest a 36"x36" paper or cardboard. That combo should shoot much better than that. Might need a tighter choke for those shells.

 

[NChunt1]

If you're shooting a 20 ga it is well worth the money to shot tss #9 it makes that led pattern look like a joke. This pattern was at 40 yards with a 20ga it is with out a doubt dense enough to kill at 50 yards

 

[Dennis]

It'll be one heck of a tracking job. You'll probably recover it if you let it lay for 24 hours or so. You may want to check the legality of shooting a deer with 5-shot.

If you let him get really close and you are sitting on the ground, you might be able to put the whole load into his genitalia.

Probably won't kill him, but he'll wish he was dead.

 

[Chickenrig]

No
That is not even close to a good nuff pattern
You need to but different shells and or a different choke . Do your research on the various forums ,google your setup and see what other people are using . You will be sorry if you use that setup .
Good luck
You will get it right

 

[UTGrad]

No
That is not even close to a good nuff pattern
You need to but different shells and or a different choke . Do your research on the various forums ,google your setup and see what other people are using . You will be sorry if you use that setup .
Good luck
You will get it right

That pic is from 60 yards pattern and still had 20 hits. I'm not shooting anything at 60 yards anyways.

 

[UTGrad]

Let me try this again. I posted the 60 yard sheet.

Here is pattern at 40

 

[UTGrad]

My concern if I get it much tighter at 40 yards groups are going to be tighter than my liking at close ranges.

 

[knightrider]

That wil definitely kill, but a 665 with those shells and a deep cleaned barrel would give you a better over all pattern and keep shot out of the breast with a eyeball aim point, good luck this spring

 

[megalomaniac]

My concern if I get it much tighter at 40 yards groups are going to be tighter than my liking at close ranges.

That's just the disadvantage of the longbeard shotshells. The resin the shot column is suspended in keeps it together much longer out of the bore, producing the best shot density pattern at 40y of any lead shell, but the tradeoff is an almost unhuntable pattern at 20y.

 

[cm1021]

For me personally that isn't a good pattern. I want a hot core and that means tight up close. Thats where optics come into play. I run a red dot on most all my turkey guns. If it doesn't have a dot, I tailor my pattern and limit my shot distance. If thats your 40 yard pattern, I'd see what it looks like at 30 and keep your distance to that.

Also like others have said, you need to shoot a larger piece of paper and see what the overall pattern looks like. You could be on the fringe of your pattern and not even notice it. Believe it or not a good bit of shotguns won't shoot poa/poi. Thats another area optics come into play.

This is a 20ga at 40 yards thats still a little too open to me if that tells you what size I like my patterns.

 

[timberjack86]

I'd like to see the 20 and 30 yard pattern. I rarely kill at 40 hence why I quit shooting the longbeards

 

[catman529]

Charlton, my pattern looks like that at 40 I try to keep em under 30 yards. If I misjudge I should still be alright. I've missed so many birds I decided I wanted a forgiving pattern. And I like to call them in close. So it made sense to have a pattern that is far from impressive at 40. I don't want to be shooting bullet holes at 15.

The only thing I could do different is shoot tungsten 9s. In fact if I can find a box of TSS 9s in 20 gauge, I might carry the 870 express with the dove choke just for giggles a couple times.

 

[catman529]

Another side note. Back when I was still shooting really bad (only about 3 years ago) I tried Longbeard XRs just to try them. Missed a chip shot or two. Didn't like how tight they were up close. Went back to Double X and then something clicked the following year and I started shooting way better. I still use Double X to this day. Been using them since my first bird when they were called Supreme.

 

[Gmed]

Pattern density is not the sole determining factor in CLEANLY taking a bird. The pellets lose energy quickly. Unless you are hunting a field with absolutely nothing between you and the bird, you are going to have quite a few pellets stopped or deflected by brush, limbs or even grass. A standard rule of thumb, no matter what size shot/choke/gun combo you use is 100 pellets in a 10" circle. The farthest distance your gun will do that is your maximum distance the load will create enough pattern density, but not necessarily pellet energy. Most recommendations I have seen is between 2 and 2 1/2 foot lbs of energy to penetrate a vertebra or skull. #5 lead at 1150 fps will run out of this energy between 40-45 yards, and #6s between 38-42 yards. TSS #9s carry the same energy as lead #5s and a lot of hunters think because they have a swarm of a pattern with the little pellets that they should be able to take a turkey at 90 yards. Ain't true, but they do provide hunters with the same pattern density in a lighter 20 gauge gun they used to need a 12 gauge for. So….after all that, try some different shells and chokes. When you can consistently put those 100 pellets in a 10" circle, resign yourself to calling and woodsmanship to get the birds within 40-45 yards and then it's all on your marksmanship skills!

 

[catman529]

Pattern density is not the sole determining factor in CLEANLY taking a bird. The pellets lose energy quickly. Unless you are hunting a field with absolutely nothing between you and the bird, you are going to have quite a few pellets stopped or deflected by brush, limbs or even grass. A standard rule of thumb, no matter what size shot/choke/gun combo you use is 100 pellets in a 10" circle. The farthest distance your gun will do that is your maximum distance the load will create enough pattern density, but not necessarily pellet energy. Most recommendations I have seen is between 2 and 2 1/2 foot lbs of energy to penetrate a vertebra or skull. #5 lead at 1150 fps will run out of this energy between 40-45 yards, and #6s between 38-42 yards. TSS #9s carry the same energy as lead #5s and a lot of hunters think because they have a swarm of a pattern with the little pellets that they should be able to take a turkey at 90 yards. Ain't true, but they do provide hunters with the same pattern density in a lighter 20 gauge gun they used to need a 12 gauge for. So….after all that, try some different shells and chokes. When you can consistently put those 100 pellets in a 10" circle, resign yourself to calling and woodsmanship to get the birds within 40-45 yards and then it's all on your marksmanship skills!

Keep in mind that TSS #9s are denser and therefore smaller in diameter than lead 5s, which is why they are 9s not 5s. They won't slow down as quick with less air resistance from the smaller size.

But that really does not matter. If you're shooting at birds so far that you have to question the energy of lead 5s or 6s, or TSS 9s, you're missing the point of turkey hunting. They are a bird that is called up, stalked, or decoyed, and shot with a shotgun, occasionally with a bow. It's about getting them close, not seeing how far you can hit one.

Keep it simple. Shoot your paper target, see how the pattern looks. If it's not good enough, try a different load or choke. Don't overthink all the technical stuff. In the end a dead turkey is a dead turkey.

 

[Gmed]

Keep in mind that TSS #9s are denser and therefore smaller in diameter than lead 5s, which is why they are 9s not 5s. They won't slow down as quick with less air resistance from the smaller size.

But that really does not matter. If you're shooting at birds so far that you have to question the energy of lead 5s or 6s, or TSS 9s, you're missing the point of turkey hunting. They are a bird that is called up, stalked, or decoyed, and shot with a shotgun, occasionally with a bow. It's about getting them close, not seeing how far you can hit one.

Keep it simple. Shoot your paper target, see how the pattern looks. If it's not good enough, try a different load or choke. Don't overthink all the technical stuff. In the end a dead turkey is a dead turkey.

Absolutely. That's what I meant when I said resign yourself to your woodsmanship and calling and get em within 40-45…

 

[younggun308]

Let me try this again. I posted the 60 yard sheet.

Here is pattern at 40

I'm willing to bet you have a good pattern, but the densest part is off target. Shoot a big piece of paper and see what happens.

I had to adjust my sight picture because when aiming like a rifle, my patterns were low and to the left. The gun's LOP was too short to aim it with none of the rib showing. But when I take the approach of "floating the bird" with the rib visible to me when aiming my shotgun (I'd say 80% of target above the bead, 20% covered by it), everything above the bead is dense pattern, and it gets sparse quick beneath it. But I wouldn't have known that if I just shot at "turkey targets" while patterning.

Killed more ducks this season than last when I changed my sight picture, too.

 

[Stumpsitter]

Have you tried #6 in the Long beard?
Reason I ask is I shot 5's for years in a Benelli with a .660 comp n choke. I swapped on a whim and it gets a much better pattern.
I still use the gun fro time to time but, I'm primarily a .410 guy now.

 

[cbhunter]

It will kill

You misspelled keeeell

 

[UTGrad]

I grabbed a box of 3.5" #6 Longbeard XR tonight. I'm going to shower a target with shot tomorrow and report back.

 

[UTGrad]

3.5" # 6 2oz Longbeard XR 40 yards

 

[UTGrad]

3.5 #6 Longbeard 2 oz

25 yards