Pattern plate test results ( with pics ) #6s #5s #7.5s

[Guest stevo]

Hi all ,

 

well I have just come back from a days clay shooting , and while I was there I thought when im done I'll pop round the back and have a go on the pattern plate .

so after my shoot I had a look in the back of car and found a little selection of 12 gauge carts , I had .....

 

X2 RC Titano 31 gram # 6

 

X2 Lyalvale High Pheasant 32 gram # 5

 

X2 Lyalvale English sporter 28 gram # 7.5

 

gun set up was as follows

 

beretta 686 silver pigeon with half ( top ) and three quarters ( bottom ) I wanted to make the test as universal as possible so I put the standard flush fitting mobile chokes back in ( I use these for hunting so I thought these chokes were more relevant ) Range was 30 yards

please forgive me for being slightly off with my aim , I had just fired off 200 28 gram loads . over the day .

 

right then here we go

 

The round disc thing in the pictures is 40 mm just to give you some perspective .

 

31 gram RC Titano # 6 shot with half choke

 

 

31 gram RC Titano # 6 shot with three quarter choke

 

 

 

Lyalvale High Pheasant 32 gram # 5 half choke

 

 

 

Lyalvale High Pheasant 32 gram # 5 three quarter choke

 

 

Lyalvale English sporter 28 gram # 7.5 half choke

 

 

 

Lyalvale English sporter 28 gram # 7.5 three quarter choke

 

 

 

 

if you want to enlarge pics , save and then zoom in , couldn't post them any bigger , well not in one post .

 

 

well that's that, just thought I would share with you all .

 

regards stevo

Edited August 31, 2013 by stevo

[WGD]

Thanks, quite interesting. I remember reading a while back that people increase shot size to improve stopping power but have no real appreciation of how much the load weight needs to increase to prevent massive holes in the pattern/shot string.

[Hamster]

Thanks for posting this, it all looks quite familiar and interesting how the half choke is visibly more open that 3/4.

[figgy]

Then three quarter patterns look very tight. Wouldn't want to eat what you shot at 30 yards.

 

Half choke looks good. Appart from English sporters.

 

Figgy

[Guest stevo]

Then three quarter patterns look very tight. Wouldn't want to eat what you shot at 30 yards.

 

Half choke looks good. Appart from English sporters.

 

Figgy

haha yeah I must admit they are a little bit rubbish , but hey at £140 per thou there not so bad

 

regards steve

[Guest stevo]

in my opinion the 32 grm 5s with half choke look spot on , but that's just me

 

steve

[Martin&Oakley]

What I will take from this, is that I need to get the full choke out of my gun!

 

Many thanks for the photos.

[Hamster]

Stevo,

 

Was this a measured 30 yards? I agree they look on the tight side, I've done a fair bit of patterning and would have said maybe up to 10 yards closer?

[Guest stevo]

Stevo,

 

Was this a measured 30 yards? I agree they look on the tight side, I've done a fair bit of patterning and would have said maybe up to 10 yards closer?

there was a marker that's ment to 30 yrds , I paced it out . but I would have said more like 25 mtrs , either way its within a yrd or so .

Edited August 31, 2013 by stevo

[Guest cookoff013]

to me, it looks like 3/4 is the minimum choke to use, full stop.

 

the 1/2 is ideal for 30yarders.

 

thanks for the test,

 

if you can, next time use some watered down old paint or some wallpaper. makes the images real clear.

[Guest stevo]

at work ( im a bricklayer of 25 yrs for my sins ) we use sheets of thin card that is 1 m2 ,that sit between the packs of bricks im going to grab a few and pin them up.Also a tape measure too .

but based on the results im with you on the half choke .

 

regards stevo

Edited August 31, 2013 by stevo

[wymberley]

Stevo,

 

Was this a measured 30 yards? I agree they look on the tight side, I've done a fair bit of patterning and would have said maybe up to 10 yards closer?

+1

It's looking like 20 to 25 yards, but as the OP says not, then the gun/choke/cartridge combination is shooting tighter than the nominal choke size would suggest. This is not a bad thing as quite often when you pattern the same combination out at 40 yards, you often find things have opened up beyond what the shorter range indicators would suggest.

[Guest stevo]

I have always found mobile chokes to be a little on the tight side to be honest , that's why I have a full set of brilley after market chokes .

I am messing with the pictures on Photoshop at the min , trying to make the patterns more noticeable , for my own benefit really but I will change the above pics when Im done .

 

like I said before im a bit doubtful on the 30 yards bit , but it was meant to be marked out , I will check it next time I go .

 

steve

[kent]

I tend just to look for even pattern. No two guns are guaranteed shoot equal with the same choke and shell. I used to count strikes the 8" centre circle and look at percentages now I look at 30" and look more for even distribution as I noticed sometimes a good well centred 8" but many clumps and gaps outside that and I cannot get my allowance that perfect to hit with only 8"

[wymberley]

I tend just to look for even pattern. No two guns are guaranteed shoot equal with the same choke and shell. I used to count strikes the 8" centre circle and look at percentages now I look at 30" and look more for even distribution as I noticed sometimes a good well centred 8" but many clumps and gaps outside that and I cannot get my allowance that perfect to hit with only 8"

To a greater or lesser degree dependent upon the amount of choke, the Gaussian distribution will play its part here. But as you say there is another way of looking at a pattern. The 30"/pellet count/percentage will give you the pattern density (as will measuring the overall spread) but quality can be assessed by counting the number of non overlapping 5" diameter 'holes' which have no pellet strike within the 30" circle.

 

Just in case anyone is interested, the first figure on each line below is the total number of pellets in the 30" and the others are the number of 5" diameter holes ranging from what would be assessed as an excellent pattern through to poor.

 

50-----13-19

100-----8-11

150-----4--7

200-----2--5

250---- 0--3

300-----0--2

 

At a glance it can be seen that a 1 1/8oz of No 6 through a Imp choke at 40 yards will be judged as excellent should there be just 4 non overlapping holes whereas a 1oz load of No 7 through 1/2 choke with 5 holes would be classed as poor.