12 gauge fox loads?

[Simon123]

 

Seriously? You need to get the gun looked at or test the Express in another gun. I use them a lot and never had a problem.

 

 

Nout wrong with the gun mate, as everything else fly's through her, (should there be an exception with these = NO don't think so!!!)

 

I only have the one 3" chamber gun, think i might give them to a friend, see what he makes of them (once the foxing seasons back that is)

 

may just be a a bad box, due to the vast cartridges they produce, but that was my opinion of them and i definitely won't be buying them again anytime soon.

[henry d]

I'm not being personal, I am genuinely concerned.

It could have been a problem with the gun not cycling properly and the gasses exiting before the wad had left the barrel. This could lead to you putting another round up the spout and possibly blowing the barrel or bulging it.

You would not be the first to have a problem with a hatsan.

[Simon123]

I'm not being personal, I am genuinely concerned.

It could have been a problem with the gun not cycling properly and the gasses exiting before the wad had left the barrel. This could lead to you putting another round up the spout and possibly blowing the barrel or bulging it.

You would not be the first to have a problem with a hatsan.

 

The gun cycles everything faultlessly except for these 50g express bb, for some wired reason, but this is the main reason for not using or wanting anymore.

[pestcontrol1]

i have shot foxes with a 410 with #6 and i have been known to take my 28g on fox drives and kill more than enough foxes with it but at the min i am liking a good 3" steel with 4mm shot the last 16 i have shot have been with steel and can say they just roll over like a rabbit.

but to answer the BB 1s 2s or 3s are fine

[aga man]

We used to kill a lot of foxes bolting from the rape swather with eley grand prix hv no 4 and they did the job well, i have also killed foxes stone dead with 32gm no6. Personally i like a no 1 shot 36gm for sqeaked in foxes.

 

In my humble opinion most shotgun cartridges will kill a fox, the key thing is the range if you can't get close to the fox don't shoot at it it deserves better.

[henry d]

The gun cycles everything faultlessly except for these 50g express bb, for some wired reason, but this is the main reason for not using or wanting anymore.

Have you tried other brands in 50gm as that is the only comparison that would be relevant?

[pestcontrol1]

Gambore mammoth 50g #3 arnt a bad shell

[Field Shooter]

What's the point in using SG for close range foxes? Surely you'd be better off with, say, 32gm 5. I think SG are a bit of a pointless shot size for general use.

As soon as I posted this yesterday I new it would open a can of worms reference the use of 3.5inch shells & SG, if you look at the first part of my post it states "36g - 42g BB/AAA will do the trick within sensible ranges for most situations" i.e most of the time, advocating the use of AAA & BB.

 

SG is not really pointless if you match the shell to your gun by patterning it, as I did with Express Super Game 36g SG through my Mossberg 835 with half choke that will put all 9 pellets in a 12 inch circle at 28 yards with a good spread take this back to 20 yards and its even tighter, giving you confidence to place the shot.

Yes 5, 6 & 7's will kill foxes at close range usually taking more than one shot but more often than not it maims rather than kills.

In the middle of the post I said "when I was a member of a beagle hunt in Cornwall most of the guys used AAA or BB to great affect" reinforcing the use of AAA & BB.

The reason that some of us in the hunt occasionally used SG was the fact that we had patterned our guns and knew how the shells performed at different ranges, as regards to 66g 4's, two of us decided to try them as we both had 3.5 inch chambered guns, they worked quite well but did punish the shoulder a bit.

 

To answer the OP's question again 36g - 42g BB/AAA will & do work consistently also 3's & 1's but not really any smaller than 3 to be honest, larger sizes than AAA only if you know how your gun performs with these.

As regards to choke this will be different for every gun/shell combination, most of my shooting is done with 1/2 or 5/8 choke, as in my previous post "The ideal is to pick a few loads and pattern your gun at the ranges you will be lightly to be shooting at and then settle on one or two that give you a good pattern at those ranges" giving the confidence to take the shot.

 

Hopefully this clarifies things.

 

 

 

 

My daughter holding the fox I took with SG a few years ago on my last hunt in Cornwall.

[Scully]

I've never used anything bigger than 4's when on fox drives, and most of those shot after being flushed as part of a driven shoot I've been on have been shot with 5's or 6's. The latter possibly aren't one shot killers unless they're put in the right place, but neither is any other shot size.

[Underdog]

As soon as I posted this yesterday I new it would open a can of worms reference the use of 3.5inch shells & SG, if you look at the first part of my post it states "36g - 42g BB/AAA will do the trick within sensible ranges for most situations" i.e most of the time, advocating the use of AAA & BB.

 

SG is not really pointless if you match the shell to your gun by patterning it, as I did with Express Super Game 36g SG through my Mossberg 835 with half choke that will put all 9 pellets in a 12 inch circle at 28 yards with a good spread take this back to 20 yards and its even tighter, giving you confidence to place the shot.

Yes 5, 6 & 7's will kill foxes at close range usually taking more than one shot but more often than not it maims rather than kills.

In the middle of the post I said "when I was a member of a beagle hunt in Cornwall most of the guys used AAA or BB to great affect" reinforcing the use of AAA & BB.

The reason that some of us in the hunt occasionally used SG was the fact that we had patterned our guns and knew how the shells performed at different ranges, as regards to 66g 4's, two of us decided to try them as we both had 3.5 inch chambered guns, they worked quite well but did punish the shoulder a bit.

 

To answer the OP's question again 36g - 42g BB/AAA will & do work consistently also 3's & 1's but not really any smaller than 3 to be honest, larger sizes than AAA only if you know how your gun performs with these.

As regards to choke this will be different for every gun/shell combination, most of my shooting is done with 1/2 or 5/8 choke, as in my previous post "The ideal is to pick a few loads and pattern your gun at the ranges you will be lightly to be shooting at and then settle on one or two that give you a good pattern at those ranges" giving the confidence to take the shot.

 

Hopefully this clarifies things.

 

 

 

 

My daughter holding the fox I took with SG a few years ago on my last hunt in Cornwall.

Nice photo.

 

I stopped using sg after breaking a dog fox's leg at about thirty yards and seeing him hobbling about for a few months before I finished him off!

 

I not saying who should use what but what looks good on paper is worlds apart from the real world IN MY HUMBLE OPINION.

 

A shotgun in my hands always seems to do best when there are numerous pellets and the cumulative effect seems for me to do a lot more damage.

 

U.

[MAB1954]

Nice photo.

 

I stopped using sg after breaking a dog fox's leg at about thirty yards and seeing him hobbling about for a few months before I finished him off!

 

I not saying who should use what but what looks good on paper is worlds apart from the real world IN MY HUMBLE OPINION.

 

A shotgun in my hands always seems to do best when there are numerous pellets and the cumulative effect seems for me to do a lot more damage.

 

U.

 

30 yards is a long way for a SG pattern to hold up. What was the pattern like with your gun, choke, cartridge combo at that range.

I'm interested to know because my SG patterns are not good beyond 20 yards but Field Shooter has 9 in 12" @ 28 yards which is very good in my opinion.

[Simon123]

Have you tried other brands in 50gm as that is the only comparison that would be relevant?

 

yes as stated in my first post.

 

used fiocchi 52g bb's, game bore 50g bb's (didn't pattern well, but cycled fine), and RC 50 bb's and no.2's (my favourite)

All of these cycled faultlessly without any bother, not like them express!!!!

[motty]

 

30 yards is a long way for a SG pattern to hold up. What was the pattern like with your gun, choke, cartridge combo at that range.

I'm interested to know because my SG patterns are not good beyond 20 yards but Field Shooter has 9 in 12" @ 28 yards which is very good in my opinion.

It's a decent pattern at that range, but limiting if the fox happens to be at 45. You don't need anywhere need the energy of an SG for a fox, so what's the point? If I was solely going out for foxes, a good all round load would be somewhere in the region of 42gm+ of 1,2 or 3. That should give a good compromise between pattern density and pellet energy up to around 50 yards.

[Field Shooter]

It's a decent pattern at that range, but limiting if the fox happens to be at 45. You don't need anywhere need the energy of an SG for a fox, so what's the point? If I was solely going out for foxes, a good all round load would be somewhere in the region of 42gm+ of 1,2 or 3. That should give a good compromise between pattern density and pellet energy up to around 50 yards.

Very much agreed you nead a full on 90 degrees for a good shot with SG, usually the SG shell was the third one out of the mag as a back up plan but most fox's I've shot were with 42g BB/AAA.

Granted SG is a bit of an overkill but far better that than a wounded fox (you could use that argument why shoot clay's with 1 1/4oz when 3/4 & 7/8 break clays fine), I was not advocating using SG exclusively just saying what I had used and giving my experience, I did recommend BB/AAA/1 & 3 36g-42g though as good around loads at reasonable ranges.

[Field Shooter]

Taging on to this does anyone know of a gun only hunt in the Essex area??

 

Cheers

[Underdog]

 

30 yards is a long way for a SG pattern to hold up. What was the pattern like with your gun, choke, cartridge combo at that range.

I'm interested to know because my SG patterns are not good beyond 20 yards but Field Shooter has 9 in 12" @ 28 yards which is very good in my opinion.

Can not remember sir, it was a long time ago....20yrs ago!

 

I don't think sg is overkill....overkill does not exist but if we have to use that term in my opinion sg is underkill! There is just to much risk of wounding.

 

Get a pattern going and it is dead. My best 410 fox was 33 paces with#7 at just 1/2oz....I waited until side on. I remember 7 #7 passing through the lungs and in the ribs the other side!

Could one sg be guaranteed to zip through the lungs at that distance everytime?

 

Like I said I gave up on sg years ago, it is for real close deer....real close or home defence....both taboo subjects in this land!

 

U.

[Field Shooter]

Can not remember sir, it was a long time ago....20yrs ago!

 

I don't think sg is overkill....overkill does not exist but if we have to use that term in my opinion sg is underkill! There is just to much risk of wounding.

 

Get a pattern going and it is dead. My best 410 fox was 33 paces with#7 at just 1/2oz....I waited until side on. I remember 7 #7 passing through the lungs and in the ribs the other side!

?Could one sg be guaranteed to zip through the lungs at that distance everytime

 

Like I said I gave up on sg years ago, it is for real close deer....real close or home defence....both taboo subjects in this land!

 

U.

I doubt it could every time , so when I saw how my gun patterned at 28 yards with SG I decided when using these shells not to attempt a shot at more than 15 to 20 yards and then only when I could see the fox side on as to give a good clean shot.

[bicykillgaz]

At 15-20 yards 32g no5's would be more than enough.

 

I use 32g no4 in my 20g but would prefer no3 shot. I've used lyalvale 42g no3 in a baikal sxs 12g and hull solway 3" 50g no3 which were fantastic through half choke in my hatsan 12g. I've used the solway out to 30-35yrds, I'm not good enough to shoot past that but I'm sure they'd be capable. They hit hard but are surprisingly easy on the shoulder I really liked them.