spandit Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Thought I'd have a look at what my shotgun produces at 25 yards so marked up some bits of cardboard to find out: 1) 1/4 choke, #6, 30g 2) 1/4 choke, #6, 29g 3) Full choke, #6, 30g Frankly, I can't see a lot of difference between them. I'll try again at shorter range with #5's, I think. At least it proves I can shoot the head off a pin, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Interesting i would have thought full choke would have been quite tight at that distance? What gun did you pattern it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 You really need to be working with larger pattern plates, a 30" circle is the old standard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spandit Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Interesting i would have thought full choke would have been quite tight at that distance? What gun did you pattern it with? My old English S/S (E.M.Reilly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strangford wildfowler Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 You really need to be working with larger pattern plates, a 30" circle is the old standard! Yes your right tightchoke bigger targets would hive you a better comparison My old English S/S (E.M.Reilly) Fixed chokes then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spandit Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 I'll get some wallpaper or something and try again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Barring the odd flyer, at 25 yards you should expect the overall spread to be 29" for 1/4 and, similarly, 21" for full. For any one cartridge, one shot is meaningless - for a field level assessment averaging the figures from 6 shots is the norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Poon Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 What do you use your number 6's for ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted June 23, 2014 Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 Plenty of holes in the patterns and some clumping of shot, not the best patterns regardless of size of plate and choke. Get plenty of different makes of carts and you will find the ones suited to your gun choke combo. Figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spandit Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2014 I use them for pigeons & rabbits, mainly rabbits (but I've since bought some 5's for coney) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnfromUK Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Patterning is quite difficult to achieve at the traditional 40 yards. You need very large target sheets (I have used brown paper). Then you fire 5 (typically) shots from a pre dirty barrel - separate sheets - THEN draw a 30" circle around the densest part of the pattern - NOT around the centre of the target. Then calculate from the counted holes the % pattern achieve (using the number of shot pellets in the cartridge load. Its very time consuming and the slightest breath of wind makes the sheets hard to handle. To do it for several makes of cartridges in both barrels (and possibly with different chokes) is a long exercise! An easier approximation is to go to about 16 yards - and use a steel plate, say a yard square - whitewashed - and photograph and re whitewash between each shot. This gives a good idea of the quality of the pattern, but you can't accurately work out percentages this way. One key point to both is you fire at the plate THEN assess where the centre is. This is patterning. If you are looking at where the centre lies in relation to the aim point, that is more gun fit - and a different challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 Old oil tanks coated with lithium grease make a good pattern plate.30 yds is a good distance to judge relative patterns at I find. 4ft square is big enough to see any difference from centre to edge of pattern with IC and tighter chokes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta06 Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Presuming you had the orange circle balanced on your gun's bead, your pattern is around 70/30 low. Mine is the opposite and was set at 70/30 high!! I will see if I still have the pattern plate photo and will post it. Hopefully, you will see the difference. Found it! I was 'aiming' at the dot in the circle (it actually has a light in it). The circle was added afterwards. You can see 70% of the shot pattern is above the POA. If you compare it to yours, much of the shot seems to be bottom right of the POA. Edited June 24, 2014 by Beretta06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted June 24, 2014 Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) I tend to use a big cardboard box or sheets of wall paper. I shoot at the distance I'm likely to shoot my quarry and see what my pattern is like on the sheet, then decide if its good enough. Done it this way for my steel wildfowl carts and hi flyer choke but put paper over a plywood board forty out to sixty yards as that's the farthest I will shoot them, I was more than happy with patterns, the penetration on plywood at that distance was more with number one shot than with bb which surprised me. Must be down to the size of the pellets surface area. Got very good patterns that no duck or goose would get through, noticed with the 31/2" carts I was going high with my pattern, think its the added recoil pushing me back on firing. Figgy Edited June 24, 2014 by figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 At that distance sir my cylinder frontstuffers match that! I can only assume that shell does not suit your gun. Dont mis understand though! That does not mean it wont do the job! Very often a tight choked gun can be hindered by being to tight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshootist Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Was this a fibre or plastic wad? I find the plastic cup wads make a significant difference. It would be good to find a biodegradable cup wad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 At that distance sir my cylinder frontstuffers match that! I can only assume that shell does not suit your gun. Dont mis understand though! That does not mean it wont do the job! Very often a tight choked gun can be hindered by being to tight! i can just say the same about "open" or "no" choke being an hindrance. that still doesn't mean it cant do the job. speed kills patterns. lack of shot kills patterns i stopped patterning because i didnt like some of the results. i liked the subs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 i can just say the same about "open" or "no" choke being an hindrance. that still doesn't mean it cant do the job. speed kills patterns. lack of shot kills patterns i stopped patterning because i didnt like some of the results. i liked the subs. Ay? Don't understand where your coming from esquire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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