Pattern a Shotgun?

[Vegeta]

Hey folks as the 1st of September is approaching I am going to pattern my benelli. It is something I have never done with a shotgun before so I was just wondering how is it done

 

what size target should I be shooting at and what distances etc?

 

Thanks in advance

Veg

[Markio]

I shot a pattern plate only to make sure that the shot was hitting where i pointed it, i wasn't analysing the actual pattern.

 

Target Size: I used a cardboard box flattened out. Flattened it must have been 5foot by 3 1/2 foot (ish). Teh box shown the shot pattern very well but you need a new one each time. Maybe your local clay club has a steel plate, ring around and ask.

 

Distance: i would take an educated guess at this but if you're analysing the pattern then you need to be at the same distance from the pattern plate(or cardboard box!) that you intend to shoot from while in the field.

 

I'm sure someone will be along to tell you just to stick 1/4 choke in and not worry yourself with the headache of it all.

[grasshopper]

What about an old roll of wallpaper,pinned to a board at 30 yds?try each choke on a fresh piece,should tell you where most of your pattern is going at the range you would idealy want to be shooting!

 

GH

[starlight32]

When I was having some gun fit problems my local gunsmith done a pattern check in person with my problem gun.

 

He set a true pattern plate made out of cardboard from one of the cartridge makers, which was a 30" circle which quadrants numbered 1-8 in the circle.

 

I mounted and snap shot 10 cartridges into the plate.

 

You cannot get a true representation of where you are shooting or how the cartridges are performing unless you fire around this number into the plate.

 

From the shot densites into the plate you will see how not only you are shooting but how your loads are performing.

 

Regards starlight32

[Vegeta]

cool thanks folks

 

an unfolded cardboard box sounds like a great idea as does old wall paper

[the last engineer]

http://www.ssaa.org.au/newssaa/101-Stories...patterning.html

http://www.youthtrapshooter.com/patterning.html

1-2

http://www.rfgc.org/reload/pattern_density_calc.htm

http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/why_pattern/

 

hope this helps, you only need to look

 

 

Martin

[casts_by_fly]

brown packing paper and butchers paper work well too. Put out two 1" x 2" stakes and take a staple gun. Put up more paper than you think your pattern will cover by a long shot. You'd be surprised how open some chokes can be. If you are patterning at 40 yd, I'd suggest 5' x 5'.

 

The same goes for what starlight said. start there. Put a 5' square piece of paper up at 30 yd with a 6" black dot in the middle (black tape X works too). Mount and snap shoot at least 3 shots, preferably 5 or more into the center. That will tell you where the shotgun points with your natural swing.

 

Then move to the distance you expect to normally shoot in the field. I do my upland patterning at 25 yd to start. Take 2-3 shots at each distance with each choke on a separate paper. Do that for your most common distance. Then take it back to your maximum shooting distance (for me about 40 yd). See not only what your normal choking does at that range but also what the ideal choke would be. For me, IC with 1 1/4 oz of #6 is a pheasant load for rough shooting over dogs out to 30 yd. Beyond that I want a little more choke. At 40 yd, that same load through an MOD choke is perfect for pheasant. So I normally choke IC/MOD for most upland birding. I have done the same with buckshot, turkey loads, and steel shot for my gun. I know when a turkey steps out at 40 yd, I will guarantee a couple pellets to the head and a bunch more in the neck.

 

thanks,

rick

[Guest stiv24]

http://www.ssaa.org.au/newssaa/101-Stories...patterning.html

http://www.youthtrapshooter.com/patterning.html

1-2

http://www.rfgc.org/reload/pattern_density_calc.htm

http://www.huntingmag.com/guns_loads/why_pattern/

 

hope this helps, you only need to look

 

 

Martin

 

 

Martin,

 

Great links

[JohnGalway]

Any sheep or cattle farmers near you Veg? They may have some paper mollassed beet pulp bags left from spring time. Cut them open, they're 2 ply so you get two large sheets. Alternatively the smaller plastic bags work too but their drawback is, yep, you guessed it they're smaller...

[john faul]

hi what i did to pattern my gun was get a piece of cardboard or paper make a black mark on it. i was told not to hold the gun still when shooting rather to bring the bead up to the target and fire on the way through john

[the last engineer]

hi what i did to pattern my gun was get a piece of cardboard or paper make a black mark on it. i was told not to hold the gun still when shooting rather to bring the bead up to the target and fire on the way through john

 

your right, but its always good to know where the barrels point first, then see where you point them.

by arresting the muzzle movemment you have a good reference for the where the barrels shoot, not all are the same you may find one the bottom is fine and the top over and left, now you can find out where they shoot when you reactivly shoot, eg gun down, relax, look at target mount and shoot as you would in the field( not where you spend the next minute fitting it in to your shoulder right) mount it shoot it, see the difference between the two methods.

 

 

 

 

Martin

[Vegeta]

some good advice there folks

 

have lots of cardboard at home so should get out tonight to pattern it all going well

[Highlander]

I get asked this question a lot especially when people are using a new/different cartridge for the first time. I would advise patterning any gun with a number of different cartridges and if you use them a number of different chokes. You'll be suprised just how different each combination is even at the same range. Once you find a nice match (gun, choke, cartridge) stick with it and lessen those misses.

 

I have an old English 10 bore hammer gun for wildfowling (full & full) and when I first patterned it at 40 yards the pattern was about the size of a fist, at 60yd it patterned well and at 80 odd yards it still kills geese stone dead.