Shotgun patterning

[TwistedSage]

Listening to a podcast the other day and the topic of shotguns and patterns came up, the guy proceeded to talk about how it blows his mind how most people will spend time sighting in every load they shoot through thier rifle but when it comes to shotguns they never give it a second thought.

I'm definitely guilty of this. If I decide to change ammo in my 308 first thing I'm doing is sighting in my scope to that cartridge before thinking about hunting with it.

When it comes time to hunt birds/small game pretty though its pretty much just grab a bunch of shells for what I think I might need. If going for dove I'll grab some 7.5s and a few 4s in case I want to go for a rabbit. It's not uncommon to have multiple MFRs shells, I have just bags full of different dove loads after the boxes crapped out. For waterfowl I'll grab 2s and BB shot again multiple mfrs usually. I never really thought about trying to stick to one mfr and have been making most decisions based on price. Use the same choke for everything, And of course there are those shots that are just, how in the world did I miss that? Feel pretty silly about it now but time to change..

Now that I'm living in some of the best quail habitat in the country and my prospects of big game tags all come down to the draw, I am wanting to step into the deep end of bird hunting.

What's y'alls approach to having your shotgun shoot as accurate at possible for all of your hunting? Are you first picking a shell that you would like to use then a few different chokes and swapping out chokes to get the pattern you want with that particular shell? Do that will every different load/game you want to shoot? Having a list of the shots you use for particular game and the choke that goes with that load?

 

[Flyfish4ever]

for me the process is this: decide what my plan is with it. am i hunting turkeys? doves? ducks? upland? then i decide what is adequate for that, I might shoot 3.5" shells for geese, but that would be overkill for a dove. then i decide what distance id like to be set for, get the choke, try out different loads on cardboard at a realistic range (typically 20 or 25 yards) and find the load that suits best for the gun. i have a friend who shoots an over under and he runs a different load in the top barrel that he does in the bottom barrel.

 

[D4570]

I reload my own hunting shotshells.
The process is about like rifle loads.
I start with what I'm hunting then what I THINK I want to shoot.
I put in the choke I plan to use and put it on the "Board"
My 870 12 gauge seams to shoot most loads I make very well but I have my favorites.
Coyotes I use lead "F" shot in a 3/1/2 1 5/8 load 1350 fps Extra full dead coyote choke good to 70 yards. ( 50% of the pellets in 25" Target)
Crane 3 1/2" 1 1/2 oz #6 lead full choke 1300 fps 70% at 40 yards 30"
Swan/ Honkers a 3" 1 1/4 oz steel #2X#bb duplex load 1550 fps, according to the Magnetosped same choke .669, 70% at 50 yards 30"
Ducks/ snows, and honkers over decoys Very similar load only #3X#B
Upland and pheasants 2 3/4" 1 3/8 oz #6x#2 lead 1400 fps full choke 75% at 40 yards 30"
Doves and cottontail 2 1/2" 7/8 oz lead 7 1/2, 1250 fps modified choke 70% at 25 yards 30" target.
As much as I HATE "Paper" work I do it anytime I think I want to change loads.
All my steel loads and spec loads are weighed not dropped load and charge.
Kinda the same

 

[TwistedSage]

I reload my own hunting shotshells.
The process is about like rifle loads.
I start with what I'm hunting then what I THINK I want to shoot.
I put in the choke I plan to use and put it on the "Board"
My 870 12 gauge seams to shoot most loads I make very well but I have my favorites.
Coyotes I use lead "F" shot in a 3/1/2 1 5/8 load 1350 fps Extra full dead coyote choke good to 70 yards. ( 50% of the pellets in 25" Target)
Crane 3 1/2" 1 1/2 oz #6 lead full choke 1300 fps 70% at 40 yards 30"
Swan/ Honkers a 3" 1 1/4 oz steel #2X#bb duplex load 1550 fps, according to the Magnetosped same choke .669, 70% at 50 yards 30"
Ducks/ snows, and honkers over decoys Very similar load only #3X#B
Upland and pheasants 2 3/4" 1 3/8 oz #6x#2 lead 1400 fps full choke 75% at 40 yards 30"
Doves and cottontail 2 1/2" 7/8 oz lead 7 1/2, 1250 fps modified choke 70% at 25 yards 30" target.
As much as I HATE "Paper" work I do it anytime I think I want to change loads.
All my steel loads and spec loads are weighed not dropped load and charge.
Kinda the same

This is great, thank you! I've got some work to do.

 

[TwistedSage]

As far as factory ammo... are you starting with the shell you want to shoot and finding the choke it patterns best with? Or, starting with the choke/patern distance and finding the load that shoot best with it?

 

[TwistedSage]

i have a friend who shoots an over under and he runs a different load in the top barrel that he does in the bottom barrel.

Sounds like a great idea! Especially if you have 2 triggers. I have 870 and a over under but with one trigger, gotta shoot the first shell before the second or with the 870 at least cycle the bolt. In my heavier waterfowl days in NJ I thought I was clever by loading 2 #2s followed by a 3rd BB shot in the 870. Never worked as I wanted lol. You'll likely never have a chance to cycle 2 shells before shooting what you want.

 

[Flyfish4ever]

As far as factory ammo... are you starting with the shell you want to shoot and finding the choke it patterns best with? Or, starting with the choke/patern distance and finding the load that shoot best with it?

I start with my choke, to me, a good load will do well with my full choke, and at IC ranges, im typically not too worried about how tight it patterns, just that its consistent.

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

More than pattern is how it shoots to point of aim, some shotguns do not and some screw in chokes are not installed properly. You need to shot it at 13yards off a bench rest to check it to see point of impact for center of pattern.
Then when pattering you need to shoot a minimum of 10 shell’s as you will see a swing of 10% from high to low.
Most people do not go to the trouble to do it correctly because it’s work.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

More than pattern is how it shoots to point of aim, some shotguns do not and some screw in chokes are not installed properly. You need to shot it at 13yards off a bench rest to check it to see point of impact for center of pattern.
Then when pattering you need to shoot a minimum of 10 shell’s as you will see a swing of 10% from high to low.
Most people do not go to the trouble to do it correctly because it’s work.

Excellent points.
I shoot a 20 gauge Browning Citori and a 12 gauge Remington 870.
The Citori shoots substantially lower than the 870, so point of aim at 10 yards is a good place to start.

 

[N2TRKYS]

All the shotguns I on shoot were I’m aiming. I load my own shells to get the tightest pattern I can get at 40yds in my turkey guns.

I use red dots on my turkey guns and sight them in at 40yds.

 

[TwistedSage]

I have a few extended truchoke choke tubes. A modified and a full for my over under. And a full choke for my pump. Looking forward to trying them out and getting dialed in with loads of my choosing.

A lot of the management areas here are in areas that require nontoxic shot. Unfortunately the shells I've been using seem to only be seasonal runs and I only have a few shells left from last year.

 

[Wally Dog]

Putting a scattergun on paper largely confirms how that gun shoots. 60% above line of sight, 40% above line of sight or. Right a bit, left a bit. Once you confirm how the gun shoots you can fine tune loads and chokes and such.