Patterning problems

[Marcus]

I finally got out and patterend my shotguns today. The results were interesting to be sure! The Mossbery 500 I`ve been shooting trap with patterned really high. The whole pattern was above or just touching the center of the board. I dunno how I`ve been shooting even 10-20 like that! It does explain why I usually break but not "smoke" the birds though. The pattern (full choke) is also fairly spotty. At 40yds. there are areas in the pattern darn close to the size of a clay. I tried 2 brands of 7 1/2 shot. I may try 8s next time to put some more shot out there. I adjusted the Morgan butt pad I just installed and tweaked me stance a little and it seems to be putting about 60% of the pattern higher than center. I`ve been told that`s what I should be looking for. Guess I`ll find out tomorrow night.
My Browning Auto 5 is another story entirely. The pattern is pretty well centered,or at least I think it is.... It has a factory installed Poly choke on it. When set to Full the pattern at 40yds. covered the whole 3'x4' board and several pellets hit the board next to it...another foot away. On "X-tra full" the pattern still covers the whole board,there`s just more of them toward the middle. The pattern is pretty spotty too. Tried 2 brands of ammo, no difference,both 7 1/2. This gun was a gift and removing the Poly choke is not an option (although it would be my first choice). Any ideas on what I can do to get this thing to pattern tighter? Just try a bunch of different ammo?

 

[HSMITH]

You don't mention what loads were used, so I will assume target loads were used and not cheapo promo loads. As a general rule lower velocity loads will pattern tighter. Drop back on the dram equivalent, shoot softer loads. It won't make enough difference on the lead to make a difference in your score.

If you are shooting cheap promo loads then your problem is simple, get some good ammo and try again.

I like ALL my guns to shoot high, 60% above is a minimum for me. Also remember you are shooting a stationary pattern board, not a rising clay, A 70% above pattern just means the apparent lead is less when actually shooting trap.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Besides H's excellent advice.....

Adjustable chokes like that Poly are widely regarded as less efficient than fixed chokes. So are tubes. The difference is minor. The markings on the Poly are often fictional. Pick your load, pick your range, and twist that thing until you're getting the spread and density desired then mark with nail polish or something.

And, one CAN tighten the Poly down into an overchoke situation which spreads out the shot like a diffusion choke. Start at wide open and go from there.

Use large,hard,slow shot for tight patterns, small,fast, soft ones for wide ones.

HTH...

 

[Marcus]

Thanks for the tips! I was shooting Winchester and Federal 7 1/2 shot, 1 1/8oz. 100rd. bulk trap ammo. Wally World specials. They`re pretty much the only way I can afford to shoot 5 or 6 rounds of trap every week. I did better with the Mossy tonight,averaged in the low 20s. I also noticed that where I was just breaking up a lot of the clays previously now I`m really smokin a lot more of them. I left the Browning in the case until I can experiment with it to try and improve the patterns. I`ll try your suggestions on testing the Poly Choke Dave. Thanks again! Marcus

 

[Dave McCracken]

You're welcome.

Smoke does indicate you're centering the target, however it also shows the density is excessive for that shot. Excess density means less spread. If you have a Modified choke tube, you may want to see how that works for you. With modern ammo, Full choke is oft more like Extra Full.

Value packs tend to have soft shot. Otherwise, they're excellent choices for casual clays.

HTH....