Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
All gun writers are guilty of this, Yr Humble Scrivener included. We declaim in stentorian tones things like....
"A Full choke should deliver 70% of the shot charge into a 30" circle at 40 yards".
That statement is true, BTW. But, it gets folks who haven't done a lot of patterning thinking that if the choke says full on it, they automatically have 30" of spread to work with at 40 yards.
Such is rarely the case.
Patterning is onerous drudgery. Most folks do little,and only my near obsession with wringing out my equipment keeps me at it. A dozen or two patterns will provide food for thought, not to mention frustration if you believe in that 30" pattern spread and just do not see it.
Let's hypothetically set up a pattern sheet and let fly. Call it 15 yards, IC choke and an oz of 8s. Note the tight cluster in the center of the pattern. That's the core, the round, undeformed pellets that fly farthest and hit the hardest. Note the other holes here and there, well away from the POA, the core, and too undense to ensure a solid stop to prey or shattering to a clay target. These are lost pellets.
Roster and others tell us that 3 pellets of suitable size in every two square inches of target surface is needed. I'll agree, with reservations.
Now, move back to the 25 yard line and fire at a new sheet. Note the core pellets are a little less dense, and appear to more completely fill up that 30" circle. But, are the edges of the pattern dense enough to make that 3 pellet/2 sq.in. across all 30 inches?
Probably not. One great aid here is a 4X4' sheet of graph paper ruled off in 1 inch blocks.Using a hilighter, one can mark where that density is lacking, and thus see the "Holes" in the pattern.
Shot clouds, the event that pattern sheets are a two dimensional record of, are always denser in the center. Using the core and not peripheral pellets means solid hits, clean and humane kills, and good scores.
Sure, we all pick up the occasional bird or target with a slightly off shot that has a few fringe pellets in the right spot. Luck's not dependable, though.
If we want to consistently score well, we have to consistently put the core into the center of the target, or as I keep boring you with, the leading molecule.
So how much spread can we depend on? Like so many things in Shotgunland, it varies.
If the choke is more or less correct, there's certainly 24 inches, possibly 26 inches and maybe even 28", but that's pushing it a mite. Note that 24" is about 6 clays wide, so there's wiggle room. You may see an occasional 30" pattern with enough density to guarantee breakage, but not consistently.
Here's some advice. If you're smoking a particular presentation, changing to the next open choke will probably give you a bit more spread without creating holes in the pattern. Ideally, I like to see the target erased, not smoked. Smoking them is good for your morale and bad for your competition, but it can be counter productive on the scoreboard.
Questions, comments, donations?....
"A Full choke should deliver 70% of the shot charge into a 30" circle at 40 yards".
That statement is true, BTW. But, it gets folks who haven't done a lot of patterning thinking that if the choke says full on it, they automatically have 30" of spread to work with at 40 yards.
Such is rarely the case.
Patterning is onerous drudgery. Most folks do little,and only my near obsession with wringing out my equipment keeps me at it. A dozen or two patterns will provide food for thought, not to mention frustration if you believe in that 30" pattern spread and just do not see it.
Let's hypothetically set up a pattern sheet and let fly. Call it 15 yards, IC choke and an oz of 8s. Note the tight cluster in the center of the pattern. That's the core, the round, undeformed pellets that fly farthest and hit the hardest. Note the other holes here and there, well away from the POA, the core, and too undense to ensure a solid stop to prey or shattering to a clay target. These are lost pellets.
Roster and others tell us that 3 pellets of suitable size in every two square inches of target surface is needed. I'll agree, with reservations.
Now, move back to the 25 yard line and fire at a new sheet. Note the core pellets are a little less dense, and appear to more completely fill up that 30" circle. But, are the edges of the pattern dense enough to make that 3 pellet/2 sq.in. across all 30 inches?
Probably not. One great aid here is a 4X4' sheet of graph paper ruled off in 1 inch blocks.Using a hilighter, one can mark where that density is lacking, and thus see the "Holes" in the pattern.
Shot clouds, the event that pattern sheets are a two dimensional record of, are always denser in the center. Using the core and not peripheral pellets means solid hits, clean and humane kills, and good scores.
Sure, we all pick up the occasional bird or target with a slightly off shot that has a few fringe pellets in the right spot. Luck's not dependable, though.
If we want to consistently score well, we have to consistently put the core into the center of the target, or as I keep boring you with, the leading molecule.
So how much spread can we depend on? Like so many things in Shotgunland, it varies.
If the choke is more or less correct, there's certainly 24 inches, possibly 26 inches and maybe even 28", but that's pushing it a mite. Note that 24" is about 6 clays wide, so there's wiggle room. You may see an occasional 30" pattern with enough density to guarantee breakage, but not consistently.
Here's some advice. If you're smoking a particular presentation, changing to the next open choke will probably give you a bit more spread without creating holes in the pattern. Ideally, I like to see the target erased, not smoked. Smoking them is good for your morale and bad for your competition, but it can be counter productive on the scoreboard.
Questions, comments, donations?....
