Patterning?

R

roy reali

New member
How many of you bird hunters have patterned your shotguns? Those that have, how extensively and scientifically was it?

I have to admit, the few patterns tests I have done were rather crude. Sort of like trying to sight in a deer rifle off-hand on a distant rock.

I used to hunt with this guy that was anal about this. He had several shotguns in each of the popular gauges. He reloaded for all of them. Not only was each patterened for each and every load, he kept the pattern targets. He had them going back for years. He had them filed by gun, gauge, and load. He also kept very detailed data on all this. Say what you will, the guy hardly ever missed, not at birds or clay targets.

So, how many here have patterned there bird guns? Has it helped?
 
I think most clubs have a guy like that. Ours was similar to yours, but he introduced a chronograph into his patterning. Members were encouraged to bring their guns and reload data when he had his chronograph set up at the patterning board. Eventually he had data on almost every trap re-load and gun/choke combination used by the members. A look into his files would give you a good starting point for developing your special purpose loads.
 
I pattern all my guns ( and I use the same guns for Skeet, Sporting Clays and bird hunting ).

I pattern them with all the chokes I have - in both barrels - first with factory loads ( good factory loads like Remington STS, etc ) - and then with my reloads. I usually use the "steel board" at my club - and make notes at the time / but I don't keep them long term (just not that anal )...

What I'm really looking for is any holes in my patterns / or a point of impact change with a specific choke - to make sure the chokes are as they are marked ( good 30" pattern at the kill range ) - then I'm looking to evaluate my own reloads .......

I think patterning your guns is important / for your own confidence.
 
Patterned all my shotguns, with darn near all chokes and commonly used loads.

A pet load of 8.5s was developed for an 870TB to absolutely crush trap singles thereby.

Also, a 7/8 oz load of 7.5s in the bottom barrel of the Beretta WOS with the 20 POC tube in killed dove like a death ray.

Both of these loads were tweaked at the patterning board.

And, while you're checking those patterns, you can determine if POA and POI coincide.
 
I pattern my guns to make sure that they shoot to where I am looking, then I adjust the gun as needed. An adjustable comb has the most influence on this. The patterning board only gives you a 2 dimensional picture. There is length of the shot string also. The shot does not all arrive on target at the same time. A 12 gauge shot string can be 10 or 12 feet long at longer ranges.
 
re:Jeremiah/Az

There is length of the shot string also.
Click to expand...

Is there a way to measure that?

I have also heard of people using a chronograph to measure the velocity of their shotgun loads. A shotgun fires multiple projectiles, doesn't that "confuse" the chronograph? And how about shot hitting the machine?
 
"...kept the pattern targets..." That's a bit much, but you need to pattern a bird barrel shotgun, just like you need to sight in a shotgun using a slug. Tells you where the shot goes and what the pattern looks like at a given range.
"...Is there a way to measure that?..." No and it doesn't matter. Daffy, etc. don't care. The diameter of the pattern and whether or not there are holes in the pattern does matter.
"...how about shot hitting the machine?..." At chronograph distances, usually under 10 feet, the shot column diameter is small.
 
roy reali said:
I have also heard of people using a chronograph to measure the velocity of their shotgun loads. A shotgun fires multiple projectiles, doesn't that "confuse" the chronograph? And how about shot hitting the machine?
Click to expand...
You can also get false readings. Shot shells are around the speed of sound and the chronograph may mistake the leading pressure wave as the load. This can also happen with large pistol rounds. You may know that your .45 ACPs are in the neighborhood of 800 fps, but your chrono keeps reading 1,200 fps because it's keying on the pressure wave. A solution for this, and for protection from stray pellets, is to place a simple sound baffle/shield (scrap wood with a hole) before your screens.
 
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