How do I know when my spread is uniform?
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Check at your local newspaper - you can buy (real cheap), or get for free, the roll ends of the newsprint. make a frame that will hold up a 3-foot piece of it, and shoot it at a known yardage. Some gun clubs (the one I belong to, for instance) have patterning setups. Our club has several big steel plates on pipes in the ground - you give 'em a quick shot with a spray can of white paint, let them dry for a half-minute or so, and you're ready to go.
What you are trying for is a load that spreads the shot uniformly in a circle. Some loads will shoot a ring of shot that has almost no pellets in the center, others will do just the opposite, and some will spread the shot wider than it should for the choke used.
Often, a very slight change in powder charge or wad type will make a dramatic difference in the uniformity of the pattern. Also, a load that patterns well in one gun may not (actually, probably won't) work well in a different gun.
What you are trying for is a load that spreads the shot uniformly in a circle. Some loads will shoot a ring of shot that has almost no pellets in the center, others will do just the opposite, and some will spread the shot wider than it should for the choke used.
Often, a very slight change in powder charge or wad type will make a dramatic difference in the uniformity of the pattern. Also, a load that patterns well in one gun may not (actually, probably won't) work well in a different gun.
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Patterning board.
I use an old ping pong table, staple a 40" x 40" piece of butchers paper, but hell anything will work, newspaper, paper sacks just make sure to make it 40x40 then stand back 25 yards and shoot, then stand 30 yards and shoot, then 40 yards and shoot. Don't forget to put something to aim at in the middle, just a sticker or something and if you do use multiple pieces of say paper sacks, then remove after each shot and number them so they can be reassembled.
Now get a stick pin and a string. Put stick pin on the aim point and 15" string tied to the stickpin and draw a 30" circle.
Start looking for holes in your pattern. See if your pattern is concentrated to one place or another.
I use an old ping pong table, staple a 40" x 40" piece of butchers paper, but hell anything will work, newspaper, paper sacks just make sure to make it 40x40 then stand back 25 yards and shoot, then stand 30 yards and shoot, then 40 yards and shoot. Don't forget to put something to aim at in the middle, just a sticker or something and if you do use multiple pieces of say paper sacks, then remove after each shot and number them so they can be reassembled.
Now get a stick pin and a string. Put stick pin on the aim point and 15" string tied to the stickpin and draw a 30" circle.
Start looking for holes in your pattern. See if your pattern is concentrated to one place or another.
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20,645 Posts
One of the problems with being a newbie is that they don't know the relative importance of various bits of advice they receive. They tend to worry too much about things which are relatively insignificant in the overall scheme of shotgunning.
Modern shotgun loads with the plastic shotcup wads are very efficient at delivering good patterns at wherever you point the gun. It's not that the advice you've received above is wrong. It's just that until you learn to shoot considerably better than a "newbie", you are very unlikely to be able to tell the difference between one load's effectiveness and another. Even experienced shooters often have difficulty telling the difference in one load from another as far as breaking targets or killing a bird, squirrel, etc. My advice is don't get hung up on the little things like developing the perfect load. Learning to shoot well and chosing the correct choke and shot size is by far more important.
BTW, I've patterned well over 100 different types of loads in dozens of different chokes and have yet to see a single one throw a pattern that had no (or few) pellets in the center of the pattern and a ring of pellets around that hole. While I'm not saying that a donut pattern is impossible, I certainly don't think you will find one using ordinary components in ordinary chokes and guns.
Modern shotgun loads with the plastic shotcup wads are very efficient at delivering good patterns at wherever you point the gun. It's not that the advice you've received above is wrong. It's just that until you learn to shoot considerably better than a "newbie", you are very unlikely to be able to tell the difference between one load's effectiveness and another. Even experienced shooters often have difficulty telling the difference in one load from another as far as breaking targets or killing a bird, squirrel, etc. My advice is don't get hung up on the little things like developing the perfect load. Learning to shoot well and chosing the correct choke and shot size is by far more important.
BTW, I've patterned well over 100 different types of loads in dozens of different chokes and have yet to see a single one throw a pattern that had no (or few) pellets in the center of the pattern and a ring of pellets around that hole. While I'm not saying that a donut pattern is impossible, I certainly don't think you will find one using ordinary components in ordinary chokes and guns.
Thanx for the info and advice guys. I know I should take your advice ulysses, it's just really hard for me to not know something about an activity. I know I will have to face the fact I can't know everything about everything, but i'm young (19) and dumb atm.
BTW, I haven't started reloading yet, and am not sure if I am going to. I know I don't know enough about it yet to make any custom loads. So I think I will just stick to AA target loads and heavy dove loads for dove for now. I'll save my AA hulls and maybe start reloading them sometime. Thanx agian guys.
BTW, I haven't started reloading yet, and am not sure if I am going to. I know I don't know enough about it yet to make any custom loads. So I think I will just stick to AA target loads and heavy dove loads for dove for now. I'll save my AA hulls and maybe start reloading them sometime. Thanx agian guys.
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Ulysses -
Federal Gold Medal with a Remington primer, Clays, Red PC wad, 1-1/8 oz at 1200 fps. Back a few years ago, I was shooting Gold Medals with 1 oz... trying to come up with a handicap load with 1-1/8 oz, I tried that combination. I patterned 5 shells, and they were all the same... there was shot in the center of the pattern, but it was quite sparse. The outer edge of the pattern, all the way around, was noticeably denser.
I never did try to break any birds with that load.... some of the guys I shoot with suggested that I might do better with it, since I never smack the bird with the center of the pattern, anyhow. They are truly an unkind group.
Federal Gold Medal with a Remington primer, Clays, Red PC wad, 1-1/8 oz at 1200 fps. Back a few years ago, I was shooting Gold Medals with 1 oz... trying to come up with a handicap load with 1-1/8 oz, I tried that combination. I patterned 5 shells, and they were all the same... there was shot in the center of the pattern, but it was quite sparse. The outer edge of the pattern, all the way around, was noticeably denser.
I never did try to break any birds with that load.... some of the guys I shoot with suggested that I might do better with it, since I never smack the bird with the center of the pattern, anyhow. They are truly an unkind group.
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20,645 Posts
To WWB,
LOL
Yes, that was very unkind of your "friends" to suggest that that load would be a good one for you to use. Some days though, I feel like it would be a good load for me too. Seems that some days, all I can do is hit a target with the fringe of the pattern. Thanks for the info.
LOL
Yes, that was very unkind of your "friends" to suggest that that load would be a good one for you to use. Some days though, I feel like it would be a good load for me too. Seems that some days, all I can do is hit a target with the fringe of the pattern. Thanks for the info.1 - 7 of 7 Posts
