Pattererned my gun... Surprised!!

[Angus74]

I thought I would share with you guys what I found when I patterened my gun with a few different chokes and shells. I have a Stoeger M2000 that I got a little over a year ago, and thought I would try to get a better pattern out of it. I used the factore turkey choke that came with the gun, an Undertaker, and a Kicks Gobblin Thunder. I used Remington Nitro Turkey w/1 5/8 oz #5s, Winchester Supreme w/ 1 3/4 oz #5s, Hevi Shot w/ 1 5.8 oz #5s, and Activ Penetrators w/ 2 1/4 oz #4s, all in 3 inch. I was very surprised that the Hevi Shot shells shot the worst of all the shells with every choke I tried, and kicked less than the others too, I was expecting hard recoil, and an awesme pattern, and was very dissappointed. The Undertaker choke shot the worst of all three chokes, with every shell I shot, I expected it to do better than the factory, but it didnt, and the Kicks Gobblin Thunder did shoot the best of all the chokes, but only by a small margin over the factory choke. I shot all the shots at a large paper target with a 6 inch circle in the middle, at 35 yards. I fired three shots of each shell out of each choke, one shot on each target. Then averaged the pellets within the circle for each combo,, needless to say, Im sore!. The best shooting choke with every shotshell was the Kicks, followed by the Factory Stoeger choke, then the Undertaker.

The best shotshell I tried was the Activ, by far,, but I only had three, and they dont make them anymore, and I cant get anymore,, but they shot awesome especially for #4s, but they do have 2 1/4 oz of shot in there too. I averaged 120 pellets in the circle shooting the Kicks choke.

Next surprisingly, The Remington Nitros, 1 5/8 oz 5s shot the best, and were by far the cheapest shell I tried, at about 6-7 bucks a box, I was surprised they shot the best, out of every choke I tried in my gun, I averaged 124 pellets with the Kicks, 116 with the Stoeger ckoke, and 98 with the Undertaker.

The Winchester Supremes came in next, averaging about 117 pellets with the Kicks, 110 with the Stoeger, and 100 with the Undertaker.

The Hevi Shot came in way last with all the patterns down in the 80-90 pellet range, I didnt figure it very close since I was very dissappointed. I have heard so much great things about how awesome the Hevi Shot was, but wow, Ill never spend 3 bucks a shell to try it out again!.

These are just my numbers that I got with my gun, and you all may have different results, but I wanted to share what I learned today. I was also surprised with the fact that the factory Stoeger choke is a tighter constriction than the Kicks, but the kicks shot 5s better,, the factory choke may do batter with some 6s, I will have to try some different shot sizes when my shoulder isnt so sore. If someone has a shell theyde recommend me tryong with these chokes out of this gun let me know, I dont really want to spend any more money on new chokes, but would try out some different shell. Sorry for the long post, but hopefully it may help someone.

[superstrutter]

For starters, your chokes may have not been designed for hevi shot. There are several types of undertakers, not all are designed for hevi shot. The Kicks is not designed for hevi shot. I don't know about the factory choke. Your patterning may have not been realistic for hevi shot. I love the stuff and will use nothing else. Of course each is entitled to his own opinion. You use what works best for you. Some guns and chokes just don't shoot hevi shot as well as others. Be careful not to use hevi shot in chokes that are not designed for it. If a lead load works best for you then use it.

[Crazyfarmer]

thanks for the info... im about ready to do the same. I bought the cheap truglo xtreme choke for my 11-87 remington and just by 20-25 yard testing it patterns much better than my factory full choke I know. At 25 yards I was getting 120 of the #5 winchestors in the 6inch circle. Im sure if I move out to 35 I would be right around 100ish also like your testing with the undertaker.

Im gonna buy some of those nitros also and try since they are cheap per box... Ive heard good things about the kicks chokes also so they seem top notch.

good info on the hevishot also.. I just cant spend 30bucks a box for 10 shells.. espically if you shoot 2-3 for testing. You can almost see the dollars flying out the barrel LOL

[SwampCollie]

As mentioned, one reason the Hevi shot likely didn't shoot well is that Kicks are for lead only. Your factory choke likely is as well. The undertaker may or may not be. Moreover, Hevi-shot is "heavier than lead" so 1 ounce of Hevi shot #6s will have fewer pellets than 1 ounce of Lead #6. However, because they retain energy better, you can use smaller shot. I wish Hevi would catch a clue like Federal did and load their high density in a #7 for turkey.

What I thought was strange was that when I patterned last week, like you, the lead shot better than the high density, with one lone exception: The Winchester Elite Extended Range out shot everything else by about a 15% margin at 40 yards. Good, even, dense patterns everytime. Hevi 13 wasn't hittin on much, and due to the lack of pellets in the Federal Heavyweight, it scored last in pellet count everytime, but, its patterns were even and dense, so you have to take it for what it is.

[r33h]

I shot Hevi-Shot Hevi-13's out of my Remington 870 SPS-T with a Primos Jellyhead choke and the pattern wasn't very good at all. There were holes in the pattern and not a lot of pellets in the kill zone (head and vertebrea). I had much better performance from the Federal Flight Control 3.5" #5 shot. I was getting about 8 to 12 pellets in the kill zone (head and vertebea) from 50 yards! The next best one that I found to shoot out of my gun/choke combo was the Winchester Supremes. They were a close second to the Federals.

The jellyhead is a ported choke and Federal says that the flight control wads pattern much better from a non-ported choke, however, I was getting decent patterns out to 50 yards...so I am not complaining! I may go and get a Undertaker that isn't ported and see how the Federals pattern in the non-ported choke.

Just my two cents...

[mauser06]

i shoot an undertaker MADE for hevishot. i think its .675..but its made for hevishot. it patterned GREAT out of my 870. 100% better than the factory .665...everything i shot through it patterend 100% better. i hear alot of guys shooting hevishot and not getting good patterns. the reason is mostliky because the choke is too tight like been stated. i got lucky with the undertaker..for some reason my gun loves it..