kdsberman

Im looking to possibly try Federal ammunition this year for Turkeys. I want to try the Hevi-Shot, but dont think im gonna make the transition until next year. Anyways, has anyone tried shooting Federal turkey loads? I see they got those "Flight Control" ones, seem to look good.

StruttinGobbler3

i shoot the 3" #5 flight controls, and have been very impressed with their performance both on paper and in the field. they throw great patterns, and the flight control wadding does seem to help. just last week i nailed a gobbler at 40 yards with them, and his head was torn up really bad, it even tore the skin off the top of his head. of course every gun and choke combo will shoot differently with every load, so be sure to pattern it. other than that, i highly reccommend these shells

Arrowmaster

I shoot Federals and wont shoot anything else...

kingvjack

I had one federal shell misfire on me a long time ago, and I never bought a box since... I shoot remington loads, cheap effective and designed by the company that makes most of the best guns on earth.

kdsberman

Arrowmaster, do you use the shells with the "Flight Control"?

HomerJ

kdsberman, I shoot 3" 5 shot "flight control". I have a 'Nova with Carlson tube. It seems to be a nice set up for me. I know of some Toms that didn't like that set up much!

RIStrutStopper

The flight control might be good for non-ported chokes. They were designed to be used in non-ported chokes. Ported chokes are designed to separate/strip the wad away from the shot so the pattern doesn't get distorted in flight. The flight control loads are designed for the wad to remain with the shot longer to keep the patterns tight. I tried them with my jelly head just for kicks and the results were less than impressive. Of course, every gun/choke is different, so you never know.

webbclan

3" in a number 5 is what I use. I like em a lot.

mouthcaller

kesberman - I thought you were ready topunch a ticket on the Nitro train. What happened????

As was previously stated, the Flight Controlshells have a wad-cup designed to stay with the shot columnlonger, preventing shot stringing, reducing flyers and shooting tighter patterns. The wad is pretty neat - it is a solid column of plastic up front with little "air brakes" in the back that pop-out when the wad exits the barrelto eventually slow the wad and seperate it from the shot. I shot some two years ago before I switched to Nitros and they performed the best out of the conventional lead shells I tried. It is generally true that they will likely pattern best from non-ported chokes becase a ported choke is designed to (1) reduce recoil and muzzle jump, and (2) seperate the shot from the wad, allowing the shot to leave the muzzlecleanly with no rotation or interference from the wad.

Even though I was shooting them through a ported Star-Dot choke they still patterned well. I was sighting in a scope at the time and it was interesting to hear the wad hit the target at 20 yards.

As I recall, I got around 75-95 hits in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards with these Federal flight control 3.5", 6 shot. Contrast that with the Nitro 2.25 oz. 4X5X7 which produced 246 hits and you see why I'm on the Nitro train baby.

One more thing - for some reason Federal tends to have the longestopen hullsin the business and these3.5" 12 gauge loadscontinually hung up in my Mossberg 835. The spent hull was simply too long to be ejected, so make sure your gun can handle them before hunting with them or you will be shooting a single-shot gun.

Champlain Islander

I use the Fed flight control and feel they give me the best pattern in 3 1/2" #5's. I used to use the Winchester since they patterned better for me out of my SBE. The flight control is a bit better. What is the story with the nitro loads? I guess I never tried them but have seen them in the gun shop. I get pretty good performance but nothing like 75 to 95 hits in a 10" circle at 40 yards much less over 200. What am I missing here.