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littlekid 04-10-2008 08:03 PM

Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
I bouhgt my father a Remington 870 magnum with a 21" barrel mated with a extra full remington choke from Gander Mountain last week as an early birthday present(paid 299 plus tax). I bouhgt this gun b/c I liked the shorter length for him to use in his blind and ease of movement. The one thing I've noticed though its pattern is approx.1/2 the tightness as my 870 w/ a 28" barrel using a Rem. superful choke.
My gun with Rem. 4x6 and Win. Turkey load #5 I'm getting approx. 20-25 pellets in a 3" circle @ 30yrds; when we put my superful onto his barrel and shooting the same loads and distance he got approx. 10-15 pellets in the same circle. We also noticed that the wads from my gun were traveling 3' farther downrange than his. I want to be able to increase his pattern tightness some but am unsure what to do. In your experience, should I worry about this or is this patterning going to work fine?

shamlin 04-10-2008 08:24 PM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
A shorter barrell is just not going to be as tight

SwampCollie 04-10-2008 09:09 PM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 

ORIGINAL: littlekid

I bouhgt my father a Remington 870 magnum with a 21" barrel mated with a extra full remington choke from Gander Mountain last week as an early birthday present(paid 299 plus tax). I bouhgt this gun b/c I liked the shorter length for him to use in his blind and ease of movement. The one thing I've noticed though its pattern is approx.1/2 the tightness as my 870 w/ a 28" barrel using a Rem. superful choke.


My gun with Rem. 4x6 and Win. Turkey load #5 I'm getting approx. 20-25 pellets in a 3" circle @ 30yrds; when we put my superful onto his barrel and shooting the same loads and distance he got approx. 10-15 pellets in the same circle. We also noticed that the wads from my gun were traveling 3' farther downrange than his. I want to be able to increase his pattern tightness some but am unsure what to do. In your experience, should I worry about this or is this patterning going to work fine?
You need to try a differnet choke tube and differnet shells. No two guns always work the same with each.

As to barrel length, historically it made a difference.... today it does not. Good article in Turkey Call magazine last month about that. A shot charge has reached its max velocity in 18"-19" of barrel. I have a 20" barrel on my turkey gun and it outshoots every 26"-28" barreled 12ga I've ever seen and shot or been in the prescense of when being patterned (save on other 835 with a 24" barrel....that gun is 1 in 1000).

turkeyslayer34 04-10-2008 09:09 PM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
Your going to have to start messing with load, choke combos. if you want to spring the big bucks, and in the long run save some big bucks because all the other stuff wont beat nitrocompany.com triplex load in hevi. you will be able to exstend the killing range on you and your dads guns for sure.im willing to bet it will tripple the pellet holes in a 10 inch cir at 40 yards. they will recomend a rhino or a jellyhead tube, jellyheads are cheap, you can buy one and try it out on both guns. shorter barrels dont shoot as tight as some of the still shoot 30" barrels , and you will loose some velocity, but they can be made into deadly killers,I have a few short barrel rems that can cleanly killat exstended ranges,so dont give up .it takes a little work i hope this helps------

turkeyslayer34 04-10-2008 09:16 PM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
every shell make has a differnt burn rate for powder so some may max out on burn at a certain length. trust me the heavier loads have a slower burning powder to keep it to saami spec. rule of thumb, is that you loose around 10 fps per inch shorter that 26, and you will loose center core pattern , this is why your pattern is so open. if you dont believe me there is mo mistake all the still shoot turkey target / and card shooters shoot 30+ barrels . now you can get it to shoot awsome , but it will take some work.

Todd1700 04-11-2008 12:57 AM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
I have a little Mossberg 500 tactical turkey gun with a 20 inch barrel that will put 90 pellets from a 3 inchWinchester Supreme number 5 in a 8 inch circle at 40 yards with a Primos Jellyhead choke tube.
The length ofthe barrel is no longer the major factor in how a shotgun patterns. Findingthe right choke/ammo combination for a particular shotgun is far more important.

mauser06 04-11-2008 05:08 AM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 
swampcolie nailed it...

i believe i have the same gun as you just bought...21" barrel and had an extended remington extra full choke in it...

put a Undertaker Hevishot choke tube in it....boy what a world of difference. started throwing all turkey loads great...i tried like 4 or 5 different loads and they all patterned 1000% better and would all do more than well to put down a bird farther than i will shoot at one...

definently play around with different loads and chokes...funny what a difference a 20$ choke tube made

SwampCollie 04-11-2008 06:37 AM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 

ORIGINAL: turkeyslayer34

every shell make has a differnt burn rate for powder so some may max out on burn at a certain length. trust me the heavier loads have a slower burning powder to keep it to saami spec. rule of thumb, is that you loose around 10 fps per inch shorter that 26, and you will loose center core pattern , this is why your pattern is so open. if you dont believe me there is mo mistake all the still shoot turkey target / and card shooters shoot 30+ barrels . now you can get it to shoot awsome , but it will take some work.
That is true 34.... however, slower shot charges typically remain tighter because there is less force/wind resistance pushing them apart.... just my expereince there. Still target shooters use #9 or #8 shot and .640 card cutter tubes.... those Remington STS or Winchester AA target loads they use have extremely fast burn rates. Rationale behind using a 30" barrel is simple: 1) Most people still believe it takes a long barrel to have a tight/dense pattern 2) a lot of competitive folks take advantage of everything they can.... if a 32" barrel puts you 12" closer to the target.... then you are closer and that may make the difference.

There are so many other/additional variables that make a difference when it comes to ultimate pattern results...barrel length is honestly one of the last concerns I'd have from a turkey HUNTING stand point.... I'd be concerned at times that a barrel was too long.

Oh and one other thing... if your 870 is throwing 20-25 pellets of #5 in a 3" circle at 30 yards.... then you have a pretty dang strong shooter. I'm not telling you that not all guns are capable of such performence, but its clear that you have found a combonation that is really sweet in your 870. My best friend (who owns the 1 in 1000 mossberg 835) had a choke tube custom made that shoots awesome out of his gun... I put it in mine and it shot worse than even the stock X-factor tube... I was really suprised at how much differently one gun can shoot from the next, even when almost everything is seemingly identical.

IL-Cornfed 04-11-2008 09:48 AM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 

ORIGINAL: SwampCollie


You need to try a differnet choke tube and differnet shells.
AMEN ! A top quality custom choke like the Black Diamond Strike would shock you to see the improvement in patterning. Also, as mentioned, try better ammo. My suggestion would be the incredible new 2 oz Hevi-13 loads..... WOW do these babies pattern nicely. In fact, these Hevi-13 loads tested better than every turkey offering we tried through a few different guns.

On the right in a "standard" Winchester XX Mag Turkey lead load from 40.....

On the right is the same gun, only shooting the Hevi-13 load from 40 yards



We also spent/wasted good money on a handful of custom after market chokes and the Black Diamond Strike blew the competition away! I can understand why the last few World Record shot groups at the N.W.T.F shoots have been set by this choke.



turkeyslayer34 04-11-2008 10:53 AM

RE: Barrel lenght affects on patterns
 

ORIGINAL: SwampCollie


ORIGINAL: turkeyslayer34

every shell make has a differnt burn rate for powder so some may max out on burn at a certain length. trust me the heavier loads have a slower burning powder to keep it to saami spec. rule of thumb, is that you loose around 10 fps per inch shorter that 26, and you will loose center core pattern , this is why your pattern is so open. if you dont believe me there is mo mistake all the still shoot turkey target / and card shooters shoot 30+ barrels . now you can get it to shoot awsome , but it will take some work.
That is true 34.... however, slower shot charges typically remain tighter because there is less force/wind resistance pushing them apart.... just my expereince there. Still target shooters use #9 or #8 shot and .640 card cutter tubes.... those Remington STS or Winchester AA target loads they use have extremely fast burn rates. Rationale behind using a 30" barrel is simple: 1) Most people still believe it takes a long barrel to have a tight/dense pattern 2) a lot of competitive folks take advantage of everything they can.... if a 32" barrel puts you 12" closer to the target.... then you are closer and that may make the difference.

There are so many other/additional variables that make a difference when it comes to ultimate pattern results...barrel length is honestly one of the last concerns I'd have from a turkey HUNTING stand point.... I'd be concerned at times that a barrel was too long.

Oh and one other thing... if your 870 is throwing 20-25 pellets of #5 in a 3" circle at 30 yards.... then you have a pretty dang strong shooter. I'm not telling you that not all guns are capable of such performence, but its clear that you have found a combonation that is really sweet in your 870. My best friend (who owns the 1 in 1000 mossberg 835) had a choke tube custom made that shoots awesome out of his gun... I put it in mine and it shot worse than even the stock X-factor tube... I was really suprised at how much differently one gun can shoot from the next, even when almost everything is seemingly identical.
there are all kinds of still shoots, the one i was referimg to is the nwtf sanctioned ones where they shoot the H13, and the measure from the muzzle to target they even have a guy stand on the line to make sure you dont creep up, if im not mistaken the winning gun, was a Browning BPS ivector plus barrel 30 inch with a Indian Creek black diamond....... with a H13, i think that gun is cappable of putting near 250 in a 10 at 40. and somewhere of 30-50 in a 3 inch circle. the norm at these shoots is a 28-30 barrel, your right they will use every advantage possible even if it only yields a few pellets. the trend years ago was shorter is better, nowturkey huntersare moving back to the 24-26 inch barrels

the card shoots in another whole galaxy of shooting a; kinds of wierd guns, totaly custom ground up using the #8-9 with 34 inch barrels and step chokes, sleeves etc....sounds like fun


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