As of now, I am shooting 3.5" Win. HV #6s at 1300 fps and getting good patterns. I am thinking of trying Win. XX #6s at 1150 fps, for the additional 1/4 oz. of shot.

Shooting #6s, I do not plan on taking shots greater than 40 yards, but if I estimate my yardage wrong, I don' t want to cripple a bird b/c it doesn' t penetrate well enough due to the loss in velocity.

My question is, will the loss in velocity make that much of a difference in real world situations?

In actuality (and in physical theory) velocity and momentum are inter-related.

As hunters, we like to talk about penetration, but in physicality it equals momentum.

By switching to a load with the same size shot and lower velocity, you in theory will actually be decreasing momentum.

Hence, that' s why 4' s carry greater knockdown power than 6' s, because the tradeoff in the larger shotsize (momentum basically equally mass X velocity) outweighs the small loss in velocity.

However, a size 6 shot load with more pellets and less velocity will equal less momentum...just with more BB' s not penetrating. The mass in this sense is the mass of each individual pellet, not the entire mass of the load.

To think of this in easier terms, if you pick up some steel bearings and throw them with either your arm or a slingshot, which one penetrates better. The answer is obvious, the shot being propelled via the weapon applying more force and more velocity.

If you' re worried about penetration past 40 yards, try shooting HiV 4 or 5 shot. That' s why 5 shot has become so popular in the last 5 years, to offshoot the velocity/penetration conundrum between 4 & 6 shot. Basically, a happy medium[

Strut&Rut...
Thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying, three semesters of physics in engineering school drilled that into my brain, and if I really felt like researching, I could determine how much energy a pellet has at 40 yards. I was hoping someone could tell me their real life results with Win. XX #6s in comparison to HV #6s.

I am in no way trying to stretch my limits with #6s, but if anyone has killed a few toms with XX #6s past 40 yards please speak up. Did it flatten them, cripple them, what happened??? It would be nice to know that I have a few yards of play in case I misjudge my comfort distance of 40 yards.

I know they have done studies on adequate penetration of different shot sizes. I don' t believe this included the HV loads that are now available. But they found that #6 shot out of a magnum turkey load had adequate ft/lbs for reliably killing a turkey out to 35 yards. If I remember correctly #5 shot out to 42 yards and #4 out to 46 yards. I may be off by a foot or two on the #4 shot. But I know the #6 & #5 shot info is correct.

I would guess that the HV loads would by you a few more yards but I don' t know exactly how many.

UNCC...

Glad you understand the physics, I think many who hunt turkeys do not... With the Winchester loads (which I do shoot) my personal experience has been that the HiV greatly outperform the XX' s in both distance and patterning. But I shoot an old cannon and only go to 35 yards.

If you' re worried about misjudging distance, I think I would suggest finding a load in 4 shot that patterns well out of your gun.

My cannon throws 4 shot about as well as I sling steel bearings if ya' know what I mean..

I think I will stick with what I' ve got, the HV #6s. I just have a hard time not trying to get better, tighter patterns. K.I.S.S. should be tatooed to my forehead so I don' t forget

Cant help you out bud. I really dont like the idea of using 6' s. Maybe you should try out some Remington Hevi Shot loads in #6' s...

Mr. Longbeard, I would like to hear your reasoning behind not using #6 shot within 40 yards. I have never heard anyone who said #6s would not kill a turkey within that range.
I would truly like to use #5s but my gun patterns them like crap. I guess if tere is a turkey in the woods I can' t kill with #6s within 40 yards, I would probably run from it. []

UNCC, if your worried about not getting better patterns with using #5' s, then I would suggest using a different choke tube. The Tru-Glo strut stopper loves those Winchester 3" HV 1 3/4oz of #5' s!! This choke also can be shot with Hevishot. If your dead set on using #6' s, Mr. Longbeard has a great idea about switching to Remington #6 hevishot!! This will hit as hard as #5 lead, and with the pattern of the #6' s. You never mentioned what choke your using?

I am stuck using #6s I' m afraid. The choke I am using is a Hastings extended .650. This setup will have to do for this year. Sometimes good enough has to be good enough. I' ll just have to keep my distances in check.