is my pattern sufficient ( it think so)
 

Here's my pattern @ 40 yards 10 " circle #5 shot Winchester HV turkey loads 3".With .650 Wilson choke.


http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...theyard878.jpg


http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...theyard876.jpg


someone said this would have missed completely Other person said 30 yards was max for turkey hunting i laughed so hard

I don't think you'd have trouble killing a turkey with that pattern.

Looks like a good pattern to me...you shouldn'r have any problem putting one down.

Listen, You asked and I will be honest with my opinion,

That is just an average pattern at that range. You can do way better and most of the error is your combo. I have seen above average patterns and if your going to shoot the Heavy loads, drop the 4-5 and use the #6 that will increase your patterns dencity more.

The choke that you are using is to tight and what is happening to the pattern is you are getting a large amount of fliers as most call it. Your losing a high % of shot because of deformation of that tight choke. Find a .665 -.670 and us it with the Heavy shot like Winchester HD or better yet Hevi 13 in the 2 oz loads #6 and your going to see around 200 shot in a 10 inch at 40 yards.

Hope that helps and I am not bashing you at all here,

AJH

What is a Winchester HV - lead?? I know the supreme Extended Range HD is hevishot but I'm not familiar with HV.

I agree with Adrian - you very well might kill a turkey with that pattern, but it is far short of what it can and should be. I counted 88 hits in the 10" ring and that is giving you credit for hits outside the line that may have been included had you drawn the circle better. 88 hits, honestly, is not very special and falls short of what you can achieve.

I would advise you to forget about the 5 shot and go with 6 or 7 hevishot (I shoot hevishot 7s or triplex loads that are mostly 7s). With hevishot I really don't see any reason to use shot larger than 6. Hevishot 6 hits hard and penetrates at least as good as lead 5s, probably better. You can get straight 7s in federal ammo. The Nitro Company makes a load of straight 7s and they pattern like nothing you've ever seen, but they are really expensive. The Hevishot company is producing a straight 7 hevi-13 load this year in both 3"/2 oz and 3.5"/2.25oz. I am really anxious to give it a try.

Adrain is exactly right in thay you are overchoked - 650" is super tight and your pattern appears to be somewhat blown with large gaps in it. You are loosing a large majority of your pellets outside the 10 ring. Most of the guys I shoot with use .665 - .675 (primarily .670) chokes with hevishot, both 2.0 and 2.25oz loads.

For comparison below is a 40 yard pattern I shot a couple years ago with my current setup. It is a Nitro 3.5", 2.25 oz of 4X5X7 hevishot shot from a Mossberg 835 (overbored ported barrel) with a Star dot .676 ported choke. There are many more pellets in this load than yours, but that is not the point I wish to make. Notice how dense the core of that pattern is inside the 10" circle. That is what you are looking for, a much denser core pattern with far fewer "flyers" which pass harmlessly past the turkeys head and neck.

Here is a link to targets too

http://lewand.tripod.com/turkeytargets.html

I also think that is average to below average.......take the middle target fromt he link I put up there and visualize that turkey head over you pattern there. I only count the pellet holes that pierce the neck bone, skull or eye of that target and use a rule of thumb of 8 to 12 pellets to develop my lethal range.

Further at the very top of the HNI Trukey forum is a sub forum named Tips and techniques. There is a patterning method posted there. Good read.

JW

lol I know all about choke+ load combo's lead deforming smaller shot size more pellets etc ,But im not switching to hevi-shot to expensive to shoot.

This what i use http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/67650-5.html

recommended by a custom turkey call builder ,cheap to but my next load would be x123mt5 Winchesters. I have a 3.5" gun i want to use but i got to get a longer barrel for it.

As long as you keep your shot at 40 yards and under. You should be just fine...

I would prob shot it at a turkey target or too also...

Your prob not going to get much better than that unless you switch to one of the newer hevi shot choke and load combo's

Hevi Shot is a bit more expensive, so I use cheap bird shot to get everything where it needs to be then just take one or 2 shots with the hevi 13s on paper. The rest are for the field. For the time and money put into the sport other than shells, I want a pattern that can perform when I need it to. Also, I don't know how big of a barrel you have in your 3.5" gun, but I'm shooting an 835 with a 20" barrel with 3.5" loads and am putting better than 190 pellets into a 10" circle @ 40 yards.

I just don't shoot 3 shells a year i like to shoot all the time .With hevi-shot thats not possible .I think that the x123's with be more than any hunter needs .If it becomes a problem i will just buy #2 lead plated loadand take them body shots :rock: