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:

Hevishot
 

Stopper

You obviously understand the essence of heavier-than-lead shot.

I only load one Nitro triplex in the chamber then back it up with two Winchester lead Supremes. The Supremes pattern so badly in my gun I only put them in there if I need to shoot a snake at close range. Thank God I haven't had to use them for any follow-up shots on turkeys. They did OK two years ago on a downwind skunk however.

I shoot Nitros because they perform the best at the range and on turkeys. That gives me a tremendous degree of confidence when I am hunting. Yes, they are significantly more expensive per shell than "cheap" lead loads --->BUT, when you break it down is it really??? Expecially when you actually realize that this is the part of your equipment that actually kills the turkey. Not the calls, not the fancy gun and hi-tech sights - Its the pellets striking the turkeys head that kills the turkey. Why would you want to go cheap on the actual thing that kills the turkey??????

When you consider what I spend annually on just hunting leases, gas, food, and hunting license, the cost of the three Nitro's (about $17.00) I shot last year to kill three turkeys is rediculously cheap. And I am not even considering the depreciated cost of calls, boots, camo, truck, etc., etc., etc.

I have several hunting buddies who won't shoot Hevishot because it is "too expensive". Ironically they spend more per week than my annual Nitro budget on just cheap beer and cigarettes. :rolleye0011:

That's the beauty of living in America though - to each his own. At least until we convert to socialism under the current leadership in Washington. :hail:

Your pattern is good enough, but I would buy some lead #6's even if its not Hevi shot and try that. You might be suprised what it may do for your pattern. I shoot Win supreme #6 and love it. Shot alot of birds with that load.

I would definately go with some denser than lead shot out of a good choke in .665 to .670 constriction. The custom nitros are the best but very high. But you can do pretty well for a little cheaper. I shoot the Winchester Elite extended range number 6's out of a .665 Indian Creek choke. They are about 40 bucks a box. I am getting about 180 to 185 pellets in a 10 inch circle at 40 yards. My shotgun is a plain old 870 SM.

I think there is a difference between a turkey shoot-winning pattern and a turkey killing pattern. People have gotten so used to seeing dense patterns of pellets, I think there's a tendancy to assume that you couldn't possibly kill a tiurkey if you don't have 100 pellets in a 10" circle. The standard for years for judging a killing pattern before the onset of turkey chokes and hevi-shot was 3-5 pellets in the head or neck . It doesn't take a cloud of pellets to drop a turkey, it takes one.

I still like to get lots of hits in the vitals... I will shoot what ever loads and choke combo that makes this happen!!!

I cant speak for everybody on this forum... But for me a Wild Turkey doesent come easy... So I need as much in my favor as I can get... If there is a load out there that will allow me to make clean kills at 50 yards I want it!!!