Shooting Traditional Firearms and Weapons > General Interest
Patterning a Smoothbore
paco97:
Tomorrow I'm going to be taking my new 20 Gauge smoothbore out and get her patterned for turkey season. I have some turkey head targets and I have #5 shot.
I've never patterned a smoothbore before and was wondering what is an acceptable pattern and does anyone know what range I should limit myself. Thanks for any tips.
jbullard1:
With my 12 gauge I limit my shot to 30 yards
shooting 1 1/2 ounces #6
I prefer 20 to 25 yards if the bird is still coming in
albertburns:
I shoot a Pedersoli 10 Ga. for Turkey and Waterfowl hunting. I can tell you what has worked for me. It may not be completely traditional, as I don't always use Black Powder,and use Remington Magnum 10 shot cups, but I'm trying. The best load so far has been with 100 gr. of Triple Seven and then a wonder wad, and on top of that I use the Remington cup with 1 1/2 oz. of nickel plated #6's and an overshot card. This load has a killing pattern out to 40 yards, I would not shoot anything past that with it. We also used nickel plated # 4 shot and also had similar result's. I have been shooting black powder rifles for many years, but am a novice with the shotguns. This site is a great place to learn what work's and to share information. Hope this helps.
Captchee:
acceptable patern would be the same as an acceptable patern for any shotgun .
10 to 20 BB in the kill areas of the head will do it fine .
as to distance . what i do to check my load is once i have a patern , i take a 1/4 innch thick peice of ply and shoot it at 30 yards " my longest distance ". i then count the number of BB's in the board and compair that number with those that passed all the way through to the back side of the board . 80% or better penitration tells me that the load has more then enough pooop for that distance .
i also ONLY take head shots with turkey . their feathers are like Armor and will reduce the power of the bb's .
Gambia:
I personally use a 4ft square piece of steel plate mounted at 6 ft from ground level .In the centre of the plate paint a 3 inch black or red circle which is the aiming point
Standing back from the plate to the required distance of 30 yards and with your required load shoot at the plate ,on examing the plate draw a 30 inch circle from the red or black circle then examine the shot pattern for any large hole through which a bird will fly within that circle this is the main part of the shot pattern anything outside this pattern is not worth bothering about .
For the next test have a bucket of whitewash or emulision and paint the plate covering the last pattern .
With this method you can work up a shot load and also it will tell you if you are shooting of centre.
Feltwad
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door
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