# Patterning my shotgun



## shotgunwill (May 16, 2008)

Alright, now that I've patterned my shotgun, with the 30" circle at 40 yards bit, what else should I be paying attention to besides pellet count and where on the target my pattern is actually hitting?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Draw a life-size goose or swan neck and head on paper. Practice looking down the barrel on these at different distances.

Or put some dekes out and look at them down the barrel at some known distances.


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## shotgunwill (May 16, 2008)

Thanks goob, I did that when I was out there, and was very surprised at how far 40 yds. really is. That makes me laugh at how many I miss too! :lol: I swear all the ducks and geese I kill are inside 30 yards. That's good I guess.

Here is some food for thought. I shoot a Remington 870 express super mag(3.5 chamber). I drew a swan tag this year, so I bought some Hevi-shot too. I shot patterns with three different chokes; Modified, Improved, and "Over Decoys"(came with the gun). I patterned my steel shot with number 1 and 2(Kent Fasteel), which is what I regularly shoot during the season. 

My modified and improved chokes, both preformed like full chokes with the steel, and put 70 to 75% of the pellets on the [email protected] yds.! The factory supplied choke actually preformed like a modified choke, putting 63% of the pellets on the [email protected] yds..

For the Hevi-shot patterns I am using 1.5 ounce of B and 2. I emailed Hevi-shot about pellet counts for 1.5 ounce loads of B and 2, but they have yet to return it. I am very interested to see just how well it preforms pattern wise to pellet count. I hear all kinds of great stuff about its knock down power.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Hevi Shot is the cats azz for knockdown power..... I've used it and if you hit the bird with it, its definitely a "Dead Right There" event. I didn't ever pattern with it, just threw it in the gun and away I went. I also saw some geese get hammered with Tungsten Matrix by Kent last year.... holy crap!! :shock: They got put down like Chuck Liddell eating an overhand right. :lol:


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