16ga.com Forum Index
Author Message
<  16ga. General Discussion  ~  How many strikes is a good standard?
Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 2:04 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2786
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Mike Campbell,

Ya those old Fox, Smith,Parker and LeFever double guns were all choked for slow buring powder alright, and the newer Nitro powdered shells can make a mess out of live birds, especially Woodcock, when the pattern never gets to open up correctly inside 25 yards. Open the chokes or use SpredR loads, or both, cures the problem every time.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

_________________
"L.C. Smith America's Best" - John Houchins

Pine Creek Grouse Dog Trainers
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
WyoChukar
PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 4:01 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

I used to keep a set of simple paper cut outs that represented the vital zones of most bird species from dove/quail on up to Canada geese. I could tell a lot about the pattern, regardless of counts and percentages, by seeing how many (if any) places that paper would fit either between pellets or where it would only receive marginal contact. This gave me a great idea of how reliable the patterns were, providing that the shot size was sufficient tor perform the desired task at the range being tested. Pattern uniformity is just as important as percentages.

Up close, things are easy since smaller shot gets the job done and open chokes can be used effectively in combination with high pellet counts in a given load. When ranges get long, that's when it get's tougher since larger shot is needed and that means sacrificing available pellet numbers in a load. This is where things get real picky with choke and load performance.

Pattern your gun and loads at distances where you intend to actually shoot. 40 yard patterns tell you nothing about how it will work on ruffs at 20 yards or Sharptail grouse at 55.


Last edited by WyoChukar on Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

_________________
Only catch snowflakes on your tongue AFTER the birds fly south for the winter...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:17 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2786
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

WyoChukar,

Right on the money sir, this is one of the reasons I keep advising my clients that patterning their shotguns at the actual distances they most gun Grouse and Woodcock, is not just important its essential for a good gunning percentage. The men telling me that its not important close up 20 -25 yard are seriously wrong.
Most Grouse shot at close up, are missed because of shooting too fast. The pattern never opens enough to cover and knock the Grouse down correctly, or the pattern hits the Grouse so densely that it demolishes the bird and it is uneatable.

Knowing that you must wait once you have missed with your #8's out of the 1st Barrel, to shoot the 6's under your 2nd trigger is very important. This is a big part of understanding how your shotgun actually works when actually gunning wild birds.

The longer Grouse shots 45 yards and out are a completely different patterning knowledge. However in our Pa big Forest, unless the Grouse or Woodcock flies above the tree cover, not may of these shots are taken, especially by young Grouse hunters. There are legendary gunners like Gunny Bowman who can kill Grouse at 50 -60 yards in the air, however this kind shooting is not done very often, even by other legendary Grouse gunners. You want to be able to end up with a big Grouse that can be mounted some day. Like the one below in the picture, that Kenny Graft took in our Potter County, Pa mountains, at about 35 yards, with his 16 Gauge Parker double gun.

[URL=http://www.jpgbox.com/page/56218_800x600/] [/URL]

Understanding what the patterns are actually like at the range you are most likely to gun wild birds is very important, especially if you want to be a good Grouse & Woodcock hunter.

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

The large Grouse in Gunny Bowmans hand was shot at 58 yards flying up over the trees in Potter County, Pa. I stepped the yardage off myself to the fallen bird, to see at what actual distance his 20 gauge double gun had killed the Grouse. This is by no means a typical Grouse shot, taken by most hunters.

[URL=http://www.jpgbox.com/page/56182_800x600/] [/URL]

_________________
"L.C. Smith America's Best" - John Houchins

Pine Creek Grouse Dog Trainers
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
All times are GMT - 7 Hours

View next topic
View previous topic
Page 2 of 2
Goto page Previous  1, 2
16ga.com Forum Index  ~  16ga. General Discussion

Post new topic   Reply to topic


 
Jump to:  

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




Powered by phpBB and NoseBleed v1.09