Some Post Season Patterning

[Todd1700]

Shot my Mossberg 835 Tactical Turkey with a Hevi Shot choke .676 diameter and a Hevi 13 3 1/2 inch number 7. Wow! 278 pellets inside 10 inches at a laser ranged 40 yards. I know a lot of guys get way better than this but this is by far my best pattern to date. Prior to this the best I had gotten out of this gun with any choke/shell combo was 209. Got it sighted in and took one last shot at 50 yards and put 155 inside 10 inches at that distance. Will conduct some penetration tests at that distance later. I think I have found my shell and choke combo for next year.

[Ruttinbull]

That is just impressive.

Sevens are not legal in my home state so I have never bothered to pattern my gun with them. I am curious about their down range performance.

[Todd1700]

Ruttinbull, I taped a Mt Dew can to the back of the target as a test. The pellets at 40 yards passed through the poster paper, the piece of cardboard I had it taped to and easily went through both sides of the can. I know these modern aluminum cans aren't that thick but I figure that's got to be enough zip for a turkeys head and upper neck at that distance.

[hawglips]

ORIGINAL: Ruttinbull

That is just impressive.

Sevens are not legal in my home state so I have never bothered to pattern my gun with them. I am curious about their down range performance.

Here's a downrange performance comparison between Hevi-13 7s at 1090 fps, with lead 6s at 1200, Heavyweight 7s at 1100 fps, and TSS 8s at 1100 fps:

Hevi-13 7s, 1090 fps
Ballistics Gel penetration, 40 yds: 1.47"
Energy Density, 40 yds: 180.3
final velocity, 40 yds: 634 fps

Pb 6s, 1200 fps
Ballistics Gel penetration, 40 yds: 1.53"
Energy Density, 40 yds: 186.6
final velocity, 40 yds: 639 fps

Fed HWT 7s, 1100 fps
Ballistics Gel penetration, 40 yds: 2.29"
Energy Density, 40 yds: 277.6
final velocity, 40 yds: 703 fps

TSS 8s, 1100 fps
Ballistics Gel penetration, 40 yds: 2.62"
Energy Density, 40 yds: 317.9
final velocity, 40 yds: 724 fps

(KYP Ballistics Calculator)

[RCTaylor]

what are TSS shells?

[Todd1700]

what are TSS shells?

It stands for Tungston Super Shot. It's not just a little denser than lead it's waaay denser. Unless I'm mistaken however the only way to shoot TSS at present is if you hand load it yourself. Even if you are willing and able to roll your own with it, it is very expensive and very hard to get. Lethal stuff on turkeys though. Even the number 8 size shot in that stuff will penetrate and kill turkeys way on out there. And naturally being able to shoot shells filled with shot that small means you can get some incredibly dense patterns.