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Lots of guys have never patterned their loads. Let me know if any of you have any questions about how to pattern properly.

Learning what my patterns are doing with different load choke combinations has had a huge positive effect on my shot/kill ratio

I have zero idea what I'm even looking for. I just buy whatever shell I run across, and shoot. I'd be interested in learning some though.

Patterning is super simple, you just shoot your gun at something flat. A few things are important to do to make your results quantifiable, I'm heading out fishing, later I'll write up a but of a how too

Another point that opened my eyes and made me think more about my pattern is the length of the shot string. I heard somewhere that at something like 40 yards your shot string can be over 8 feet long. The density of how your pellets hit the paper is not the full story of how it will hit a moving target in the air.

a lot of opinions and theories on shot strings. I havent read a lot on them so my opinions are just based on gut and a little quick math. first, 8' at 40 yards seems extreme, possible I'm sure but it doesnt seem like there would be enough force at play to make much but a few of the pellets slow down that dramatically as to be 8 feet behind....I need to learn up on that stuff, it just gets so dreadfully boring

lets say the shot string is 8 feet long at 40. the most common load I shoot is an 1 1/4 of 2's at 1505 fps. at 40 yards it should still be going 720 fps +/- that means the whole 8' shotstring will pass that 40 yard mark in about .01 seconds. a passing duck flying at 70 fps would move about 8 inches from the time the beginning of the shot sting hit him until the end did. certainly a part of the equation but the shotstring length doesn't weigh on my mind as much as the pattern does.

IMO- the shot string is the only thing that makes hitting a moving target possible.

Typically, the more open the choke, the shorter the shot string - and the tighter the choke the longer it is.
And that is why (especially in the lead shot era) your long range duck guns had full chokes...not because of a dense pattern, but because a longer shot string makes it easier to hit a crossing bird when you have imprecise speed/angle/distance calculations that the shooter must factor in while swinging the gun.

I've patterned a lot of turkey loads/chokes/gun combos, and the info I get there tells me much about how the load combo will perform real world - as turkeys a typically stationary targets.
I've never set a duck gun up and shot it at paper.


But mostly - I just don't over think it & let instinct take control.

I've shot thousands of patterns of my duck loads. You would be amazed at how bad some can be. Wads that turn over etc. can cause patterns that don't even hit the paper.

Dan I think you over estimate the importance of a shot string. It's jut going to fast relative to the bird to be that important, it's not like you are spraying a hose and the bird flies into the stream

It's possible that I am.

As far as I'm concerned, wing shooting is about 90% mental any way. If your pointing a shotgun where you should, stuff will die.

DeadEye_Dan wrote:It's possible that I am.

As far as I'm concerned, wing shooting is about 90% mental any way. If your pointing a shotgun where you should, stuff will die.

for me it's beyond mental, it is zen like, I find if I say nananananananana in my head when the birds are coming in they slow down twenty fold and I can see the shit hit them.

DeadEye_Dan wrote:It's possible that I am.

As far as I'm concerned, wing shooting is about 90% mental any way. If your pointing a shotgun where you should, stuff will die.

This ^^
My very best shots I've ever made were the ones where I didnt think -- bird flies in, surprises me, snap the gun up and shoot, bird is now dead.

3legged_lab wrote:

DeadEye_Dan wrote:It's possible that I am.

As far as I'm concerned, wing shooting is about 90% mental any way. If your pointing a shotgun where you should, stuff will die.

This ^^
My very best shots I've ever made were the ones where I didnt think -- bird flies in, surprises me, snap the gun up and shoot, bird is now dead.

definitely, but if you start shooting a load that puts more pellets evenly on target you'll notice you start making those shots a hell of a lot more often...

For my gun, I haven't patterned a lot, but I've done enough with what I realistically expected to be hunting with. (for example, I'm not going to pattern Hevi #4, because I'll never pay to hunt with it) I've done Fasteel, Xpert, Drylok, and some Federal, all in 2 3/4 and 3", #1,2, and 4, with my factory chokes (I know you're shocked that I'm not buying aftermarket choke tubes). The best by FAR for me was Xpert #2 from a factory Mod. And by "far", I mean hands down, almost 50% better. This was all years ago, so I don't remember the numbers, but I consider the fact that the cheapest shells worked best for me to be a sign. I could give a damn what the shot inside looks like.

assateague wrote:For my gun, I haven't patterned a lot, but I've done enough with what I realistically expected to be hunting with. (for example, I'm not going to pattern Hevi #4, because I'll never pay to hunt with it) I've done Fasteel, Xpert, Drylok, and some Federal, all in 2 3/4 and 3", #1,2, and 4, with my factory chokes (I know you're shocked that I'm not buying aftermarket choke tubes). The best by FAR for me was Xpert #2 from a factory Mod. And by "far", I mean hands down, almost 50% better. This was all years ago, so I don't remember the numbers, but I consider the fact that the cheapest shells worked best for me to be a sign. I could give a damn what the shot inside looks like.

I have killed many many birds with Xpert, mostly what I shot before I started reloading. All my experiences have shown me that the better shooters kill more birds, regardless of what they are sending down the barrel. I have done a lot of patterning in the past. Last year I loaded 15 shells the night before a hunt, I had never loaded them before. The results were amazing, crushed ducks and geese, used them the rest of the year. I will never know how they pattern, I am afraid they will look bad on paper and get inside my head.

jehler wrote:

3legged_lab wrote:

DeadEye_Dan wrote:It's possible that I am.

As far as I'm concerned, wing shooting is about 90% mental any way. If your pointing a shotgun where you should, stuff will die.

This ^^
My very best shots I've ever made were the ones where I didnt think -- bird flies in, surprises me, snap the gun up and shoot, bird is now dead.

definitely, but if you start shooting a load that puts more pellets evenly on target you'll notice you start making those shots a hell of a lot more often...

I get that. The point I was trying to make about shot string is that it changed the way I think about patterns and pattern density. Previously I had always thought of your pattern as something flat, I pictured all the pellets hitting the paper at the same time.

3legged_lab wrote: Previously I had always thought of your pattern as something flat, I pictured all the pellets hitting the paper at the same time.

you ever watched that high speed video of an Abraham's grape shot round being fired? I'm thinking that's very similiar to what goes on with a shotgun load as far as shot string

jehler wrote:

3legged_lab wrote: Previously I had always thought of your pattern as something flat, I pictured all the pellets hitting the paper at the same time.

you ever watched that high speed video of an Abraham's grape shot round being fired? I'm thinking that's very similiar to what goes on with a shotgun load as far as shot string

Was that the slo-mo video where the cannon shot something crazy like 5 pounds of pellets out to something stupid like 500 yards? The farther down range it got the longer the shot string was.

3legged_lab wrote:

jehler wrote:

3legged_lab wrote: Previously I had always thought of your pattern as something flat, I pictured all the pellets hitting the paper at the same time.

you ever watched that high speed video of an Abraham's grape shot round being fired? I'm thinking that's very similiar to what goes on with a shotgun load as far as shot string

Was that the slo-mo video where the cannon shot something crazy like 5 pounds of pellets out to something stupid like 500 yards? The farther down range it got the longer the shot string was.

yep, cool vid

post a link to the video. I looked on the youtube and couldn't find anything.

duckkillerclyde wrote:post a link to the video. I looked on the youtube and couldn't find anything.

Please...

Thanks jehler