Shotgun Cartridges for Foxes- Cartridges Patterned

[danebrewer10 6]

Hi all, I promised a while ago that I'd pattern some cartridges for charlie. well here are the results.

 

the test was carried out at 30m- or 30 large paces which are pretty much a metre

 

I tested Gamebore Mammoth Hi-Bird in 50gm BB and Lyalvale Express Super Game in 36gm AAA.

the shot strikes may be a tad hard to see so I'll include the link to my Flickr page so you can view them in a larger size should you so wish HERE

 

the paper used was a tad under 30" square and with a 10" circle in the middle to represent the kill zone of a fox. either barrel was used top or bottom this accounts for the apparent change in impact in some of the targets with the pattern either being slightly high or low.

 

Starting off with the Gamebores....

 

Shooting impressions- well that's an experience to say the least... It's like being kicked in the shoulder by Chuck Norris... good gawd do they have some poke!!!

each cartridge held 144 BB shot the cartridge used a usual 6 point crimp

 

1/4 Choke

 

1/2 Choke

as you can see this pattern is much tighter and pretty even with a good 20 pellets in the 10" circle

 

3/4 Choke

although the pattern still had 20 pellets in the 10" circle- there were fewer pellets on the paper- this may just have been a fluke, but I go with my opinion that too tight a choke with large shot sizes can open the pattern up or decrease the pattern density / make it more gappy as has happened in this case.

 

 

now the Express AAAs

these previously did not have as much recoil as the Gamebores, but you still know you'd fired them! these hold 43 AAA pellets the cartridge used a RTO closure with a frangible plastic disc- visible in the unfired cartridge.

 

1/4 Choke[/b

as you can see much fewer pellets in the pattern, though these did go all the way through the 12mm plywood I was using to catch the pellets and hold the targets up!

 

1/2 Choke

surprisingly not much of a difference....

 

3/4 Choke

now we're talking! twice the number of pellets in the 10" circle though the pattern is getting gappy and there are few pellets in comparison to the BBs they do have a whole lot more energy....

 

 

 

I think that from the results of this I'd and/or get to extra chokes in 1/2 and 3/4 for the 50gm BBs and 36gm AAAs respectively or shoot 1/2 and 3/4 with BBs through the 1/2 and AAAs through 3/4 with the AAAs going first for a faster follow up shot compared to the recovery needed from the 50 grams

 

It was an interesting experiment for me and I'd recommend you pattern the cartridges you use for quarry, perhaps not so vital for small shot sizes but when you start on anything larger than perhaps 2 or 1, then I think it can make a big difference!

 

I hope that has been interesting and informative!

 

Interestingly I did manage to fit 66 AAA pellets in the wad for the 50 gram BBs which game a weight of around 48/49 grams so I'd be interesting if you were to replace the pellets with AAA and close the crimp back again.... I reckon you could probably for more in if you used a RTO crimp like with the Express loads so there is a possibility of getting 24 pellets in the 10" circle and 56 pellets in the 30" square or thereabouts....

Edited March 25, 2010 by danebrewer10

[rioulike 2]

hi mate this is why i like to use no.3s or no2s for fox you would get so much more pellets in your circle

[danebrewer10 6]

hi mate this is why i like to use no.3s or no2s for fox you would get so much more pellets in your circle

 

yeah it seems quite a few people like no 3 and get on with it and if it works for them then I guess it's OK, but I just wouldn't feel confident taking on a fox with that size of pellet, I'd like something bigger- BB at least

ATB

[Deker 3,478]

Good stuff, always interesting to see these sort of tests.

 

I have played with this sort of stuff a long while back and it has always amazed me the extra energy in the larger pellets.

 

I did this with 9's at about 10m a few years back and they hardly scratched the surface, but there were an awful lot of them.....the SG I then followed it up with destroyed the board...a 40mm laminated chipboard breakfast bar!

 

ATB!!

[Deker 3,478]

hi mate this is why i like to use no.3s or no2s for fox you would get so much more pellets in your circle

 

 

The trade off is that they do not hit anywhere near as hard, still should do the job though.

 

I seldom go specifically looking for the fox with the shotgun but if I do I use BB generally.

 

ATB!!