I picked up a compact 870 20 gauge the other week and immediately ordered a Sumtoy 562-5 intended for the Federal Heavy Weight #7. In the meantime I performed a deep cleaning on the barrel just as Clark recommends. The choke arrived in short order and I took advantage of the beautiful February we are having in Georgia.
I can't say I'm overly impressed with the numbers or the pattern but I suppose it'll get the job done.
First is the 3" Heavy Weight - 110 in a 10" circle at 40 yards on a clean barrel.
The second is 2-3/4" TSS #9 - 190 in a 10" circle at 40 yards. Unfortunately my source for TSS loads has, well dried up so to speak.
The third is 3" Heavy Weight - 225 in a 10" circle at 25 yards.
Any thoughts on what's caused low numbers with HW 7's or the gaps in the pattern?
Pattern and numbers will be affected if any oil was left in the choke or barrel after cleaning. You can even go as far as swabbing out with denatured alcohol , although i never do. I just deep clean and run bore snake through my weatherby. My remington 11-87 i not only deep cleaned i also polished the barrel and it provided better patterns and numbers.Lee
Quote from: wvnut3 on February 26, 2017, 09:59:16 AM
Pattern and numbers will be affected if any oil was left in the choke or barrel after cleaning. You can even go as far as swabbing out with denatured alcohol , although i never do. I just deep clean and run bore snake through my weatherby. My remington 11-87 i not only deep cleaned i also polished the barrel and it provided better patterns and numbers.Lee
yup get ALL the oil out. I have always said try it before you mess with the barrel. If it dont work then play with the barrel.
Oil in my barrel with make gaps in the pattern. After a cleaning or polishing I run an alcohol patch or two and then fire a couple low brass rounds, brush, dry patch and pattern. Both my guns are much more even and consistent. It's a little more work but the results are much better.
The barrel was free from oil as I ran a bore snake through it after I deep cleaned it. What I didn't do was remove any oil or lube from the choke. It arrived Thursday and like a kid at Christmas I unwrapped the bubble wrap and screwed it into the barrel.
Could an oiled choke cause gaps in a pattern such as these and lower numbers as others are getting with the same setup?
Either way the choke has since been cleaned.
had the same issue with my 870 and Fed. HW shells, I to deep cleaned and run a bore snake down the barrel. Once i re cleaned and used denatured alcohol the numbers and pattern consistency came way up. I do not use a bore snake anymore.
Bore snake will not get oil out. You need denatured alcohol to get the junk out the barrel.
Thanks for the directions on swabbing the barrel with alcohol. While the grill was heating up I proceeded with cleaning the barrel and choke then swabbing with alcohol.
So after deep cleaning just run a patch with denatured alcohol down the barrel? Is there anything you need to do again before you shoot it like run a patch down the barrel or after you do the alcohol patch is it good to go?
I dry brush the bore 4 or 5 passes with a bronze brush of appropriate gauge.
Then I swab the barrel the same amount with a bore mop dampened really well (not soppy wet) with denatured alcohol.
The DA evaporates really quick and the bore stays consistent. Those fcw's are nasty.
And it could be it just likes a dirty barrel I have a 835 that will not shoot with a clean barrel