I started having heart troubles a while back and the docs orders were not to shoot a 12 gauge any time soon. So, i took the plunge and got a 870 youth 20 gauge with the 21" barrel. From there I got an ssx choke and shooting federal hw #7's. Here's the thing I am only averaging about 100 hits in a 10" circle. The barrel has been polished and it has a red dot so my poa and poi are the same. Isn't this a low count?
O yeah. I have also tried a ic, tight wad, and jelly head and none got above 90 in the 10".
Sounds low to me. Are you certain poa/poi is the same.I assume you shot it at 15-20 yards with a dove load to check ???
I am positive. Just in case I was off though I shot at a 4' by 4' piece of cardboard and that was at the most dense area.
My 870 youth actually prefers the more open choke....I am shooting a Sumtoy 570 in mine after trying all of his chokes. At no time did I ever get numbers that low. What lot number shells are you shooting???
PHT258F 7
Quote from: brandonmacd1 on March 20, 2013, 10:44:49 PM
PHT258F 7
That's the model # for the 20 gauge loads. The Lot # is located inside one of the end flaps on the box.
I don't have any sense. I have never looked at one to be honest. It is 5P-37PN737 it looks like. The ink is pretty patchy
i would suggest to anyone shooting fed heavywieghts out of a 20 to try a carlsons non ported .575, ive shot em out of several guns and havent found a choke that shoots a flite control wad better. for less than 30 bucks its a great investment...
Quote from: brandonmacd1 on March 20, 2013, 11:22:42 PM
I don't have any sense. I have never looked at one to be honest. It is 5P-37PN737 it looks like. The ink is pretty patchy
Very low 10" count. I have the same lot number and have shot two shell.and they averaged 167. Give Sumtoy a call and he will get ya going
I shoot a .570 undertaker in my 870. It has a 26 inch unpolished barrel and I get 140's average in the 10" at 40 yards.
OK before you go spending lots of money on different chokes there are a few things I would suggest.
Make sure your barrel is clean with NO sign of oil in the barrel. I would even suggest swabbing it with rubbing alcohol until it is super clean and dry. My next thing would be to try a different box of shells. There are occasions where you just get a bad batch. Although it doesn't happen a lot, I have seen it.
If you are saying that you have tried an Indian Creek and got similar numbers something is definitely up and I don't think it's the choke. I have seen my patterns vary due to oil in the barrel by more than 200 holes in the 10" so it does happen.
If none of that works, then I would start the choke search. My first call or pm would be to william at Sumtoy. He will work with you and get the choke you need for your gun.
Thanks for all of the help everybody. I finally found some hevi 13 #7's, so I am going to clean my barrel again and give them a try. I only have until April 7th before surgery so I hope they work so I can hit the woods. If not I guess the choke hunt is on again.
Not trying to be a smart a** but are you sure they are actually 7's. Correct me if im wrong fellas, but I think last year there were some guys that had heavyweight 7's that were loaded with 6's from the factory.
seems like it. The pellets are there its just not very dense.
I had similar results out of an 1187 Compact 20. I tried chokes from .550 - .572 and only broke 100 once. Guy sitting next to me used my shells in his 870 Compact with a .550 SSX and got 150-170. Never could figure it out. I never tried the alchohol cleaning, but neither did he. Odd and frustrating. I went with the Hevi 7s and had over 140. Maybe I will try the alcohol because I would much rather shoot the HW 7s.
Alright, I cleaned my barrel with alcohol today and went out to shoot again. The farthest shot I could get was 38 yards but close enough i guess. First, the bad news, with the federal HW #7's I was still getting 100 hits in the 10". Now the good news, I think, with Heavy 13 #7's I am averaging 148. What do you guys think? Stick with it or try another choke?
It will do the job for sure, but you could try another choke, you can never have too many chokes.
Quote from: brandonmacd1 on March 21, 2013, 12:11:54 PM
seems like it. The pellets are there its just not very dense.
Could be, but I am running in the 120's with HWT 6's in my 21" with a SumToy 562-5.
Its seems like that Federal FCW is finicky with chokes. Good move on the switch to the Hevi 7s. You won't put a gobblers head in that circle and not roll him. :OGturkeyhead:
I had the same problem today. I put 100 in ten inches at 40 with heavyweight 7's. Thru a REM super full hevi.870 youth 20. Dead on at 15 yards with dove loads. I had a tighter pattern at 20 with dove load than I did with the heavyweight 7s. I don't know what to do now. Mind you the wind was howling. Any suggestions?
The only thing I can suggest is try some heavy 13 #7's. my barrel was polished and cleaned with alcohol and just simply didn't like the federals with any choke I tried.
Thanks again for all the inputs and help fellas! It was much appreciated.
Will an evenly dispersed 100 in a 10 @ 40 do the deed?
I would say so. I hunted with an old single shot for a couple of years that was getting far less than 100 and never missed one. I did limit my shots to less than 40 though. I prob would have stuck with the federals if I was getting a nice even pattern but it wasn't at all. I also tried other shells and chokes just because there are so many people getting well over 100 in the 10, so I thought why not mine. That's just my 2 cents though, I'm sure some veterans here can give you more advice.
Quote from: brandonmacd1 on March 21, 2013, 06:20:52 PM
Alright, I cleaned my barrel with alcohol today and went out to shoot again. The farthest shot I could get was 38 yards but close enough i guess. First, the bad news, with the federal HW #7's I was still getting 100 hits in the 10". Now the good news, I think, with Heavy 13 #7's I am averaging 148. What do you guys think? Stick with it or try another choke?
That will kill a bird all day and twice on Sunday!!!!! Each gun has their liking. My gun never did shoot hevi's very well. I would always run in the low 120's. All however, will bust a bird stone dead. One more question, what is the outside temp of where you are shooting?
I am not really sure exactly what it was. I'm pretty sure it was in the 60's both days that I shot though.
Quote from: jtoliver43 on March 21, 2013, 09:18:07 PM
Will an evenly dispersed 100 in a 10 @ 40 do the deed?
Shoot, I reckon so..... :OGturkeyhead: