Winchester Long beard XR

[DirtNap647]

maybe they mean copper plated

[Narf]

I haven't seen the "heavier than lead" advertisement either, but I know from pulling pellets out of a bird, they are coated lead and perfectly round. I'm guessing nickel coating. One thing to keep in mind when purchasing XR's is the shot in them is European shot size.  This means 5's are what we usually call 6's etc...shot size is one size smaller than our standard. I read this and measured for myself. 


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This is not completely true. I have sampled the shot size in a #5 LB. I checked about 30 pellets. Of those this is what I found. I had 1 being just oversized at .121 and 5 at exactly .120. I had 2 at .112 and 1 at .113. The largest majority of the pellets were in the .115 to .118 range with 8 of them being .117. I had no exact #6 pellets out of the ones I checked. Most measured what I would call a 6 5/8 to 6 3/4, lol. I will say that all the pellets were very round. I have also shot the #5 at 50 yds. thru a heavy tin soup can, every pellet that hit the can past completely threw both sides. Tried the same test with a #6 LB's twice. One time all the pellets past threw the front side and dented the back side with 4 passing completely thru. The other one all but 2 past thru the front side and dented the back side with no pass thrus. I've shot 3 turkeys with the #5 LB's this year and seen 2 others killed with them, they flat get the job done and after all my testing I have complete confidence in them.

You are correct. Out of the three I checked, they measured .113, .114, and .114.5 from a #5. I should have stated it as they are closer to the next size smaller shot. I have complete confidence as well and didn't mean to imply anything negative. Just that they may not be the size you think. The bird I shot didn't twitch at all at 30 yards. I actually wish he had, so the jakes would come in for my pops to get a shot. I refuse to cut a shell open, so I'll have to shoot another one so I can measure some more:)


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[deerbasshunter3]

This is what it says on the Cabela's website:

"Do some long-distance turkey slamming at a fraction of the cost of most popular heavier-than-lead loads. Winchester Long Beard XR Turkey Shotshells drop old tom at distances beyond 40 yds. Thanks to Shot-Lok™ Technology, your shot is protected during in-bore acceleration, launching the round in a near-perfect circle for hard-hitting and extremely tight long-range patterns. The results – 10% greater penetration over standard lead loads beyond 50 yds and twice the number of pellets in a 10" circle out to 60 yds. Per 10."

Again, I'm new to turkey hunting, and pretty much anything other what somebody may give me to shoot, so when it doesn't say exactly what it is, ie: lead, steel, etc... then I don't have a clue. I promise I am not a moron but I just don't have the knowledge about this stuff yet. I'm assuming that since it says "greater penetration over standard lead loads beyond 50 yards" that it is saying it is also lead.

[jblackburn]

I guess the resin that encapsulates the shot keeping it more round increases penetration??  Not sure, never fired a LB.  They are lead, though. 100% sure on that.  Could be the size of the shot like some of the others posted.

[bmhern]

I don't know about shot size, but I can say that I shot 2 birds this year with #6's , one at 15 and one at 40 yds. and they did  a very good job on both birds. For the money the Longbeards are a winner!
                                                                                                     

[Tommythreetoes]

It says "heavier than lead performance"...not that it IS "heavier than lead".  Those sneaky advertisers are slippery.

[Yoder409]

I have some really mixed feelings about the whole LBXR thing.

The thing that bothers me is the marketing.  A #6 copper-plated lead pellet at 1200 fps is just that.......... a #6 copper-plated lead pellet.  Doesn't matter what color shotgun shell it came out of, it is going to retain (to within a statistically insignificant difference) the same per-pellet energy at any given range as any other #6 copper-plated lead pellet fired at 1200 fps.  Heck !!  The Supreme HV's were #6's at 1300 fps !!  And they patterned really well too.  There's not going to be a huge difference at, say, 40 yards or 50 yards but................. a #6 copper-plated lead pellet from the old Supreme HV shell will retain more energy at any distance than the new "hot rod" LBXR.

The thing the LBXR has going for it is, obviously, it patterns like a MONSTER !!!!!!  The first one I shot at 30" paper at 40 yards had, from an educated guess, 90% of the pellets in a 12" circle !!!!!!!!  Never saw ANYTHING like it !!!!!!  What I'm thinking is that a guy who has been shooting Brand XYZ #6's can probably get the exact same pattern density now out of a LBXR with #5's or maybe even #4's and effectively increase his lethal range by keeping good pattern density with the larger, harder hitting pellets.