better full than xtra full, is this normal?

[Kevin6Q]

My son and I were patterning his Mossberg 500 Bantam this afternoon and the best patterns came with the full choke. We figured 30 yards was the max distance we'd shoot from.The density was about 10% better and also much more even then the same ammo shot through the xtra full. The Magnum Blend was the best and it was just a bit better with the full choke. We also tried, listed in order of best pattern to not so good, some Hornady3" #5, 2 1/2 Federal #8 game loads, 3" Remington #5 Nitro, 3" Winchester #5 Double X,   3" Winchester #4 Double X, 3" Federal #5 Turkey Loads.

Overall the full choke  had the best patterns. Does this make sense? If so, why? Trying to learn a bit and shooting a lot of ammo through three different chokes at 20, 30, 40 yards was educational  and like a good education, a bit expensive but worth it. We have a good handle on the effective range and feel confident in the choices. With the exception of the Magnum Blend (purely for cost reasons) we're going to deep clean the barrel and re-shoot the Hornady, #8 game loads, and Notros to see if there is a difference and if so, how much.

As an aside, we purchased the end of the newspaper rolls from the local paper which made for great patterning. The paper is 40" wide so we caught most every piece of shot and it was pretty cool seeing the different sized holes from the different sized shot. We hung the paper from a rope stretched between two trees so it was simple and worked very well.

[Philippe]

The reason why patterns get blown is by over constriction. This excess constriction will cause pellet deformation which leads to poor patterns/patchy patterns. With shotshell technology where it is today, I tend to start my patterning with more open chokes and move tighter until I get desired results. If you can find them try the Federal Grand Slams and Golden Phesants.

[The Woodsman]

I had that happen, about all I could say was I hit a 3'x4' piece cardboard. 

[Greg Massey]

I don't look at my choke as trying to spend the most money for a shell .. i look at what choke i want to shoot the best with a variety of shells for turkey hunting.. i think the how many can my gun shoot in a 10 inch circle is way over played...

[sswv]

what Greg said X2.

[surehuntsalot]

a lot of times the full will shoot better than the x full, depending on the choke and/or the shotgun

[Izz74]

My son has Bantam with 22 inch barrel. Best patterns so far have been with Trulock choke tube  Turkey .575 with Federal Heavyweight #7's. Solid 40 yd.
Solid 30 yd. Shooter with Remington Nitro #5's .

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[Izz74]

A couple years ago.

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[Greg Massey]

I don't look at my choke as trying to spend the most money for a shell .. i look at what choke i want to shoot the best with a variety of shells for turkey hunting.. i think the how many can my gun shoot in a 10 inch circle is way over played...

Why a variety of loads? We shoot one shell at a turkey. We find the best load for us and use it, and will experiment with chokes and loads until we find what works for us. We don't need a variety of loads, just one good one.        The reason i like a variety is because i don't always shoot the gun myself i try every year to take youth hunters male/females that don't have anyone to take them hunting. Also depending on the places i hunt i don't always see the need to shoot one of the Federal Hw 7 , They are other shells that can preform just as good in a shorter distance..That's the reason i want my gun to preform to the shells..

The 10" circle thing is simply a way to be able to compare loads with a metric, rather than just say "looks good to me."  "Looks good to me" is usually enough, but counting in 10 and 20" circles can tell you a lot about different chokes and loads and how well they work together. Simply counting pellets isn't enough though, you also want them to be evenly distributed across the pattern.

[Dtrkyman]

Try some federal heavyweight 7s

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[Ihuntoldschool]

Full choke is fine for turkeys.  In some guns you don't gain anything by going tighter than full, other guns you gain better patterns at 35-40 yards but handicap yourself more on a close shot say 20 yards or less.  The tighter the choke and the larger the payload, the less even and consistent the pattern will be in most cases.

[BandedSpur]

If you end up using fine lead shot, I wouldn't trust 8s past 25 yds or so. 7.5s will kill to 30 (at 1100 fps) provided you have the pattern density.