After several attempts to get the new Longbeards ammo from Winchester I was able to get some thanks to Cabelas!! I had some time today, and was dying to try out this ammo and see if it will hold up to its hype. So I have attached what I have been able to find out from shooting a few of them down range. I used a Benelli M1, tricked out for turkey. There will be patterns attached that are from the same gun but with Hevi-13 loads and Federal Heavy Weight No 7 Shot. This should give the average turkey addict like myself some idea of what these new Winchesters are capable of. I shot a lot, and am lucky enough to live where I can have a bench at the house and range to shoot.
Weather
15 degrees with no wind
Distance
40 yards, shot off of a solid bench with a Lead Sled,,,If you don't have a lead sled,,,GET ONE!! Man does that save your shoulder and puts your point of impact right on.
Gun
Benelli M1, 21 inch tube, that is my turkey go to.
Rob Roberts .650 choke that I had set up to shoot Hevi-13 MagBlend
I had hoped to do this with 3 different turkey guns, but due to limited ammo supply I was unable to.
Ammo
Target No 1 Winchester Elite Long Beard, 1.75oz of No 6 Shot
10 inch circle 120 hits
20 inch circle 155 hits
Total of 275 hits in the combined in the 10 and 20 inch
Conclusion=That is a very dead turkey at 40 yards, more then enough shot in the target kill area. vey few flyers. NO shot on the back of the paper, all penetrated the board. (will do some penetration tests after I get more ammo) I believe Winchester has a good turkey load, and as they advertise, for less then half the price of Hevi shot, with almost as good of a pattern.
Target No 2
Hevi-13 2oz Mag Blend, 5-6-7 shot
20 inch circle has 323 hits.
This was shot with the same gun, choke and distance
Target No 3
Hevi-13 oz 6 shot
20inch circle 414 hits.
Conclusion
I am just a turkey hunter who tries to hunt with the ammo that does the best job for me. Though it appears that some Hevi-13 may produce more hits, I believe that Winchester has come up with a round that will compete with them in the woods at better then half the money. With 4 kids, I am going to give the Winchester a try this year. I feel it will preform as well in the woods as Hevi-13
Longbeards ( CANT ATTACH PICS),,,will try to get them to post later this evening..
