which load?!?!?

[Bigeclipse]

Hey guys. I have extensively tested Longboards and HEVI mag blends in my gun. This is not a which load works best or anything. I would like to know what your opinions are with my results. OK so here is the deal. At ranges 30 yards and shorter...the HEVI mag absolutely blows the long beards away in my tests. Wider more full patterns allowing for tons of margin of error. I mean at 20 yards with Longboards I will have to be pretty precise because I basically get a softball size group let alone shorter yardages. Now here's the catch at 30-40 yards I still get a larger pattern with the hevis allowing for more margin of error BUT 40 yards is the ABSOLUTE max since I consistently get between 105-130 pellets in a 10 inch ring. It is a full even spread so the least pellets I got on the turkey vertibrae and brain was 5 and the most 15 with 8 shots. Again this is the vertibrae and brain...it is NOT counting shots in the neck area that did not hit bone or brain. The long beards almost consistently double this but again the pattern is still pretty tight...about the size of a basketball where the dense of the pellets hit.

So do you use the hevis knowing that 45 yards may get dicey with the mag blends but everything under that will be a definite kill OR do you use the long beards knowing that at ranges under 30 yards you will have to really be precise with your red dot but you can extend your range to about 50 yards gaining you some ranging errors over the hevis. I try to always shoot under 40 yards.

PS...this was all done at 40 degrees which is a touch cold compared to 50-60s turkey season weather AND the barrel has had about 15 shots through it before testing so not a clean bore which I know both those things will open patterns up so maybe the HEVI would get a bit tighter allowing for slightly longer ranges with a clean bore.

[njdevilsb]

Whichever shell gives you the best chance at 40 yards and in is going to be your best bet.  It sounds like the mag blends give you that.  If you typically hunt in warmer temperatures, you may also see an increase of a few pellets giving you a little more insurance.

Here at oldgobbler, the maximum shooting range that we all consider for turkey is 40 yards.

[Bigeclipse]

Whichever shell gives you the best chance at 40 yards and in is going to be your best bet.  It sounds like the mag blends give you that.  If you typically hunt in warmer temperatures, you may also see an increase of a few pellets giving you a little more insurance.

Here at oldgobbler, the maximum shooting range that we all consider for turkey is 40 yards.

Thanks. I know here at old gobbler 40 is the max acceptable and to me it is as well. I was stating more towards if you think it's 40 but you guessed wrong and it was more 45-50. I am a pretty avid bow hunter for deer and have learned yardage pretty well but we all know sh*t can happen so that is what I was stating. I was really leaning towards the hevis anyways just wondering what others thoughts were.

[taylorjones20]

I would probably choose the hevi shot.  I have both as well and get good patterns with both. But until I put a FFIII on my gun I'm not real comfortable shooting the LB's at close ranges...

[Bigeclipse]

I would probably choose the hevi shot.  I have both as well and get good patterns with both. But until I put a FFIII on my gun I'm not real comfortable shooting the LB's at close ranges...

I gave a FF3 and it rocks but I will say this...at about 15 yards I get a baseball sized pattern with longbeards...I'd hate to pull the gun in excitement and miss even with a red dot.

[bbcoach]

I would probably choose the hevi shot.  I have both as well and get good patterns with both. But until I put a FFIII on my gun I'm not real comfortable shooting the LB's at close ranges...

I gave a FF3 and it rocks but I will say this...at about 15 yards I get a baseball sized pattern with longbeards...I'd hate to pull the gun in excitement and miss even with a red dot.

Sounds to me that you have answered your own question.  What I'm hearing is you don't have enough confidence in your shot placement at close range with the Longbeards so Hevi Mag Blends it is at 40 and under.

[Bigeclipse]

I would probably choose the hevi shot.  I have both as well and get good patterns with both. But until I put a FFIII on my gun I'm not real comfortable shooting the LB's at close ranges...

I gave a FF3 and it rocks but I will say this...at about 15 yards I get a baseball sized pattern with longbeards...I'd hate to pull the gun in excitement and miss even with a red dot.

Sounds to me that you have answered your own question.  What I'm hearing is you don't have enough confidence in your shot placement at close range with the Longbeards so Hevi Mag Blends it is at 40 and under.

That's what I'm leaning towards. I'm a die hard deer hunter used to shooting at an 8-10inch vital zone lol

[longbeards]

First can I ask what choke and size you are shooting? I have shot both rounds and have chosen to shoot Long Beards. I ideally look at the 40 yard pattern. I hunt mountainous country and when a gobbler is within 40 yards, you had better shoot him.   Longbeards is about 1/2 price of the Hevi 13 and does the job well for me. That being said my gun is set up to shoot Hevi 13 Blend. And it shoots it well, almost to the letter of how you describe your testing..keep up the good work. Longbeards

[Bigeclipse]

First can I ask what choke and size you are shooting? I have shot both rounds and have chosen to shoot Long Beards. I ideally look at the 40 yard pattern. I hunt mountainous country and when a gobbler is within 40 yards, you had better shoot him.   Longbeards is about 1/2 price of the Hevi 13 and does the job well for me. That being said my gun is set up to shoot Hevi 13 Blend. And it shoots it well, almost to the letter of how you describe your testing..keep up the good work. Longbeards

Right now I have the hevi 13 choke in it as that is what patterned best for the hevis. I was surprised at this last test as I got many more pellets in 10 ring 4 weeks ago but that was with a clean bore. This last yes had a dirty bore and I'm wondering if that opened the patterns up. What I don't like about the long beards is that no matter which choke I tried the pattern was crazy right until I used a cylinder choke or modified. But then the patterns weren't great at 35 yards. I think it is because the Longbeards I have are the faster with less shot in #5s so there is simply not many pellets where as the hevis have WAY more pellet count. That said...im going to clean the bore and go shoot the hevis a couple times this week at 30 and 40 to see what happens to the patterns.

[longbeards]

I shoot a Rob Roberts .650, when he made it for me I was shooting Hevi 13. It shots a great pattern at 40 yards, but as you pointed out it is pretty tight at 20! I also use rifle sights and always try to bear down on my target. I am turkey hunting starting tomorrow, in WV, Pa, SD and Wy..Killed a 2 year old in MD last Satruday! best longbeards

[Cut N Run]

Are you dead set on shooting Mag Blends?  They shoot poorly out of my gun/choke combo and I have no confidence in their performance. I get superior patterns with straight Hevi #6s or #7s through a SumToy .650.  The (supposed) purpose of shooting Mag Blends is so you have heavier pellets mixed in for longer distances.  I think what ends up happening is you sacrifice the number of pellets to get some larger ones in the shot charge and they don't help hold the pattern together as well as a uniform sized shot pellet (in my experience anyway). If you have questionable number of hits or incomplete patterns at 40 yards with Magnum Blend shells, why not switch to a single size shot?  You'd probably get a more dense pattern, better coverage, or both. 

I shoot a Speed Bead with a Fast Fire II on a SBE II and have taken gobblers inside 12 yards with no problem.  I killed one this past Thursday @ 15 yards with that combo.

I have not tried Longbeards because they likely wouldn't outperform the Hevi 7s I primarily shoot. Plus, I already own many boxes of Hevi 6s & 7s.

Jim

[Bigeclipse]

Are you dead set on shooting Mag Blends?  They shoot poorly out of my gun/choke combo and I have no confidence in their performance. I get superior patterns with straight Hevi #6s or #7s through a SumToy .650.  The (supposed) purpose of shooting Mag Blends is so you have heavier pellets mixed in for longer distances.  I think what ends up happening is you sacrifice the number of pellets to get some larger ones in the shot charge and they don't help hold the pattern together as well as a uniform sized shot pellet (in my experience anyway). If you have questionable number of hits or incomplete patterns at 40 yards with Magnum Blend shells, why not switch to a single size shot?  You'd probably get a more dense pattern, better coverage, or both. 

I shoot a Speed Bead with a Fast Fire II on a SBE II and have taken gobblers inside 12 yards with no problem.  I killed one this past Thursday @ 15 yards with that combo.

I have not tried Longbeards because they likely wouldn't outperform the Hevi 7s I primarily shoot. Plus, I already own many boxes of Hevi 6s & 7s.

Jim

Jim the patterns are not questionable. They are very even just not tons of pellets this last time out. I consistently got 115-130 pellets in 10inch at about 42 yards and again even spread...dead bird. I was only saying the Longbeards at 40 were much tighter but then again they were crazy tight under 30 yards which I didn't like. The very ODD thing is I got MANY more pellets with both mag blend and ling beards the weekend before (in the 160-180 pellet count range) But my bore was VERY clean that weekend so I'm thinking the dirty bore coupled with a cool morning killed the density of my patterns

[longbeards]

I have read that a dirty barrel can affect pattern spread. I pattern mine with a clean bore as with most of my turkey that is what they will be shot with. I am a big believer that temps affect patterns a great deal. This has been what I have seen when I shot Long Beard, Temp 30 degrees, Light to no wind. Pattern is about 15% less then on a similar day with a warm temp..Not being a engineer can someone tell us if this is accurate? and why?

In the am is WVs opening day,,,I pray they gobble! longbeards

[allaboutshooting]

It sounds like the Magnum Blend shells are doing the job for you. I've been very impressed with the "new" Magnum Blends with the #4, #5 & #7 shot in them. They really threw some excellent patterns in my most recent evaluation.

Thanks,
Clark

[owlhoot]

Sounds like you need a clean bore and magblends to take care of all the situations in the turkey woods.