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Forums10
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Jul 28th, 2025
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,493 Likes: 291
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 14,493 Likes: 291 |
Dinglefutz, you made me remember the last batch of my favorite duck loads that I loaded just before the no tox shot loads were mandated. I used to load worn AA empties with 1 1/4 ounces of soft #4 shot, a #114 Winchester wad and just enough Herco to reach 1150 to 1175 fps. It is a low pressure load, probably safe in any Damascus barrel, but deadly on big mallards and pheasants. In those days, I didn't have to use them on pheasants, but today I might. I have a few of those shells left, use them only for pattern tests on big Parkers and Foxes. I would feel very comfortable with those loads in a cylinder bore gun on preserve pheasants.
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 978 Likes: 51
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 978 Likes: 51 |
I think the main attraction to choke sleeving vs. Briley's, at least for me, is the roughly $300 price difference.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,574 Likes: 167
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 11,574 Likes: 167 |
my experience mirrors Greg's on wild roosters. I like a bit more choke to penetrate the back of a going away bird. Crossing birds and incomers are a different story, but we do not get that many of those over my Springers compared to the going away birds. One thing that I learned in those days is that shot penetration on pheasants has a lot more to do with pellet energy than it does with choke. In cold weather, even #6 shot can offer marginal penetration on going-away shots due, I suspect to the effect of the cold on powders and primers and, possibly, to the ability of plastic wads to "seal". Increasing choke results in a decrease in pattern area, but an increase in pattern density--the result being a pattern that's more effective at longer range. Although the shotgun remains a short range weapon, the discovery of choke made it into a slightly longer range weapon. Another reason that penetration on pheasants becomes more of an issue in cold weather is the birds themselves. Early season, you're shooting quite a few roosters of the year that aren't yet fully fledged. While birds don't grow a heavier coat of feathers to keep them warm in winter (as do many mammals), by late season the birds of the year will be more heavily feathered than they were just a couple months earlier, simply due to maturation. Late season pheasants are also carrying more fat than mid to late October birds. They're storing it up as extra insulation to get them through the coldest part of the winter, when snow can be deep and food scarce. Especially on going-away shots at some distance, penetration can be an issue.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,883 Likes: 21
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,883 Likes: 21 |
I think there's truth to both sides of the discussion above.
1. You need enough shot to cover the target to increase the probability of a vital hit.
2. You need enough retained energy in each of those pellets to penetrate to the vitals.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 12,743 |
Those two facts accuratley stated by Chuck is why the Shotgun is a short range firearm. An improvement on either will most often result in a loss for the other. For any given situation one simply has to try & work out the best balance between the two.
Miller/TN
I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra
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