2 Attachment(s)
Patterning Federal FliteControl
Here are a couple pics of patterns I shot with Federal FliteControl Low Recoil (Tactical) buck and two different shotguns:
1) Remington 870 18" barrel with IC choke:
Attachment 22380
2) Mossberg 590A1 18" barrel with cyl. choke:
Attachment 22379
The top pattern in each picture is the FC 8 pellet 00 buck load, the bottom pattern is the FC #1 buck 15 pellet load. All patterns are at 15 yards. The 870 with the IC choke patterns are +- 4 inches, the 590A1 with the cyl. barrel are 2 1/4" for the 8 pellet 00 buck, and 1-1.5" for the 15 pellet #1 buck. The Shoot-n-See targets were placed on thin plywood the wad cannot penetrate. I find this helpful as the wad tends to impact the target pretty close to the pattern, and can obscure the pellet distribution. The smear on the upper target for the 590 is where the wad impacted, FYI. Looks like the wad followed the 590 #1 buck pattern right through the pattern 'hole' as I found no evidence if an impact anywhere else on the plywood. The second small Shoot-n-See target is another #1 buck pattern I shot with the same gun a few month's ago.
Conclusions:
- Mossberg 590 shoots really tight patterns with the FC, especially the #1 buck load.
- A choked barrel grabs the FC wad and separates it from the shot load earlier than a cyl. bore. Even a tight bore might have this effect as well. My 870 with the IC barrel shoots consistently larger patterns than my cylinder bore guns. Still, 4" patterns at 15 yards is still freakin awesome.
The IC choked 870 does seem to shoot slugs more consistently, so it's kind of nice to have.
Note: The #1 buck 870 pattern is missing a pellet as it impacted just off the Shoot-n-See sticker.