This thread shows you that it's a shotgun by shotgun deal. There is no reason chopping a barrel 2" should improve patterns, but it did. My 18.5" beaded 870 barrel shoots like Lt. Dave's Nova. My 18.5" Remington RS barrel doesn't. If you throw down for a Caesar Guerini it will probably pattern predictably, but at the bottom of mass produced shotgun barrels not so much.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.
Here is LE 127 00 vs. LE 133 00 from my Benelli SNT 18.5" CYL, 10 shots of each, at 25 yards. I counted the strikes, but I cannot exclude the possibility that 2 or more pellets travelled through the same hole.
I'm looking forward to seeing that ^^^^^.
I patterned Hornady TAP 00 Light Magnum and TAP 00 Reduced Recoil loads yesterday in my Benell M4 with stock Modified mobil choke. The Hornady RR load patterned really well, but won't currently cycle the gun. The LM pattern was about double the size of the RR starting at 10 yards, and I'm thinking the greater velocity of the LM (1600fps*) vs the RR (1100fps*) combined with the Modified choke, is starting to strip the Flight Control/VersaTite wad prematurely causing the LM to open up quicker.
I just placed an order with Trulock for a .725 Cylinder choke to see if that will help with the LM patterns.
Since posting above, I went searching for additional information, and found the following two YT videos. In the first, he is testing shotguns for HD purposes against his control, which is a 6.8spc AR. He tests Fed FC 00 and #1 through a CYL bore 870 and also a Benelli M4 with factory Modified choke. My results with Hornady TAP Light Magnum at ten yards were very similar to his at 9 yards. The CYL bore 870 performs considerably better, and he comes to the same conclusion that I have, which is the MOD choke in the Benelli is affecting the FC wad and causing the patterns to open. He states his intention is to purchase a CYL choke for the M4 and try again. Unlike many, he made good on his statement, and does another video testing.
In the follow-up video, he's purchased a CYL choke for the M4, and his patterns are MUCH better, basically matching the CYL 870. I'm hoping for the same positive results, and look forward to getting my Trulock CYL choke.
The videos are long enough that it's easy to skip around and see results. Or, you can just watch the second video as he reviews the target results from both videos.
ETA: I think just comparing how much the wad separates from the pattern in the MOD choke vs the CYL choke is very telling.
Last edited by StraitR; 04-06-2018 at 03:08 PM.