I've ised BB in that past but personally prefer a denser pattern. 2 shot is kinda my go to, but for ducks I'll use shot and even 4s now. Good stuff sir, always look forward to your uploads.
You’re welcome for the clamp idea George! Too bad your range wont let you use a metal stand otherwise you’d be saving even more time with the patterning stand idea.
I use a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT2 and average out 3 shots because I have found variations between individual shells. Probably would get even more representative results from 5 or 10 but I can't afford to go that far. But with the Lead Sled I think I could if I had the money and the time.
So for 7 chokes I'd be doing 21 shots which hours of counting. That's just more than I can put in to improve the margin of error by a couple points. Maybe one day I'll get a pattern counting machine!
I’d love to see those Muller chokes shooting the Kent Fasteel 1 3/8oz #2s at 1300 fps since that’s what Muller recommends no faster than 1300fps for the best pattern
Excellent video George, my question though is if I can use BB steel shot thru a Kicks hi flyer choke in my Beretta A400 xtreme plus. Beretta says that I shouldn't use that size steel through the Beretta full choke. What's your opinion on this?
Used the full Carlson on most all of the shotguns I own and they work great but I have found the limitation to be a fast 1550 steel load like the Challengers #2 and BB pattern well but the increased constriction from bigger load is too much and they lose a lot of energy, saw quite ducks and geese take direct hits drop feathers everywhere but not go down, also saw quite a few BB's that hit the wings and embedded themselves just under the skin without doing any damage - this was at 35-40 yards. Would love to see this exact test repeated on some gel as a penetration test.
I have a box of the same but in #3 on my shelf for testing. I will be shocked if it performs as good as the Fasteel though. The Kent has been a consistent top performer in all shot sizes thus far.
I have an o/u cheap stoeger synthetic(299new)that loves a crematoe mid and full with bb size. I have a few cases of winhster super snow goose loads I git for about 11tbox. I have zero issues shooting decoying ducks or geese with it it crunchs them pretty good and in no way overkill
Heres something weird for you George ! I have a beretta A350 (same as a400 basically) and I have a trulock extended hunter modified and a Carlson cremator mid range that got expanded from steel BB shot … both companies came good and replaced the chokes and i have only shot #2 and smaller without issue since
That is on the choke companies for sure. I did another video on whether choke tubes wear out and I asked a bunch of companies and they all said no. And most had a lifetime guarantee. So I would definitely make them honor it if something goes wrong with a load combo they say the tube is rated for.
Great video George. I did some patterning last week with Migra 2/4 load and Federal BB. I’m with you on density. BB loads leave a lot of holes. That 2/4 shot an incredible pattern for me with the mid range Carlson choke. Better than the long range choke.
Another great vid, George! I really enjoy all the data you come up with. I shoot boss with a muller passing, mostly 3s and 4s, and have been considering a UFO for boss 2s for geese.
I’m pretty sure that surviving duck season guy was promoting an app that counted the holes in the paper when patterning in one of his videos about debunking the shot string theory.
Mossberg full choke may be same constriction as imp modified or modified choke in another gun.. So folks , check with your own gun obviously. Thanks for all your awesome videos and info. Much appreciated.
@@TheNewHuntersGuide I think the Mossberg full condtriction is .700 ? I did get same results in the Beretta imp modified which is .700. Best pattern I found for BB. Thanks for sharing great content and showing hard work! 👍
Nice. Where did you find it? I've only seen it for sale by the case. I even asked Kent if I could get a box for testing, but as usual they never responded.
Shot BB kent precision steel1600fps. really bad patterns at 40yrds. SX4 and carlsons' cremator mid range. I'll try factory full next time. You are right, waste of money. I won't use BB steel anymore.
Yea, it's just not capable of patterning well enough to reliably and consistently hit birds in vital areas. Unless they are close, which negates the point of BB shot lol.
@TheNewHuntersGuide I'd like to see BB shot through a IC choke. Maybe all other chokes are too narrow for the pellets. Another issue someone pointed out is that 1500 fps is too fast best would be under 1400fps. Hypersonic speeds causes the pellets to destabilize.
That might make a difference, but ultimately, there aren't enough pellets in the shell to get enough pattern density. If you get 100% pattern density, that's still only 90 pellets. I think steel BB shot is a fundamentally flawed idea for bird hunting, it only exists because of marketing.@@jeansandmyshirt
@TheNewHuntersGuide you have a point. I'll stick with #4 and #2 for ducks. I'm still having trouble jump shooting ducks. Haven't gone to practice clay shooting maybe that's why I can't hit any flying duck 😂
I would think that the results of the Carlson improved modified choke would have had been between Carlson modified and full. I believe the Carlson modified ID is .720 and improved modified is at .715 and full is at .710.
Yea, but chokes are not as much of an exact science as people want them to be. Constriction is only 1 variable affecting pattern performance. There is also some variability between wads, shot size, etc. Certain constrictions could just be bad for some loads. Also, could just be that particular shot patterned poorly. I find BB shot tends to pattern the most inconsistent of anything I've ever shot, another reason I don't use it.
Just thought I would let you know that I went to the marsh last week with STEEL. Half an hour after high tide two wigeon came in to the left of the decoys, I got the first one and the other turned back; Killed with the third shot. Then a double on teal, another double on wigeon. Then two for two. Another teal and lots of single wigeon. Ending up with 9 wigeon and 3 teal. What was I using? A 1/4 choke out of my Browning A5; with 1-1/4 oz 3's (3.5mm) for the first and second shot with 1-3/8 oz 2's (3.8mm) for the last. And used twice for cripple stopping- the water erupted. Who needs Tungsten or Bismuth? My vented 1/2 choke and a reloaded 3-1/2" case with 1-1/2 oz of STEEL BB.s gives me 116 pellets in a 30" circle- devastating. Looking forward to your further tests with STEEL.
Those are great results! I would still never walk into the woods with steel again if I could help it. But I don't hunt where you hunt or how you hunt. About 70% of my birds are taken on foot at extended range.
Thanks for this video!!! This video just confirmed and solidified it for me. I’m completely satisfied with my Carlson’s sporting clays “MODIFIED” chokes (I have two). I have some MEGA expensive o/u’s double guns and I’m not about to risk any possible damage by tightening down a choke that’s more constrictive than the Carlson’s “Modified.” For me, sometimes “good enough,” just is. 68% is good enough and not the end of the world for me. In fact, this video impressed me because I thought the numbers were a little better than expected. I’m not a big goose hunter anyway but the handful of times I’ve done it, I was successful with the Carlson’s modified choke tubes and using #2 steel shot. Of course I know that BB shot is a harder hitter than #2 steel.
BBs or larger shot, the circle should be a maximum of 24 inch diameter. 24 inch pattern will consistently kill snow geese without cripples at 70 yards. A perfectly even pattern across 24 inches will get clean kills.
@@TheNewHuntersGuide Briley, .015 choke in a Beretta steelium barrel or Briley.025 choke in Winchester .741 barrel and a Briley .030 choke in a 935 Mossberg .773 Barrel.
@@TheNewHuntersGuide I don’t know about you but during a duck season I will shoot 8 to 10 boxes of shells and at $42 bucks a box ( probably more ) that’s a lot of money , $25 bucks a box is bad enough ! Thanks for all your work doing the video , I wouldn’t have thought the full choke would be the best pattern . I will try a full choke this season . I usually shoot # 2 Steel with an improved mod choke , it looks like a full choke is better !…..
Yea, I don't go through that many shells in a hunting season. So for me, its a non issue. A case will last me about 3 years. Maybe more if I don't keep using the shells to make RU-vid videos, ha.@@thomasdaum1927
@@TheNewHuntersGuide You might consider reloading that way you can load the velocity and size of shot also chose the wad you like ! Right now I am loading 1 oz of # 2s at 1700 fps ( over the chronograph ) !
