Shotgun patterns

SCOUT5

I have a lot of work to do.  I just bought four new extended choke tubes for the 1100.  They are labeled for steel shot so for lead I have to reverse what is normal as in instead of modified equaling full it's full equals modified etc..  Of course that's not a big deal.  The work comes in because I have to shoot several different loads of lead shot and several different loads of steel shot to determine what loads to use with what tube and how/where the gun is shooting them.

I not only need to do this with that gun but with a few others as well.   Sure it's fun work, but it's work.  I'll need 35+ 3'x3' targets, the time to set up, change them all out, change tubes, change loads and document all of it so I know what's what.   That's just for one gun.

Maybe I should just drop down to one shotgun, but where's the fun in that.

hillbille

if you have a couple old rolls of christmas paper you can use the back, white side, one roll should get you close the the 35 targets you need only they would be closer to 2ft wide instead of 3ft......

Chief Shaway

Widest rolls of freezer paper could work too. 

SCOUT5

Being a roofer I used to use tar paper because I usually had a roll handy.   I think I have some old rolls of wrapping paper, I hadn't thought of them.   When we did hot roofs we used what we called rice paper (wasn't really rice paper)  in 3' wide rolls to prevent tar seepage and that was handy for this. 

I was thinking of buying some wide rolls of the brown parchment paper.   The butcher paper would work too, I'll have to see what I can round up. 

nononsense

We have a small printer in town who prints the local small town newspaper, shopper and other assorted published journals using newsprint. They sell the roll ends from the presses in various widths and lengths. Last time I bought some it was x number of cents per pound of each roll. My guess is that they charge a break even price just to get rid of the leftovers. But I've used this cheap material as targets for quite some time. It works especially well at the shotgun range because of the  number of larger targets you can get from the roll.

Best.

notnow

Newspaper paper. They wont start the presses with a short roll. They just take it off and put a new one on. The short rolls get set aside. Around here they'll sell them cheap to people who ask for them. They're handy to have. For shotgun targets, painting, dust covering, quick packing material and for kids to finger paint and whatever.

toad67

notnow said:

Newspaper paper. They wont start the presses with a short roll. They just take it off and put a new one on. The short rolls get set aside. Around here they'll sell them cheap to people who ask for them. They're handy to have. For shotgun targets, painting, dust covering, quick packing material and for kids to finger paint and whatever.

As liberal as the Oregonian is, I wouldn't take it for free, and line a cat box.....

jimdeere

Have you bought any freezer paper lately? That stuff is sky high this time of year, deer season, butchering season, etc. Almost impossible to find around here.
Like the Christmas paper idea.

Alpine

Steel plate and grease. 

SCOUT5

Not rice paper rather it was rosin paper.  I must be slipping, but then it's been  over 25 years since I've put on a hot tar roof.   I see where I can still buy that reasonable, a 55 yard roll is about 14 bucks.

The news paper rolls are something I hadn't thought of.  I'll need to check into that.

rufe-snow

SCOUT5 said:

I have a lot of work to do.  I just bought four new extended choke tubes for the 1100.  They are labeled for steel shot so for lead I have to reverse what is normal as in instead of modified equaling full it's full equals modified etc..  Of course that's not a big deal.  The work comes in because I have to shoot several different loads of lead shot and several different loads of steel shot to determine what loads to use with what tube and how/where the gun is shooting them.

I not only need to do this with that gun but with a few others as well.   Sure it's fun work, but it's work.  I'll need 35+ 3'x3' targets, the time to set up, change them all out, change tubes, change loads and document all of it so I know what's what.   That's just for one gun.

Maybe I should just drop down to one shotgun, but where's the fun in that.

If it was me, I would just stick to one shotgun. Seems like way to much work, for very little reward. But life is short. If it's something you enjoy doing, go for it.

I do agree with the gentleman, regarding the steel plate though. Seems that a plate with cheap spray paint. Would cut down the aggravation factor quite a bit.

I use to use staplers and duct tape to hang my paper targets, (not at the same time). Last year went to various types of alligator clips. Resulted in greater  improvement. For shotgun pattering, steel plate would still be much less of a hassle.

BobJudy

Alpine said:

Steel plate and grease. 

That's what we use at the gun club. Works great for a place where it is left out and used often. At home the newsprint is more convenient. We have a roll end that is 10 years old and haven't used half of it yet. Simple fold up frame stores in garage until needed. No muss, no fuss and no greasy plate to have to deal with. Bob

SCOUT5

I use the 40 yards and 30" circle method to determine what patterns the gun/ammo is throwing, if there are any holes and if the pattern is centered.   I'll pattern steel goose loads out further to see what max range is.   Of course some combinations I check at closer ranges to see what they can do.   There's not much sense in checking an open bore or spreader choke set ups at 40 yards.

4205raymond

SCOUT5, Finished restoring another 37 Winchester today. I really enjoy restoring these old 37's. Did some studying up on pattering the Chokes a few months ago. Full, Imp Mod, Mod, Imp Cyl, Cyl. Sounds like a lot of work to do it right. Have fun. Think i will stick to restoring.---------Ray

SCOUT5

When I was young the 37 was very popular especially the "Red letter" ones.      

bambihunter

I used to have a different shotgun for different seasons/targets. Back in ~1996 I heard of this foreign semi-auto shotgun that could shoot 2.75", 3" and 3.5" mags in any order, without adjustment. I drove over 3 hours just to go see and hold it. I liked it, so I started saving for it as it was expensive. I finally went back and brought it home. It is/was the Benelli Super Black Eagle. After I used it some and I loved it, I slowly started selling all my other 12 gauges. The best part was, when going from season to season, there wasn't a drop in my shooting accuracy like there always was with different guns. Same gun, just switch chokes as needed. Later I also bought a rifled slug barrel and Leupold 2x7x32 Shotgun scope with QR mounts so I could use open sights if needed.

I had a .22lr/ .410 and a mint 1100LW in .410 with full barrel set. But, I hadn't owned any other 12 gauge shotguns for the next 15+ years but recently started to collect (not hunt with) other Benelli's as well (m1, M3T (folder), M4 (NP3 H2O version and regular) and Montefeltro. Now that I just collect these others, I do have a few other 12 gauge's on my list however. I want a Franchi SPAS-12 and SPAS-15, perhaps an Ithaca 37, and Winchester 1897.