blue said:
1. Does the choke matter? The cup contains the entire load in the barrel, and stays with the load for a brief time if I understand it correctly (Love slow shotgun firing footage on youtube!
) So how does the gun's choke really affect the pattern? Anybody test that aspect? This could be the dumbest question ever, but I'm curious.
Yes and no. Defensive/duty loads are typically geared towards an IC or C barrel. The Federal and Hornady wads (they are the same actually) are designed to keep the shot together by the action of the wad after it leaves the barrel. The plating and buffering along with the propellant help out as well.
Choke matters in that you can have too much choke, which will cause the shot to slam together. That can deform the shot or disrupt it if the restriction is too tight, resulting in bad patterning.
2. I have read random folks on the net saying that a ported barrel will "kill" some of the advantages of the design by hastening the seperation. Anybody know if there is any truth to this? Not a problem with my 590a1 18.5 barrel, but the 28 incher I have on the way is ported and comes with choketubes.
The porting problem is typically with ported chokes, rather than ported barrels, which are usually ported farther back from the muzzle. The porting can disrupt the gasses and shot cup as the shot cup exits the barrel. That is the hangup with ports and FC.
I have a ported 930 SPX barrel that shoots FC loads just fine.
Rossignol said:
So now I'm curious too. How will a choke (or barrel work) improve the pattern of FC loads?
Depending on the choke you may see no difference. As above, if the choke is too constrictive it can interrupt the passage of the shot cup or slow it down/deform it slightly, which will mess up the shot as it sits in the cup. Ported choke tubes can unevenly depoly the FC cups, and the ones that have "fingers" inside the choke that are meant to peel the shot cup/wads away from the shot itself will mess FC loads right up.
cavscout said:
that's the eternal question i have; how would the barrel work, i.e. lenghting the forcing cone and polishing inside the barrel, improve the performance of Flitecontrol ammo? AimPro says their barrel work improves any buckshot performance but is specifically designed for FC ammo. I certainly don't doubt their claim, I plan on sending my 590 to them in a couple months. Im just curious as to how it makes an outstanding round even better. hmmmm... :?:
The forcing cone work eases the transition of the shot load from the shell into the bore by lengthening the "ramp." This allows less of the disruption that I've mentioned that occur even with FC loads inside the bore. It prevents the shot cup (and thus the shot) from being immediately squeezed down, which can deform the shot slightly. This allows the shot to be more sperical and the FC wad to retain its shape better, and fly "truer." This prevents asymmetrical opening of the shot cup, which is what leads to pattern spread and holes in the pattern. In effect, it allows the FC loads to extend the B zone out a little farther than normal.
catnphx said:
How can it get much better than 1 inch pattern at 10 yards (my experience)?
Look at it the other way: rather than having a pattern that is X inches across at Y yards, you have a pattern that is X inches across at Y+10 yards. It won't appreciably tighten the pattern at close range (usually unless you just have a bad barrel or a barrel that doesn't like a particular load), but it will keep the pattern tighter longer.
blue said:
That's my question as well. I'm mentally dealing with the fact that regardless of the choke, when the shot leaves the cup, it's the diameter of the cup, no?
Yes, but that cup is the diameter of the muzzle as well.
So whatever happened before that event is irrelevant. It seems like it's an ultra-mega-double-full-bore in a shell.
Not exactly. Yes, if you have a restriction before the muzzle that then opens back up to the diameter of the muzzle prior to the end of the barrel, then that restriction won't do much to keep the pattern tightly concentrated. However it WILL potentially deform the projos, causing them to become less spherical. It can also increase drag if you will upon the shot cup, disrupting the cup and load, thus impacting pattern.
nitesite said:
If you are seeking to "tighten up" the pattern of Federal FliteControl buckshot ammo by sending your barrel off to AimPro or anybody else, or changing chokes, you are wasting your money. You might as well just spend the money buying TruBall slugs or more FliteControl Buck and shoot a lot more, which most of us really ought to do more often.
Unless you just want to tighten up the FC pattern at longer ranges, in which case it isn't wasting your money. Some people also may not be allowed to use slugs, and some may be required to use buck. As such, the barrel work can make sense.
But I will agree that shooting more is usually a good idea.
