Buckshot Pattern Test

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Picked up a few different brands of 2-3/4" 00 and #4 buckshot to see how it prints...



Left to right - Spartan 00, Olin Corp 00, Rio Royal 00, Hevi-Shot #4, Federal #4


All rounds were fired at 10 yd through my 930 Tactical...




Here are the results on target:

Spartan 2-3/4" 00 Buck:
MFG#: SA1200
Pellets: 9
Velocity: 1315 fps
Actual Length: 2.27"
Price: $12.99 / 25 rounds ($.52 a round)




The Spartan 00 buck had a 6" shot spread with decent gouping and the wad punched through the neck...




Olin Corp "Military Grade" 2-3/4" 00 Buck:
MFG#: Q1544
Pellets: 9
Velocity: 1,325 fps
Actual Length: 2.34"
Price: $4.79 / 5 rounds ($.96 a round)




The Olin Corp. 00 buck also had a 6" shot spread with a star shaped gouping and the wad punched through at the bottom of the pattern...




Rio Royal 2-3/4" 00 Buck:
MFG#: RB129
Pellets: 9
Velocity: 1,345 fps
Actual Length: 2.49"
Price: $3.49 / 5 rounds ($.70 a round)




The Rio 00 buck put up a 5-1/2" shot spread. In all reality it consisted of a 3" group of 8 pellets with one flyer. On this one, the wad punched through the target backer at the right elbow about three inches off the paper...




Hevi-Shot "HEVI-Duty" 2-3/4" #4 Buck:
MFG#: 91004
Pellets: 30 (Frangible on rock and steel)
Velocity: 1250 fps (low recoil)
Actual Length: 2.32"
Price: $8.99 / 5 rounds ($1.79 a round)




The Hevi-Shot HEVI-Duty #4 buck put up an 18.5" pattern with the wad punching through at the lower right bicep...



The surprise here was that the 30 pellets turned into 173 individual projectiles that punctured the target at 10 yards. Apparently these frangible pellets begin to fragment inside the barrel. There were several pellets that made it through the target in tact, so I would venture a guess that the pellets closest to the powder are crushed between the wad and the forward pellets upon ignition. Here is a negative of the image that better shows the punctures from the smaller fragments...




Federal Premium Power Shok 2-3/4" #4 Buck:
MFG#: F1274B
Pellets: 27
Velocity: 1325 fps
Actual Length: 2.34"
Price: $4.79 / 5 rounds ($.96 a round)




The Federal #4 buck put up a 9" shot spread with an excellent pattern. The wad went through the target just outside and below the left shoulder...





I brought a some Winchester PDX-1 buck and ball to test out as well...

Winchester Supreme Elite PDX1 Defender:
MFG#: S12PDX1
Pellets: 3 pellet 00 Buckshot over 1 oz slug
Velocity: 1150 fps
Actual Length: 2.33"
Price: $14.29 / 10 rounds ($1.43 a round)




The PDX1 buck and ball put up a nice 5.25" spread. If a giant hole in the chest surrounded by three smaller holes isn't enough, the wad smacked Mr. target right in the face. I have to say this was a LOT better result than I expected for this type of round...





All things considered, I'd say the Rio Royal 00 buck won the day. It put up the tightest pattern and at $.70 a round it is still cost effective to use as a practice round. I also like the fact that Rio is based about 55 miles from me in west Tennessee. The Spartan 00 buck also preformed well and at $.52 a round it's hard to beat for practice/range ammo. At the end of the day all my HD shotguns are loaded with Rio...

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Just for giggles, I put a couple rounds of target and bird shot on paper as well for comparison...

Winchester Super Target Extra-Lite #8 Shot:
Pellets: 410 (approximate)
Velocity: 1180 fps
Actual Length: 2.27"
Price: $6.79 / 25 rounds ($.27 a round)

The Win. #8 shot printed in a 17" spread from the stomach to the face and shoulder to shoulder. The wad punched through the target right at the heart...



Here's a negative image that better shows the shot spread...




Winchester "Texas Heavy" Dove and Quail #7.5 Shot:
Pellets: 388 (approximate)
Velocity: 1270 fps
Actual Length: 2.27"
Price: $7.99 / 25 rounds ($.32 a round)

The # 7.5 shot patterned a just hair tighter at 16.25" with the wad hitting the lower ribs at the right side...



Again, in a negative image that better shows the shot spread...

 

[mingaa]

Great patterning!! The final neg image looks dead - no, there it is! Nice.

I have some targets to post - my reload 00 buck and 1oz. Lee slugs that I have been working on with good results.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Sweet!

Lookin forward to seeing your results...

 

[aksavanaman]

Thanks for the report LES!

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

My pleasure Sir.

This is my favorite kind of research!

 

[nitesite]

This is an amazing thread you put together L.E.S.

IMHO they all did fairly well, some much better than I expected.

 

[ripjack13]

Nice report sir. Well done. I like the negative pix.....

Just wondering how many you went through with each? Obviously I don't expect a pix load of em all, just info is sufficient.

Thanx !

 

[GunnyGene]

Thanks for this. That Hevi that disintegrates in the barrel is not good. Did you send them a heads up on that?

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Thank you Gentlemen.

The negative images really help highlight the smaller punctures. If nothing else it just looks really cool.

Just wondering how many you went through with each?

These test patterns were taken from the first shot fired with each round. I did fire multiple rounds to check cycling/reliability after recording the initial pattern results and didn't see anything that made me consider posting different targets. Sorry, had typed all that up at one point and for some reason the entire post got lost when I went to preview...

 

[nitesite]

Sorry, had typed all that up at one point and for some reason the entire post got lost when I went to preview...

Sucks, don't it? Over the years I've had that happen on many different forums (typing out a lot of stuff which I thought was good schidt) and POOF it was undelivered and LOST and it just SUCKS. :evil:

L.E.S. - What I really appreciate about your results and photos and your posts is that they represent a very large investment (behing the scenes) in not only your time and effort but a considerable outlay of money to include the $2-each targets you expended in addition to buying the ammo.

Most of us would never have offered to do it, and most of us wouldn't have done such a thorough and visually-enhanced project.

I want to thank you for your efforts.

Awesome job.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Thank you Sir, I appreciate that.

Yup, I've had numerous detailed posts lost like that. For this reason, I've started saving a draft once I get far enough into the post but this time it got me before I could save anything.

The cost is one reason I didn't post multiple targets per load/brand. I really enjoy this kind of stuff and am glad to share what I learn with everyone here. We built a shotgun target stand for one of the pistol bays at the range earlier that morning. It has a 4'x4' interior target area and is perfect for this kind of stuff. There was a group of folks at that stopped shooting to come over and watch. It was really cool to see people so interested. Most were VERY surprised with the results and some mentioned that seeing the results from an 18.5" smooth bore made then reconsider a shotgun as a viable home defense tool. The range owner currently offers defensive classes for pistol and rifle and I'm working with him to add a shotgun course to the program. I really think it will benefit the membership, myself included...

 

[dieselmudder]

Great report. I'm glad the Rio patterned well, seeing as how I have over 250 rounds accumulated. And have been planning to buy a lot of Spartan also. Thanks for the time and effort to compile and post.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Thanks dieselmudder.

Looks like you're all set with that Rio. The Spartan 00 should do great for you as well...

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Thanks for this. That Hevi that disintegrates in the barrel is not good. Did you send them a heads up on that?

My pleasure Gunny.

Haven't sent anything to them yet. I have another box and want to put a few more rounds on paper to see if this fragmentation is consistent before I contact them. I know the owner posts here on occasion and would be interested to read his take on this...

 

[daytime dave]

Wow, that is a terrific test. Thank you for posting this valuable and interesting material. It is very informative. I will look for some Rio and Spartan based on your results.

 

[MikeD]

Good info LES.

+1 to you Sir!


Looks like the Rio round is a bit longer than the others. Did you have any issues loading to max capacity with those?

I'm not liking the idea of the frangible loads breaking up prior to hitting their mark. Any reduction in mass is going to seriously degrade effectiveness and patterning.

 

[old mossy]

Great info LES. Thank you for taking the time to put it together and sharing with us.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

Thank you Gentlemen.

Looks like the Rio round is a bit longer than the others. Did you have any issues loading to max capacity with those?

No Sir.

With NC +2 extension I'm at 6+1 with about 1/2" to spare. Only time I have to load short is with 3" shells which puts me at 5+1...

I'm not liking the idea of the frangible loads breaking up prior to hitting their mark. Any reduction in mass is going to seriously degrade effectiveness and patterning.

Exactly.

I was very surprised to see this kind of result, especially with the price of the ammo and the company's performance claims. I put up the #7.5 and #8 bird shot as a comparison and there's no reason both should have patterned tighter than a #4 buck. To be fair, I'm going to put up a few more rounds next time I'm out and see if maybe this box just came from a bad batch...

 

[Tony617!]

Nice pictures from you 930 Tactical LES. I have shot a few cases of Rio Royal 00 buckshot and the price is right for my practice loads. But for HD with my 590A1 and Maverick 88 I use LE 132 #1 buckshot. The longest distance in my house is 22 feet. Put put target out at 7 yards and fired 5 rounds.

I forgot my phone so I took the picture at home.