******************************************** Additional Text for the 10/28/04 Alumni Sandstorm ******************************************** >>From: George "Pappy" Swan ('59) PAPPY’S PARTING SHOTS By Pappy aka George Swan PATTERNING SHOTGUNS FOR WING SHOOTING Many years ago, after my Dad (RIP) retired, we took up reloading. We bought a shotgun press and the components. He had cataracts and could not read well. I asked him to wait until I returned from an out of town job. However, he got bored and began reloading shotgun shells and never quit. When I returned, I was surprised when Dad proudly presented me with boxes and boxes of 12-gauge reloads. Cousin Buck and I went duck hunting to try out the reloads. Two greenheads dropped in over the decoys about 35 yards out. We fired. “Poot, Poof” were the only sounds we heard except for a heavy sigh next to me. The shot landed in the water with a “pleep, ploop, and plip…” about 12-15 yards in front of us. The heavy sigh was my yellow Lab, Buff, voicing his amazement as he watched the mallards fly away. That dog was a great waterfowl retriever but he had an annoying habit of doing the heavy sigh routine whenever Cousin Buck or myself missed a shot, especially the ones that would have been easy retrieves. We kept trying the reloads until Buff shamed us into admitting defeat and finally forgave us. That came only after I walked out to the pickup and to get some factory loads and we finally started knocking ducks down. Pappy’s Postulate No. 3: If your dog is smarter than you and flaunts it, put mule blinders and earmuffs on him until you finally hit something for him to retrieve. Later, we discovered that Dad had his wad pressure set way out of whack, when he indeed used the correct wad. We patterned some of those shells and they averaged about one or two per cent of the shot in a 30-inch circle at 20 yards but should have been around 75-90 percent. Had we test fired or patterned some of Dad's loads early on we would have discovered the problem. Either way, patterning a shotgun with a variety of chokes, loads, and shot sizes or any new reload recipes will enable you to match up the best combination for wingshooting and should aid in increasing the weight of your game pouch. A “pattern” is the distribution of shot pellets discharged from a shotgun into a 30-inch circle. For example, a full choke charge fired from a 12-gauge shotgun is supposed to throw a pattern of at least 70 per cent of the shot into a 30-inch circle at 40 yards. “Choke” is the constriction bored into the end of a shotgun barrel (mostly screw-in tubes nowadays) by which the spread of the shot pattern is controlled. To pattern shotguns you will need a location where it is legal, safe, and practical. The Rose-Iris Range works well and there is a patterning board at the shotgun range. PLEASE TAKE PAPER AND CARDBOARD HOME AND DISPOSE OF IT UNLESS BURNING IN THE RO SHACK STOVE IS SEASONABLY PRACTICAL. My four-foot square targets made from taping together strips of butcher paper are taped to a large stiff piece of cardboard. I tape the target to the support. I make a solid 3-inch spot with a marker pen in the center of the paper with a 30-inch circle around it. I calculate how many combinations of shot size, loads, and how many repetitions, etc. that I want to test and make up enough targets ahead of time. I like to start at 40 yards, pretty much the outer limits of my shooting range for ducks or upland birds and I usually take additional shots at 20 and 30 yards. I scribe vertical and horizontal lines (like cross hairs) from the edges of the circle through the spot giving four quarters. With the marker pen, I count as I mark each shot hole and write the tally in each quarter. Then, I can add up the hits in all four quarters for the total, and determine the overall percentage of my shot pattern for each set of conditions that I was testing. I can total the hits in each of the top and bottom halves, and I can tally both the right and left halves and finally determine if my shotgun tends to throw its pattern high, low, left, or right. The average number of shot pellets per ounce in the various sizes (for both lead and steel shot) can be found on the Winchester Arms website at www.winchester.com in the Shotshell Guide. Calculate the number of shot pellets (the larger the pellet -- the smaller the number) in the load that you are testing. For example: there are approximately 225 pellets per ounce of No. 6 lead shot, thus a 1 ¼ oz. load of No. 6 shot contains about 281 pellets. Total pellet hits within the 30-inch circle divided by the total number of pellets in the load equals the percentage of pattern for that set of conditions. The real value of patterning a shotgun comes from knowing that game birds are killed by a combination of the velocity of the shot charge, the balance and density of the shot pattern, and the penetration of the pellets. It is generally accepted that about four or five pellets of the proper size striking vital areas of a bird are required to make a clean kill. The greater the surface area of the bird, the larger the shot that can be used and still get the required minimum of four pellets into the body. Thus, the larger the bird is the greater the need for the energy and deep penetration of heavier shot. The larger and therefore the heavier the shot size, the better it retains its velocity and the harder it hits. On the other hand, the smaller the shot size the denser the pattern. So, the proper choice of shot must be a compromise between pellet energy and pattern density. Most upland birds are flushed close and killed at less than 30 yards, obviously a good situation to spread the shot out a bit with an improved cylinder choke. However, a modified choke is the most useful, all-around choice for any gauge. Most gunners will do far better with a modified over a full choke. The full choke is a one-purpose choke, originally intended for pass shooting at ducks and doves with lead shot. It still works well for doves where lead shot is legal. -George "Pappy" Swan ('59) ********************************************