Spreader Results
 

I usually carry a few spreaders in my bag for those pesky close range rabbits. Lately the Parker of choice has been a 34" DHE choked .040 and .040. Figured I would see what sort of pattern enhancement I was getting with a spreader load so off to the patterning board with the aforementioned Parker.
Distance- 23 yards
First up my go to 1 oz Fiocchi #8 at 1200 FPS for comparison. Yikes, that's tight!
Next up the Poly Wad Spreader- Federal GM hull, 1 1/8 oz #8, 18.9 grs American Select, Fed 209, CB 4118 wad, 1160 FPS.
Next up the BP X-Stream Spreader-Same load as above.

The board is 30", while I did not measure the Fiocchi pattern I would say it is about 15" or half the board roughly. The Poly Wad stretches the pattern to just about the full 30" while the X-Stream remains a little tighter. Either one affords a little more room for error on tight targets but I like that Poly Wad personally.

My wife thinks I should find something more productive to do with my time now that I have retired. She's right so I started shooting my rifles more :)

You can not complain about that Randy! I've not messed with spreader wads.
This reminds me of a guy I knew in Colorado, he was a big goose hunter and the steel loads back then were not up to his expectations. He started loading his own ammo but he would cut a straw, fill that with lead shot and put the steel around the perimeter of the wad. If a game warden checked him a magnet would stick to his shells . His daily limit increased. He then noticed that if the straw was left empty it would compress and tighten a pattern some.

Impressive results

It's a shame that Poly Wad went out of business and their Spred-R insert is not available. It would be great if somebody would make it again.

Thanks for posting, good information.

Well, Randy, it's good to see you're are not vegetating in your retirement.:) I told you you'd be even busier. Strange thing about time.

Those results are impressive. I used the Spread-R back when I was reloading. I still have a very large stash of them for 12 and small gauge loadings. Based on your results, I just may unpack my reloading "stuff." My shooting needs all the help it can get.

I see lots of powdered clay birds in your future.:bowdown:

I’ve always had good results with the BP spreader wads and spreader inserts. I primarily use them on those same rabbit targets. Great minds….

Randy, I have been using polywad inserts for a long time, so far I haven't found anything that works better.

I use ballistic products dispersor-x spreader wads ,ez to load and make full choke into Imp/cyl

Great experiment and/or validation Randy with a super nice Parker. Spreaders make vintage guns so much more versatile and make a tight choked gun more appealing. No need to open chokes. I also like brush wads as well.