i'm having a little trouble believing this
 

but i checked my math - twice

took the 2 5/8 10 out to try the restoration of the metal work.

the load was 29 gr SR7625 under a SP10 with 1 1/4 lead, a very small bamboo curl from the rod bench as a filler.

pattern paper was at a measured 40 yard from my foot line

the first shot went high so i did not count the hits, still need to get the stock bent to fit.

but

the next two rights totaled 171 and 168 in a 40 inch circle

the three lefts were 165, 172 and 169 in 40 inches

the patterns tended to favor the upper half over the lower at about 60/40

i cut a shell open and counted 176 #4 pellets in that one

And just for Charlie - although most of the shot went low into the wood block, it still put three pellets in a 12 oz pop can at a measured 70 yards

(i didn't have a can, but some kind soul driving by yesterday donated one out his window into my front yard)

so I need to load up some more and see if this is repeatable plus wait for the nice shot to arrive. but this might be a shooter.

Save yourself some money Rick and just get some of those "tracer" rounds.

sounds like you have a strong shooter there...your guns shooting almost 100 percent in that 40 inch circle aint gonna be no way a bird or squirl gonna get away from this gun..and i appreciate you shooting a can for me....guns doing good to put 3 holes in that can it would definately down a duck at the 70 yard mark... hope you get to hunt with it before long... charlie

or i can just shoot with my head up and save all that remembering grief

Just a thought - conventional patterning is done with a 30-inch circle at 40 yards. Just curious if you still have the papers, what percentages are you seeing in a 30 incher?

A 40-inch circle is 1256 sq inches and a 30 inch one is 707 sq inches. All things equal (absolutely even shot pellet distribution) - the 30-inch circle has only 56% of the area that the 40-inch one does,

Thanks Frank, its been a long time since I did formal patterning. But I did draw the 30 inch circle as well, since I was not sure and was too lazy to look it up. I don't have the numbers in front of me (I'll post them tonight) but the distibution was not equal. It was heavily weighted inside the 30 inch circle. With only 10 to 20 pellets in the 30+ outter circle

I remember the low being 137 in the 30, but that was one of the early shots that was over the edge of the paper so not everything could get counted. Some were into the low 160s

What surprised me was according to the charts 1 1/4 oz of 4s should have about 165 pellets and I was counting more than that on the paper. When I checked a shell I counted 176. In either case, I think there is some goose and turkey potential here.

Traditionally, the 30" circle is drawn - after shooting at the pattern board - around the densest part of the pattern even if it is off-center of the POA.

Understood, but with the stock fit it took a couple to figure the aim.

The experiment will be repeated, it was raining on and off so I only fired a few, wouldn't want to get a waterfowl gun wet now, would we :whistle:

samples

160 hits in 30 inches for the right

162 for the left

I'll count others when I get back over and try again after making stock adjustment so that I can center them better.

WOW still 91%:shock: