45 Yard Patterns in 24" circles
 

The recent sale of a 10ga hammer gun included a very interesting letter that referenced a pattern of 200 pellets in a 24" circle at 45 yards. Another member PM'd me saying his hammer 10ga was patterned in the same manner at the factory and a gunsmith told him that was a 40% pattern and the chokes were open, which I believe is incorrect. Very soon after that Chuck Bishop sent me a PM out of the clear blue about patterning at the factory and how it changed over the years. I am hoping he will share that info with the entire group here.

After that discussion I found this article about shotgun patterns and it references a book from the 1950's with a chart that sheds some light on this.
A gun that shoots 70% in a 30" circle at 40 yards is expected to throw a 58% pattern in a 30" circle at 45 yards. Reducing the circle to 24" at 45 yards would mean a pattern much less than 58% would still be a full choke.

http://www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com...story0313.html

There is similar information in the PGCA main web page FAQ (see #5) on this topic.

If my math is right (forgive me, I had a public education) and 200 pellets at 45 yds represents 40% then that is a load consisting of 500 pellets total. My guess is that's about 1 1/2 oz of 7 shot through a very tightly choked barrel.

Having experienced your skill at pellet counts, I'm not about to dispute your calculation, Mike....

Ha ha Jim. I was thinking about you when I was writing that.

Parker SN 1500 (c. 1878) - 4200 (c. 1884) patterning was done at 45 yards in a 18 x 24 oval or possibly a rectangle. Between SNs 4500 and 86000 patterning was at 45 yards in a 24" circle. After 1896, Parker used the standard 40 yards in a 30" circle. (Courtesy of Chuck Bishop)

12g Parker SN 71792 c. 1891 was patterned with 1 1/4 oz. No. 7 and 42 grains DuPont. A 1900 Parker hang tag states that 12g 2 5/8” chambered guns were patterned at 40 yds. in a 30” circle using 2 3/4” shells with 1 1/8 oz. No. 7 chilled shot and 40 grains (3 1/4 Dram) of DuPont Bulk Smokeless powder. (Courtesy of Bruce Day)

1920s tags listed both 1 1/8 oz. and 1 1/4 oz., still with DuPont Bulk Smokeless.

Thanks Drew - a lot of that information is in The Parker Story as well.





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