1891 EH

[Tom Flanigan]

Guys, if I may, just a few comments on slugs and buckshot. Back in the day, I did a lot of patterning with buckshot loads and used them for swamp whitetails. What I found is that 00 buck did not pattern well at all out of my full choke barrel. My particular gun, a 28” DHE bored modified and full, handled 00 buck better with the modified choke barrel. Obviously, the full choke barrel in that gun was bored too tight for the 00 buck. Big shot needs less constriction than smaller shot to perform best. I never could get the patterns I wanted with 00 so I tested other size shot and settled on #1 buck. I got what I was looking for from both barrels with this size shot and took many whitetails with it, even though buck shot was illegal in New York. Back in those days, that restriction meant little to me. The swamp I hunted was very close cover and a 40 yard shot was the exception. I used a plastic sleeve to surround the shot and melted candle wax in the shot column. It worked well.

As far as slugs are concerned, different brands should be tested on paper to determine which is best. Each barrel is a world unto itself and generally will shoot a given brand of slug better than other brands.