Check my patterning info please....

[kotengu]

Well - I made it to the range with my newly modified 870 barrel and a few different loads to pattern, and I'm a little surprised by the results. I'm afraid I don't know how to post a copy of the info, but I'll attach it as a file if anyone's curious.

This was also a very small sample (one shot of each kind at each range), so it's not completely representative, but there seemed to be a repeating oddity. It seemed that at a certain range (20yds usually), the pattern would hit it's max, then as I went further out it started to get smaller again. I wish I would have had more ammo and time to test this further, but is this common?

Any other advice on how I might do this better next time?

Thanks for looking,
Matt

[Dave McCracken]

I can't get the file opened, but I've never let a lack of solid data stop me before....

Probably, the further patterns contain only those undeformed pellets that form the core. The pellets on the fringe that are part of the pattern at closer ranges are clean off the paper when the range is further. No flyers.

Thus, it seems the pattern tightens back up, but if you counted all the holes you'd find a lot of the charge aren't there.

HTH...

[kotengu]

Sorry about the file - I'll try a different format when I get home (it was a graph a little easier to read than the text). OK - I think I fixed it, and attache the plain text to this message as well. Let me know if it still doesn't work.

I did have a single flyer that kept re-appearing from time to time, but I counted the holes and there weren't any missing (except of course for the #6 shot, for which your theory seems correct) for the buck. I did discount that single flyer when it happened, and just measure the pattern size as those other eight hits so as to give me an idea of a "useable hit area."

[Dave McCracken]

Got it that time, thanks...

Your results are not untypical.

I suggest firing at least 5 of each to average out the results. I suspect the anomaly reported will disappear with more shots.

Remember that there's NEVER been two identical patterns. We're working with similarities.

HTH....