Federal FliteControl 12 gauge load

[M-Ful]

What do you guys think of the Federal FliteControl "Tactical" loads? Ive heard some really awesome stuff about it lately like 4'' patterns at 20 yards and beyond. What about 8 pellet vs 9 pellet too? I know 8 has less recoil than 9 but thats about all Ive heard.
Thanks Yall,
Matt

 

[Inebriated]

It's what I use in my HD gun.... Patterns at about 4" at 15 yards, for me. Don't know about 20 (I can certainly try it out and post results, though). I know the 8 pellet was originally used to get rid of the flier most 9 pellet loads get, but with FC stuff, there's no need. I currently have the 9 pellet low recoil, because it patterned slightly tighter for me.

I know some folks like more spread, but if I'm taking a shot, I want all the energy focused into the area I aimed at, and this does it well.

 

[M-Ful]

Thats exactly my thought, the more shot in one area the better, and I use 8 shot in my HD gun because I can fit one more shell in the tube of my 590 than if I used 9 pellet loads.

 

[Inebriated]

Never would have thought that'd make a difference... I might see about the 8-pellet just for the heck of it. No one around me ever has it in stock, though.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I've used Federal LE 127-00 ever since I was able to get hands on it, I've mentioned it a lot here. I don't use reduced recoil anything in a shotgun myself, I want full house loads in a defensive shotgun. Those with recoil issues may want RR, if so that's up to them. But the only way to get reduced recoil is to reduce performance, and that's not why I choose a shotgun.

What do I think of it? I really like it. It's exactly what I want in a defensive shotgun buckshot load. I like tight patterns, far as I'm concerned it's my job to hit what I shoot at. Some folks want a scattergun for its pattern, I want a shotgun to deliver as much power as I can bring to bear on a target with full control, and as I said, it's my job to hit without relying on the 'fudge factor' of a wide open pattern.

Come see me any time and I will be happy to demonstrate a 4" pattern at 25 yards out of an 18" CYL bore Remington factory barrel for you.

 

[Striker]

I agree with Fred on regarding the Federal LE 127-00 buck load. (It was his musings here at THR that turned me on to it.)

It's a great patterning load in all my CYL/IC SD shotguns, but it really shines in a one particular remchoked 20" barrel with a factory flush mod choke. Unfortunately, never been able (so far) to replicate that performance in any of my other bbls.

 

[NYShooter]

I have been using LE132-00 for a few years now and recently LE132-1B; wouldn't use anything else for HD. I can get a 2"-3" hole at 20-25 yds. out of an 870 with an 18" CYL bore barrel with a King Armory KA-1212 brake/suppressor installed.

 

[Tony617]

I was loading Federal LE 13200 or LE 8 pellet 13300 until recently. Then I was able to obtain the new Federal 132 #1 buckshot with flitecontrol. I put the target out at 7 yards which is longest length of my hallway from my bedroom.

 

[RMc]

How far will the Federal LE Flite-Control Buckshot load keep the entire pattern on the chest area of a man size LE target sillouette?

 

[ctaylor]

How far will the Federal LE Flite-Control Buckshot load keep the entire pattern on the chest area of a man size LE target sillouette?

I just did a very limited test in a new stock 870P. I knew the flite-control was going to be good from all the reading I had done, so I just tested the PD132 00 against that GI 00 buckshot from Midway instead of picking a lot of different shells to test. (I know from testing turkey chokes that polishing the bore can significantly improve patterns. I polished the bore of this new gun to a very, very high polish with Flitz on a patch covered brush, driven by a drill on low speed, before it was ever fired. Whether this made any difference with buckshot, I couldn't say because I did not do before/after test.)

The gun would keep the GI stuff (all 9 pellets) on a man sized silhouette out to between 25 and 30 yds (lost one pellet at 30, groups were not uniform and several pellets weren't center mass strikes). The PD132 still had all 9 pellets on the target at 40 yds, lost one pellet at 45 yds but still generally kept 6 or so pellets in a pie-plate size group, center mass, but several inches high.

PD132 at 10 yds there was one hole, including the wad. At 15 yds there was a ragged hole, one or two pellet strikes just adjacent, with the wad impacting just right of POI and piercing cardboard backer. At 25 yds there was still a fist sized group. Very impressive, especially compared to the GI stuff.

I was considering sending this gun to Vang for forcing cone/porting work. The PD132 results would have totally eliminated that, except I found it very difficult to hold POI down to point-of-aim at ranges over 30 yds. (4" to 6" high at 35 and 40 yds). Still, using the Flite Control Wads pretty much makes the Vang Comp work a waste of money in IMO.

 

[wgp]

Recently took a class in tactical shotgun use, the instructor had us shoot run-of-the-mill 00 buckshot, then try the FliteControl. Astounding difference, the FC patterns were so small you could shoot a 3"x5" notecard off the side of a torso cardboard target without putting a single pellet in the large target. Hornady is also out with a similar load that gives similar performance. The point is that these loads give you the option of using the shotgun as a much more precision weapon than you might have believed possible (given practice on your part to determine what you and you particular shotgun are capable of).

 

[forehire]

Pd 132 flitecontrol in my 18" pump at 20 yards is one whole, at 25 yard a 8" pattern. Looks like in my gun it opens somewhere between 20 and 25 yards. But compared to everything ele I have shot, this is great. I use slugs from 30 yards to 75 yards.

 

[Youngster]

I think FliteControl is an interesting option, but if I need tight lead, especially at any kind of distance, I'll use slugs if I can.

Its tough to beat a guaranteed muzzle diameter "pattern".

 

[Cuzzin]

If the target is 20 yards away and is moving - a 5" of movement could cause a miss of 5". 5" wouldn't mean a whole lot if a larger pattern was used. Sorta like shooting skeet or trap - you want a pattern large enough to cover the area you are shooting at plus the fudge factor for where the bird might actually be...

 

[LeonCarr]

I have the Federal LE132 00 in both my duty shotgun and my HD shotgun. A 50 foot pattern the size of a racquetball and a 50 yard pattern inside the 8 ring of a B27 Silhouette (about 15 inches).

I like it alot.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Youngster]

If the target is 20 yards away and is moving - a 5" of movement could cause a miss of 5". 5" wouldn't mean a whole lot if a larger pattern was used. Sorta like shooting skeet or trap - you want a pattern large enough to cover the area you are shooting at plus the fudge factor for where the bird might actually be...

My issue with FliteControl buck is, the distances where it starts to spread sufficiently to help hit probability are well beyond typical "social" distances.

If I'm hunting, or using a shotgun that throws ugly patterns with regular buckshot, give me the FliteControl, but otherwise I'll take regular buckshot with its more forgiving patterns at the ranges where buckshot is most effective.

 

[XTrooper]

If the target is 20 yards away and is moving - a 5" of movement could cause a miss of 5". 5" wouldn't mean a whole lot if a larger pattern was used. Sorta like shooting skeet or trap - you want a pattern large enough to cover the area you are shooting at plus the fudge factor for where the bird might actually be...

You are missing the whole point of the FliteControl loads. There's a reason why there is a "LE" before the SKU of the FliteControl loads. They are designed for law enforcement which is why they are made to shoot the tightest patterns possible. Police officers are often faced with situations where the environment beyond their target is far from ideal, yet they are faced with scenarios where they are forced to shoot, regardless. A fast spreading "fudge factor" buckshot load is not what you want in a duty shotgun. Besides the potential horror of killing an innocent, the liability factors are enormous if a bystander is even slightly wounded in a police shooting.

There are many buckshot loads that spread farther and faster than FliteControl loads. If someone wants one of those, they're readily available.

 

[Hunterdad]

It's been a while since I shot it, but it shotvtighter than any other buckshot I've ever shot. Had a chance to eliminate a watermelon threat and it was pretty awesome.

 

[red_cedar]

has anyone used the federal LE13300 #00 ( 1145 fps ) in a semi auto?

 

[MattShlock]

There's a lot of tacticool police-buff stuff that's come to an on-line mall near you but much of it was just designed to separate us from our money. This stuff was inspired by women in uniform, lawsuits, white-collar chiefs-of-police and their big city attorneys, then carefully marketed to civillianinjas. I prefer my defense shotgun to function as intended...

At seven meters a 15" pattern would be better to me than a few inch one!

 

[eastbank]

all i use for turkeys is the federal flite control wad shells, 12ga 3"mags with 2ozs of copper buffeted #6,s with deadly results on the turkeys. if the buck shot loads shoot as good,i would use them. eastbank.

 

[Fred Fuller]

has anyone used the federal LE13300 #00 ( 1145 fps ) in a semi auto?

Cedar,

The reduced recoil loads won't always run a semiauto reliably ... only way to know is to try some in your shotgun.

 

[03Shadowbob]

I shot a doe this year with it at about 27 yards out of my 870 express supermag and all 9 pellets hit her solid. Maybe 8" spread.