Benelli Supernova Pattern Tests...Gobble, Gobble

[OG DramaLlama]

Can't wait for spring....Got the new turkey gun pattern testing started last week and hope to have her dialed in over the over the next couple weeks.

Gun:
Benelli Supernova Pump

Choke:
Benelli's Full (Hoping to get lucky and not have to buy another one)

Ammo: (Dissected One Round For Each to count Pellets)

Kent Ulitimate Diamond Shot
3" 1 3/4. oz #6
Pellet Count- 433

Hornady Heavy Magnum Load
3" 1 1/2 oz. #6
Pellet Count- 464

Winchester Long Beard XR
3" 1 3/4 oz. #5
Pellet Count- 387

Winchester Double X
3" 1 3/4 oz. #6
Pellet Count- 527

Target:

Process:
Shot at 30 and 40 yards. 3 shots at each target off bench with a rest.

Counted holes in head and spinal column as kill shots. Divided total kill shots by 3 to get average.

Counted holes in circle (8" diameter, 60.25" area) and divided by 3 to get choke efficiently.

Results @ 30 yards:

Kent
4.33 Pellets in killing zone
11% Choke efficiency

Hornady
11 Pellets in the killing zone
17% Choke efficiency

Winchester Long Beard
5.33 Pellets in the killing zone
8% Choke efficiency

Winchester Double X
4 Pellets in the killing zone
8% Choke efficiency

@40 Yards:

Kent
2.33 Pellets in killing zone
6% choke efficiency

Hornady
1.67 Pellets in killing zone
5% choke efficiency

Winchester Long Beard
3 Pellets in killing zone
9% Choke efficiency

Winchester Double X
3.67 in the Killing Zone
4 Choke efficiency

Summary:
Couple these results with my limited skills as a shotgun shooter, the maximum effective range is inside 30 yards. My Remington 860 tactical short barrel with the Colonial Turkey choke put up better results and gives me more confidence at 30 yards than this did. The Benelli full choke comes in at .690. Upped the ante and got the Carlson Super Turkey and will try out all of these tests minus the Kent Ultimate Diamond. Kent shells were poorly loaded and there was a good amount of #5 pellets mixed in. Pellets were noticeably more deformed.

The biggest result was a bruised shoulder from 24 turkey loads hammered into it.

Hope this helps someone else save some cash on ammo....

-Josh



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[N2TRKYS]

When I shot factory loads, I shot Nitro Ammo Company shells and the choke they recommended for my gun. Now I load my own with TSS.


I had better luck with.660 and .665 constriction in my 3.5" 12 ga.

 

[BigDog00]

The biggest result was a bruised shoulder from 24 turkey loads hammered into it.

I can shoot my .300 WSM all day long....but shooting a 12 ga. with turkey loads in it and Ill be flinching bigger than Dallas after 3 of 4 shells. I hate patterning turkey loads.

 

[OG DramaLlama]

When I shot factory loads, I shot Nitro Ammo Company shells and the choke they recommended for my gun. Now I load my own with TSS.


I had better luck with.660 and .665 constriction in my 3.5" 12 ga.

Cut open two more shells today, Hornady and Winchester Double X. Surprised on the variance in pellet counts. Loading my own would be preferable option down the road.


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[N2TRKYS]

Cut open two more shells today, Hornady and Winchester Double X. Surprised on the variance in pellet counts. Loading my own would be preferable option down the road.


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I've never cut one open, but your findings are very informative. I have ~585 pellets of #9s in my 3" 20 gauge handloads. I'm getting about 300 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards.

 

[OG DramaLlama]

Sore Shoulder Saturday Testing:

Ran same exact tests as above but changed two variables. First, used the .650 Carlson Choke. Second, I cut open two more shells to count the pellets again. Used an average pellet between the two samples to get the average kill shot and choke efficiency.

@30 yards

Winchester Double X

10.42 Pellets in killing zone

16% Choke efficiency

Hornady

5.2 Pellets in killing zone

13% Choke efficiency

@40 Yards

Winchester Double X

5 Pellets in killing zone

10.42% Choke efficiency

Hornady

3.6 Pellets in killing zone

6% Choke efficiency

Summary:
The variance of pellets between the two shells opened between both manufacturers was a bot surprising. 108 pellet variance on Winchester Double X and 57 pellets for Hornady. The Choke efficiency is probably better but all my shots drifted up and to the left on all my targets today. Blamed that on me getting my cheek weld figured out on the new gun. The Hornady was noticeably much more open at 40. Feel confident that, with practice the Double X could get me a comfortable 40 yards range.







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[OG DramaLlama]

I can shoot my .300 WSM all day long....but shooting a 12 ga. with turkey loads in it and Ill be flinching bigger than Dallas after 3 of 4 shells. I hate patterning turkey loads.

Haha. Pattern tests for this gun are gonna make my 300WM shooting a breeze.

I do think my last tests were greatly affected by the anticipated pain. Cut shots in half today and it was manageable.


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[Forks]

Good info, thanks for taking some for the team because just mentioning the term 1 3/4 oz. makes my shoulder hurt.

 

[HOT ROD]

Its not all ways the best. To go to a tighter choke tube.. I went through this many years ago. Shooting a Remington 870 3.5 inch... Started with a super full choke... Tried several brands of ammo.. Saved all my targets. When I showed them to a friend.. Who is a big trap shooter. First thing he asked was what choke was I using... He recommended opening it up sum... It worked and never looked baked.... Whats the choke constriction on the tactical Remington.. U have to take in consideration it short barrel to... U cant restrict the shot to much... It will deform the pellets and U get flyers.

 

[HOT ROD]

One more thing I did. Was to drop the ounces of shot I was shooting....

 

[OG DramaLlama]

Whats the choke constriction on the tactical Remington.. U have to take in consideration it short barrel to... U cant restrict the shot to much... It will deform the pellets and U get flyers.

The constriction for the choke on the 870 is .675. Had reasonable patterns given the very short barrel. Maximum effective range for me was 30.

I had considered deformed pellets with the tighter constriction. Was already leaning to the copper/nickel plated shot in the Winchester/Hornady loads. Was hoping to go with the tighter constriction and look to see if the patterns hold with the better coating vs. just straight lead. This decision was also made easier knowing that I could always go with the Remington with "in-between" constriction if the tighter choke failed.

Will be testing the Winchester Long Beard 3" and 3 1/2" next weekend. The three 3" was best performance on Remington last year and even did OK with the open Benelli choke.

Not sure if I will have many more weekends prior to season opener, April 15, in ID. Would like to test your recommendation on dropping the ounces of shot to see how that works.


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[Backpack Hunter]

Almost bet you will get better numbers with the Longbeards. Good luck.

Esse quam videri

 

[OG DramaLlama]

Next set of tests:

No changes in the conditions, still running with the .650 Carlson Choke.

Winchester Long Beards:

- 3.5" 2oz #6
- 3" 1 3/4oz #6

Opened one shell of each to get a pellet count. The 3.5" had 466 pellets and the 3" had 420. Admittedly, it was very difficult to get an accurate count as the substance used to hold pellets together makes it very difficult.

It is interesting how well the pellets stay together and how difficult it is to pull them apart. Here is a picture of the pellets cut from shell.

@30 yards

The results were impressive . The killing area of both targets was too openes up to get accurate count. After six shots the cardboard backing was completely blown away. Granted, this cardboard has already been used for all prior testing so could be just a function of being over used. Nonetheless, saw nothing like this with any of my other tests.

@ 40 Yards

Long Beard 3.5"

- 10.6 Pellets in the killing zone
- 12.89% Choke Efficiency

Long Beard 3"

- 16 Pellets in the killing zones
- 22% Choke Efficiency


Conclusion: The Long Beards had better results than other tests. Hard to explain the difference between the 3" and 3.5" at 40 yards. I shot the 3.5" first and the kick difference is noticeable. Could be influencing my shooting. Because of this, I will run with 3" Long Beards this spring. Feel extremely comfortable with my maximum effective range of 40 yards. With more testing and comfort with this gun may be able to go a little bit further. Might do some more at longer ranges just to see, but part of the fun is getting them close (for me at least).



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[OG DramaLlama]

Almost bet you will get better numbers with the Longbeards. Good luck.

Esse quam videri

Good thing I didn't take you up on this. I was impressed by the results.


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[Backpack Hunter]

^^They are a good shell that has been getting very good patterns in a variety of choke sizes and guns. Glad they worked well for you.

Esse quam videri

 

[elkbowkevin]

Back when I turkey hunted for a couple years in mid 90's I used some 1 7/8 OZ #6 shot reloads with winchester super x hulls, Win 209 primer and Win aa12 wad, 32gr blue dot. They shot great out of my Mossberg 835 with the full acu-choke. Tested them and usually had 10-15 hits in the head and neck at 35 yards, 20-30 hits at 20 yards. Never got to test om a turkey though. :-(
I had use the same load for geese sub with #4 shot over decoys and that load was dirt napping geese all the time. This was back in the late 80's in the good o'le lead use days.

 

[HOT ROD]

That is great shooting............ Good luck with the turkey hunt... I will be trying to kill my first mountain bird this year.. I haven't hunted turkey for two years... Since I left Pa....

 

[Irish Miner]

Great report.

I've been out busting my shoulder as well.

My gear:
Benelli SuperVinci 12 gauge
Burris FastFireIII 8 MOA red dot sight
Carlson Super Full choke .665

I've tested two different loads so far with the above set up. Winchester Long Beard #6 and the Hevi Magnum Blend 5-6-7.

Both shot really well and either will do the job. Magnum Blend had the slight edge with more pellets in the kill zone and more in a 10" @ 40yrds.

One big difference between the two is the price. One other obvious difference was those magnum blends kick like a mule!! Took a kick to my right cheek that woke me up...

 

[OG DramaLlama]

One big difference between the two is the price. One other obvious difference was those magnum blends kick like a mule!! Took a kick to my right cheek that woke me up...

You are telling me. Still sporting a sore shoulder from Sunday.

Would like to test the heavy shot, but the local Sportsman's was out when I started. As the season opens on April 15th and I need to scout some birds, not sure I will get to run any.

Good to hear you have had positive results with them.



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[OG DramaLlama]

Next set of tests:

Extended the ranges on these Winchester Long Beards to 50 yds.

3.5 2oz #6
-12 Pellets in the Killing Zone
- 11% Choke Efficiency

3" 1 1/3" #6
- 9 Pellets in Killing Zone
- 15% Choke Efficiency

Pleased with the match of this gun, choke, ammo.

April 15th here I come.



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