Patterning shotguns

[juju]

Do your pattern testing on a large sheet of paper so you can see the whole pattern. Gift wrap and contractors paper are favorites. You need to see the whole pattern to look for holes and to know where the core is.

Shotgun patterns can fall apart very quickly. You can go from great to what in the world happened in five yards. Atmospheric conditions play havoc. The safe bet is to pattern at least ten yards further than you're willing to shoot. If you don't use a device to accurately measure distance you will likely think you are patterning further than you are.

For turkeys, you're looking for 50 yards and then draw your line at 40 for sporting purposes. A sufficient pattern for turkeys puts 100 pellets in a ten inch circle ten yards further than you're willing to shoot. You will see overachievers posting patterns with many more pellets, but these are unnecessary. What the denser than necessary patterns get you is less flopping, ability to punch light cover and insurance against distance estimation errors.

Shotgun patterning is voodoo. You can drive yourself crazy. It's a whole 'nother hobby. Probably one of the best books on the subject was done by Bob Brister; Shotgunning: The Art and the Science I got it from the library the first time. Then I had to have it for my bookshelf. Pretty cheap on thrift books if your local library can't get it.

 

[Ringbill27]

I kinda of feel like I’m chasing my tail with my two 12gas. I’ve tried 6-7 different loads and have had some subpar patterns at 40yds. Probably should look at new chokes but that’s spendy.

 

[juju]

I kinda of feel like I’m chasing my tail with my two 12gas. I’ve tried 6-7 different loads and have had some subpar patterns at 40yds. Probably should look at new chokes but that’s spendy.

The easy button is factory full and a heavy load of the smallest size TSS shot you can get. I put a table of shot sizes and numbers of pellets in the Firearms section. You will see that you can approximately double the number of pellets by using small tungsten.
The other way to avoid buying a turkey choke is the Federal Flite Control wad loads. I'm assuming they still sell them. I haven't used a 12ga on gobblers in over a decade.