Devrep,
From a conceptual perspective, Jones book is the way to go in having a broad picture regarding to what we are dealing with as to chokes and patterns.
Then I would figure what I am trying to obtain with my gun(s) on the selected targets, i.e. clays or feather.
What I did was to figure out at what distance I wanted to shoot my quails, partridges or pheasants, etc. with both barrels from my different shotguns. I also allowed for bore, charge and pellet size appropiate for each quarry. I checked the pellet count for every charge and shell make. Then I tried at the steel shooting board at selected distances the charges that I thought were the most adequated. Then marking a 30" circle at the obtained patterns and COUNTED OUTLYING STRIKES (corrected by Jones formula of error). Counting pellet holes out of the circle is easier and straightforward. Repeated ten times the process and, depending much on the quarry-charge, I felt satisfied when a 75 to 85% pattern efficiency (PE) was obtained. Selected firing distances where 20/25 yards(meters) for the open barrel and 30/35 yards(meters) for the close barrel for upland guns, closer for quails/partridge and farther for pheasant. Pigeon guns were required to yield a little higher, 80/85% PE at 25/30 yards and 35/40 yards respectively. I haven't done it for duck-goose shooting. If I have to, I would perhaps go for more patterning distance, due to usual field conditions of this game. (Shotgun-Insight did not work for me because it marked each hole twice or trice and I did not know how to make corrections to this problem.)
With fixed choke guns, I prefer to slightly alter distance for the first and second shot if it prints too open or too close, or simply to change shotgun if it does pattern too far from expected at the selected distance. Needless to say that pattern results were quite different many times from observed chokes, either measured or marked in the barrels.
EJSXS
Last edited by ejsxs; 11/30/12 04:02 PM.
