It took me a little longer to count all those holes, but here some pattern comparisons between RST Spreaders (1 oz of 8s) and Polywad Spred-Rs (1 1/8 oz 8s). I wanted to see if using these loads would allow my "pheasant" gun to work for grouse and woodcock.
I used a 12 ga. sxs with 28" barrels stamped 18.4mm and choked R 0.008 and L 0.023. For an indirect comparison, this gun shot 70% and 65% patterns at 25 and 35 yards using Federal Top Gun loads (1 oz. of 8s).
Five patterns for each load at 15 and 25 yards:
RST @ 15 yards - 92% (range 90-93%)
Polywad @ 15 yards - 77% (range 69-81%)
RST @ 25 yards - 71% (range 57-80%)
Polywad @ 25 yards - 41% (range 36-55%)
So, based on these patterns, the Polywads open faster, but lose efficiency more quickly. The RSTs appeared to have little effect on the IC choke in the right barrel.
I used HunterJohn pattern sheets that have a full-sized duck in the center, and counted pellet strikes on the duck to measure center density (maybe not statistically accurate but seems to make field sense). I came up with the following percentages of pellet strikes:
RST @ 15 yards - 27% (range 24-31%)
Polywad @ yards - 10% (range 5-20%)
RST @ 25 yards - 13% (range 10-14%)
Polywad @ 25 yards - 5% (range 4-8%)
Based on these patterns, the RSTs had noticeably more pellet strikes on the "target".
My take-away was that, at least out of this gun, the Polywads will provide a more open pattern, but the trade-off is less density in the center and a pattern that will not be effective much past 20 yards. However, the RSTs do not open the R barrel enough for close cover shots.
Last edited by Doverham; 09/04/13 12:43 AM.
