doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Different loads/Different patterns

Jim,

Only such "hole" that comes to mind is blown centers, when there is really bad match of ammo loaded with card and fiber wads and oversized bore or badly unbalanced load (too little shot relative to weight of wad, and/or too much powder). Fellow shooter once had such a well behaved combination that the better he was on target the more certain he was to miss. Great scatter load for off-center shooting!!

Niklas

Oberfell & Thompson in their penultimate work on statistical pattern analysis, 'The Vaguaries of Shotgun Patterns' pretty much said it all in the title. Its a tough read, statistics can be as much fun as watching paint dry. Counting pellet holes is at best, tiresome. Much more fun chasing that turkey, and it sounds as you have sufficient information to pattern no further. In the end it is confidence that makes the biggest difference, even when we understand that luck is also a factor. Knowing what your gun does with a dif loads and few patterns can provide added confidence ... or make you get closer;-)

Good luck! We are looking forward to seeing that beard photograph.

Holes in the pattern are a big issue with muzzle loaders.

I am not talking about variations in the pattern that you can place a clay bird in, but rather a circle 6" in diameter with no holes, shot after shot.

There are so many causes and cures it is difficult to say why it happens. I have closed the hole by adding an over shot wad under the powder wad, changing the power and/or cushion wad thickness and by simply cleaning the fowling after a long day of shooting.

I have not patterned my breach loaders after a round of black powder skeet but I bet it would be interesting. I can not say I have had any difficulties with low pressure smokeless and shot cup wads.