doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fiocchi Interceptors

I read an old thread awhile back that was initiated by Doverham about testing spreader loads. I had been thinking hard about trying to use some for serious sporting clays work, but really didn't know where to start. I loaded some myself with Polywad post discs, and some #9 shot that I was given. However, I wanted to try the Interceptors that Doverham mentioned. I've used the Polywad Spred-Rs, but they scattered so much confetti all over the place that it is disconcerting. What I wanted was a load that felt just like my regular sporting loads. I did a search online and found the Interceptors at Hinterland Outfitters, in Texas. They shipped them for $8.99/flat, so I ordered a flat to try. They were here in three days!

The grease plate was encouraging, shooting them out of my fixed choke Perazzi. It is choked .020" and .020" ..... no barrel selector. None needed. Lately I have been having some problems with very close, fast rabbits. And, this is where I wanted to use the spreaders. Our course was set with two stations which had rabbits inside 20 yards, and pretty fast. The ground makes them unbelievably inconsistent. I shot them on the two (3 pair) rabbit stations last Tuesday and ran them all, something I had not done on the rabbits in quite some time.

With my newfound confidence I shot on a team event there Saturday morning, a fund raiser to raise money for a cultural arts center in nearby Statesboro. Most of the targets were changed from last Tuesday, but the dang rabbits were still there. Our team did not win, but I posted the HOA score, running the 6 rabbits again. Shot a 98/100. I am sold on the Interceptors for those mean, close rabbit stations. They opened my pattern enough to really make a difference, and at 1300 fps - 1 oz. they feel just like my regular 1145 fps - 1 1/8 oz. loads. So, I don't notice any recoil difference to take my mind off my focus on the next bird.

Thanks, Doverham, for the old post where you tested them. They will be on my cart from now on, as long as I'm shooting fixed tight chokes. I'm tempted to send five to Tom Armbrust for pressure testing. Reckon I'd get lucky and they'd be 8000 psi or less? Nah, NOBODY is that lucky.



SRH

Good work, Stan. Rabbits give me trouble, too.

I just haven't done anything about it. Except, stick with skeet.


Best,
Ted

I'll post this in the FWIW dept. ..

Robert Churchill(sp?)in his book titled 'Shooting' said that when shooting hares from a butt, that he found it most effective to shoot the ground roughly six inches to a foot underneath the critter, so that the gravel and dirt were ricocheted in toit along w/the now deformed shot, effectively multiplying what it was hit with, oft by a very substantive amount.

I have found that the same technique applied to sporty clays 'rabbits' can be wonderfully effective, particularly when confronted w/an edge on presentation of the half inch thick type targets. This, of course, only applies to those targets on the ground. When they jump, you have no choice aside from shooting them in the air & I am a believer in using #7.5 shot on sporty clays 'rabbits' because they don't always follow the terrain & I want as much pellet energy as is allowed. Regardless, one must hit it first, before getting into a shot size discussion, eh?

Nice shooting, Stan! And a neat trophy for the accomplishment, too.

Nice work. I've also liked the Interceptors in fixed choke guns. It would be interesting to know the pressures on the off chance they are usable in Damascus barrels.

I didn't know about Churchill's advice, but totally agree with it. There is nothing to be gained by shooting high on rabbits, except the times that a rabbit target takes a jump just as you trigger the gun and it escapes, and that's thin gravy. I have seen many rabbits broken by what appeared to be "skipping" shot. It doesn't happen as often here because of the very sandy soil which kinda "grabs" and absorbs the shot, but a good technique nonetheless.

I have found that a rabbit that takes a jump, if you're not already committed to the trigger, has committed suicide. He just seems to slow down and hang there. Most experienced shots kill him in the air when he does that.

The targets were not set hard at all, but were not as soft as a lot of "charity" or fundraiser shoots. It's the kind of targets that "you don't try to hit, but you're trying not to miss". Some of you who shoot sporting will know what that means. The Ga. Southern Shotgun Team, and a couple high school teams shoot there a lot, and the competition can be pretty fierce with those young eyes. Those are some of the finest young men and women I've ever been around. It bodes well for the shooting sports in America that scholastic shotgun competition has become so supported. One of the young men Saturday afternoon, after the shooting was over, put his high school letterman jacket on to beat the cool wind. It had a shotgun on it, where he had lettered in it. That was way cool! Their team won the National Championships in the sporting clays division several years ago, in Kansas I believe.

SRH

OBTW, I checked last night and Hinterland will ship as many flats as you want to order, for only $8.99 ......... for the whole order, not per flat. At $83 per flat pricing, that is a pretty darn good deal.

SRH

Stan, Is your Perazzi a Type III or a IV? I've got a Type III and have had trouble with the Italian shells getting caught under the ejectors. Apparently, the III's were made for import to USA for use with American shells which have different geometric brass. I guess you can have a III converted to IV, but pretty expensive. BTW, I bought a flat of Fiocchi interceptor 1 oz loads. For me they were pretty stout with some noticeable kick.

Buzz, mine was imported by Winchester. Doesn't that make it a type 3? Not near my Perazzi book right now and can't remember. The only shell that ever slipped under an ejector on my gun in 10-12 years was an Estate, one time.

SRH

My bad. My MX8 is a 1980 gun, according to the serial number, and is a Type 4.

I used to have a Type 3, imported by Ithaca, but sold it to a friend when I got this one.

SRH

Good shootin', ol' buddy. Nicest SC trophy I've ever seen.
JR