A trip to the range with my M1014

[WS6]

ALL RANGE TESTING OCCURRED FROM A BENCH AT 25 YARDS AT AN INDOOR RANGE USING A BENELLI M1014 W/FIXED MOD CHOKE.

Here are a couple of 3-shot groups with Remington Sluggers (1oz@1560fps). I know 3-shot groups are frowned upon, but overlaying the two results in a group of similar size to each separate group.


Also, I compared Remington 00 Express Buckshot (9-pellet) with Winchester Ranger 9-pellet full-power.

Both shells contain a granulated buffer of very similar looking material, except the Winchester buffer is more spherical where the Remington buffer varies more, many pieces qualifying as "shavings". The pellets in both were similarly round, with a slight edge going to the Winchester. Both used very similar wads, which protect the shot during its trip down the bore. The real difference was pellet hardness. I am not a calibrated lab machine, but I used needle-nose pliers, a counter-top, and my own weight/strength to crush each pellet as much as I could. This is the result:


On the patterning board, here is the result (each target is 14x18", and the circle is 12". In the upper left corner, you will see the number of pellets recorded which hit the circle, and in the bottom right, the number that hit the paper anywhere. The Remington targets are below, the Winchester up top. Each target represents 3 shots fired COM, for a total of 27 projectiles per target possible. The targets were individually placed down-range so chances of contamination are nil.) The Winchester averaged 69% payload in the 12" circle, and 90% on-paper. The Remington, 51% and 74%, respectively (all numbers rounded to the nearest percent). Over-all, the Winchester is shown to pattern 17% tighter.