Federal #1 flitecontrol buckshot, patterning experiences?
I had a chance to test some of Federal's #1 buckshot with the flitecontrol wadding. I'm curious if other folks have patterned this product and what results they got.
It wasn't the primary goal of my trip nor did I complete an extensive test or average the results over multiple shots at the same distance. We showed up early on open land, and did some carbine work. I also took my TRG out to break it's cherry so I had several other goals to accomplish. As the day progressed, more folks showed up so getting a cold range to set up targets (I only had one target stand) became unbearably long for patterning. I didn't feel like spending 10 seconds to fire one round, then wait 15 minutes brushing snow off myself and waiting for a cold range to retrieve a wet paper target, only to repeat the process 25 times if I wanted 5 rounds at each distance. I plan to do a more extensive test when time allows or at a regular range on a weekday.
The testing environment wasn't the best. It was 30-40F with snow flurries at 2490' and everything was getting wet or snowy. This was done out of a Remington 870 express with an 18.5", open cylinder bore. Testing yielded interesting results. The first two shots seemed to have the flitecontrol wad drop out very, very early on. It's arguable the third shot did as well. I'm not sure if this might have anything to do with any snow or water that accumulated in the muzzle while we were setting up. I did testing at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. I should have added 5, 15, 25, and 35 yards with an averaged result.
Here is what I got:
Target 1 at 10 yards:
This was the first shot. It seems the shotcup and pellets had separated very early on and the wadding was unstable. I'm guessing the bore being wet with snow and water offered some sort of resistance or obstruction which caused the wadding to go wonky and drop out of flight early on. The wadding hit the target sideways, and you can see some gunpowder smudges from the flitecontrol wad fingers striking the upper right of the paper. The shot is too dense to count but it forms a 1.65" grouping with several fliers that opened up the group.
Target 2 at 20 yards:
I shot at this target twice. After firing once and getting another premature shotcup separation and a shot pattern, I was feeling let down by the Flitecontrol stuff. I shot at it once more and perhaps that was enough to get rid of any excess moisture in the bore from the snow. At least...I'm willing to hang onto this as a working hypothesis as I didn't experience this problem anymore. The first shot shows premature shotcup seperation. All 15 #1 pellets are accounted for and form a concentrated 3.6" grouping, which opens up to just under 6" with the two low-hitting pellets. The second shot which was fired exhibited a single ragged hole, with shot entering at the top of the oblong hole and indications the shotcup impacted the paper target sideways. It doesn't appear the shotcup tilting sideways opened up the shot. It passed as a single mass.
Target 3 at 20 yards:
I decided to do one more shot. I pulled the shot but it entered the target clean. There are speckled holes from buffering materials. It looks like the wadding entered at an angle, leaving an oblong hole. Still one ragged hole with no indications of a spreading pattern.
Target 4 at 30 yards:
Another single ragged hole. Slight tilt of the shotcup. Buffering materials have slowed down enough that they don't make it this far or don't punch through the paper. I'm not sure if this is typical or prolonged shotcup flight because the shot opens a LOT between 30 and 40 yards with a sampling of one round.
Target 5 at 40 yards:
Big difference betwen 30 and 40 yards. The shotcup dropped out of flight completely. The patterning opened from nothing to the width of the target. I should have done one at 35 yards and find the intermediate point between shot being in the cup and it opening up. It's also possible that the 30 yard shot was a fluke and the wadding drops out earlier than this, typically. Like I mentioned above, I didn't do an average at each distance so one shot is hardly representative of what should happen. 14 of 15 pellets accounted for. One of the flyers misses the target with two other pellets in the D-zone. Most of the pellets are in the A-C zone of an IPSC.
Target 6 at 50 yards:
Only 11 of 15 pellets hit the paper, so four go missing. 10 of 15 hit the target, surprisingly most centered quite well without a donut pattern or any gaps. It isn't useful at this range but it's nice to see how it performs at extended range.
Of course, every barrel is different and my next rig is getting an IC or mod rifle sighted police barrel. I contacted Federal and they seemed confident that an IC or Mod choked barrel will give better accuracy for their Truball slugs and not screw up the flitecontrol wadding on their buckshot.
“The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries." Nikola Tesla
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Originally Posted by pakieser
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