- Joined
- Feb 16, 2006
- Messages
- 207
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Last week I bought a new in the box Thompson Center Black Mountain Magnum 12 guage shotgun with a full turkey choke for a good price. I didn't have a chance to shoot it until today.
After the May meeting of the club I took the TC 12 guage Black Mountain magnum to the pistol range were we can pattern our shotguns. I set up a pistol target so that I could ascertain the pellet count in an area of a typical gobbler's head and neck area.
I did make some discoveries. The barrel has a screw in choke and this one is full constriction. I forgot my choke tube wrench thus I could not use the plastic shot cups that were brought along. I used the TC fiber wads. Two on the powder charge and one over the shot. For percussion caps I bought a bunch of RWS flangless musket cap. These things are great. They seem to be rather hot and the lack of wings, so to speak,would allow one to waterproof the cap/nipple area more efficiently.
Load no.1:
100 grains of loose H777.
Two felt wads
1 3/8 oz of no 5 hard lead shot.
One felt wad.
RWS flangeless musket cap.
Target at 25 yards off a bench.
The shot produced about 10 to 12 pellets in a head neck area. I was hoping for a tighter pattern so I repeated it. The results were pretty much the same. Ten to twelve shots in a head/neck area.
Hmm. Lets see if we can tweak it a bit.
Load no 2.
100 grains of H777
Two felt wads
1 1/2oz of no 5 hard lead shot.
One felt wad
RWS flangeless cap.
The pattern was somewhat similar to the first. It was hard to ascertain where much of the shot went. It seems that the shot was in the lower left area of the target. I thought about it and remembered reading where a higher powder charge would make for a doughnut hole pattern. I suspected that I should reduce the powder charge but keep the shot wieght the same.
Load No. 3:
90 grains of H777
Two felt wads
1 1/2 oz of shot
One felt wad
RWS flangeless cap.
The amount of shot in the head and neck area of a turkey target still seems to be in that 10 to 12 range. I then did something a bit different. I wanted to see the big picture so to speak.
I loaded the gun again and shot at a puddle at 30 paces away. I figure that thirty paces is about my max range for turkey hunting . At the shot a cloud of white smoke obscured the visual of a puddle being slammed by shot. After it drifted I did see how the water looked like it was hit. Less than scientific and not very revealing.
I picked no 5 shot since that is what I shoot turkey with in a modern shotgun. I can see that I need to tweak this thing a lot. The next time I am at the range I will remove the choke tube and see what the plastic shot cups will do for performance.
Anyone with greater experience in these matters please comment so I can solve this issue. Thanks.
After the May meeting of the club I took the TC 12 guage Black Mountain magnum to the pistol range were we can pattern our shotguns. I set up a pistol target so that I could ascertain the pellet count in an area of a typical gobbler's head and neck area.
I did make some discoveries. The barrel has a screw in choke and this one is full constriction. I forgot my choke tube wrench thus I could not use the plastic shot cups that were brought along. I used the TC fiber wads. Two on the powder charge and one over the shot. For percussion caps I bought a bunch of RWS flangless musket cap. These things are great. They seem to be rather hot and the lack of wings, so to speak,would allow one to waterproof the cap/nipple area more efficiently.
Load no.1:
100 grains of loose H777.
Two felt wads
1 3/8 oz of no 5 hard lead shot.
One felt wad.
RWS flangeless musket cap.
Target at 25 yards off a bench.
The shot produced about 10 to 12 pellets in a head neck area. I was hoping for a tighter pattern so I repeated it. The results were pretty much the same. Ten to twelve shots in a head/neck area.
Hmm. Lets see if we can tweak it a bit.
Load no 2.
100 grains of H777
Two felt wads
1 1/2oz of no 5 hard lead shot.
One felt wad
RWS flangeless cap.
The pattern was somewhat similar to the first. It was hard to ascertain where much of the shot went. It seems that the shot was in the lower left area of the target. I thought about it and remembered reading where a higher powder charge would make for a doughnut hole pattern. I suspected that I should reduce the powder charge but keep the shot wieght the same.
Load No. 3:
90 grains of H777
Two felt wads
1 1/2 oz of shot
One felt wad
RWS flangeless cap.
The amount of shot in the head and neck area of a turkey target still seems to be in that 10 to 12 range. I then did something a bit different. I wanted to see the big picture so to speak.
I loaded the gun again and shot at a puddle at 30 paces away. I figure that thirty paces is about my max range for turkey hunting . At the shot a cloud of white smoke obscured the visual of a puddle being slammed by shot. After it drifted I did see how the water looked like it was hit. Less than scientific and not very revealing.
I picked no 5 shot since that is what I shoot turkey with in a modern shotgun. I can see that I need to tweak this thing a lot. The next time I am at the range I will remove the choke tube and see what the plastic shot cups will do for performance.
Anyone with greater experience in these matters please comment so I can solve this issue. Thanks.
