Background/Purpose
I recently bought a used Remington 870 Wingmaster. In its previous life, it had been abused much and shot little (I hope to reverse both trends!) It has a 21” Remington Police barrel (Cylinder Bore = no choke). Another INGO member and good friend ‘rescued’ this noble shotgun and orchestrated it’s transformation into a great firearm.
After being refinished with an OD Ceracote finish by Nash Gunwerks, it was outfitted with a SpeedFeed short length-of-pull pistol grip stock and a Hogue forend. It has a TruGlo Tactical TFO shotgun sight and Choate +3 magazine extension.
Here is what it looks like today.
It will be used primarily as a home defense firearm by both adult males and females. I hope to also attend some formal or informal training on defensive use of a shotgun.
The purpose of the testing is to see what patterns the ammo delivers in this gun. A secondary interest is to feel the different felt recoil of regular and ‘low-recoil’ shells.
Ammo
All ammo was buckshot in 2 ¾” shells. I chose six brands that I had on-hand. Some were standard loads and some were low recoil shells.
Winchester Buckshot: unplated, 9 pellets
Winchester Ranger: low recoil, 8 pellets
Sellier & Bellot: full power, 12 pellets
Noble Sports: 1290 fps, 12 pellets
Hornady: low recoil
Federal Tactical: LE132-00, low recoil, 9 pellets
Bonus -- Shotgun loading tip:
[I’ve shot shotguns occasionally for many years, but never had someone tell me how to properly load. I used to turn the shotgun upside down, often with the bolt open. This tip comes via VUPDblue.]
Keeping your grip on the stock with your strong hand and with the bolt CLOSED, tuck the butt of the shotgun underneath your armpit. Keep the loading well facing down. Grab a shell with your weak hand. Using the front of the trigger guard as a ‘runway’ of sorts, slide the shell into the magazine. Continue loading shells until the magazine is full! During this process, you shouldn't be looking at your hands or the gun, but keeping your eyes on your target.
Testing
The target stand was set up in front of a dirt wall. A distance of 25’ was measured and a stake set in the ground. This distance was chosen to represent a possible indoor self defense scenario, albeit one that is on the long side. Many possible shots inside a home would be less than 25 feet.
I stapled a new target paper for each ammo brand and then shot four rounds on each paper. [Tip: I used sheets of old wallpaper cut from a roll that my wife no longer wanted. Made cheap single-use targets!] Pictures were taken of each target with the pattern circled.
Winchester Buckshot: 9 pellets
Winchester Ranger: low recoil, 8 pellets
Sellier & Bellot: full power, 12 pellets
The felt recoil was heavy when shooting this load.
Noble Sports: 1290 fps, 12 pellets
Hornady: low recoil
On the Hornady buckshot target, the fourth shot was unusual. It appeared that the shot all stayed together and went through the target followed by the shot cup. I shot a fifth shell and it patterned similarly to the first three. The fifth shot will be included in the analysis. The fourth shot will not.
Federal Tactical: LE132-00, low recoil, 9 pellets
The recoil for this load is noticeably lighter than a full-power load.
Results
Each grouping was measured across and down to create an average diameter for the group. All four shots for each ammo type were averaged to achieve a representative shot diameter for that ammo type.
The results in order of overall average group size (in inches) from smallest to largest:
Federal Tactical LE132-00........1.2
Hornady Low-Recoil ...................2.3
Winchester Ranger ....................3.6
Sellier & Bellot ............................4.8
Noble Sports ...............................5.6
Winchester Buckshot .................5.9
Shot One Brand at Fifty Feet
The Federal Tactical shot so tight at 25 feet, I backed up to 50 feet and shot a target with these results:
The combined average group size at 50 feet was 3.6 inches. (If I ignore one flyer pellet on the second shot the average is 2.0 inches.) It shot tighter at 50 feet than three brands shot at 25 feet!
I am highly impressed with the Federal Tactical low recoil load. It will be my ammo of choice for home defense. It has tight groups allowing for controlled placement. There is a myth that you can’t miss with a shotgun because of a wide shot pattern. Other people think that all you have to do is aim a shotgun in the general vicinity of the bad guy and he’ll go down. That is also a myth. What is true is that it’s not difficult to aim a shotgun at distances under 25 feet. Why not deliver all the pellets and stopping power in a concentrated area. Once those nine pellets hit in their 1.2” circle, they’re going to do amazing damage to whatever they strike.
The low recoil of the Federal load is a plus since my wife is not a regular shooter and does not like heavy recoil. Over penetration is not a big issue for us since we live in a log cabin with 6” thick wood walls. Our main floor is 2+ inches thick. However, for many home applications, the low recoil loading might be an advantage for penetration.
The Hornady buckshot loads will be my second choice.
Throughout the testing, the Remington 870 ran flawlessly!
Shooting stuff is fun!
Just for Fun
There was a pumpkin along our driveway that has been slowly rotting since the middle of October. I decided to put it out of its misery….
Before:
Side view, After:
The Federal Tactical low recoil shell went in near the top of the pumpkin and blew out the whole back half! A few bits of pumpkin guts landed on my shotgun case five feet behind me!
Conclusion: Shooting pumpkins is fun….but messy!
I recently bought a used Remington 870 Wingmaster. In its previous life, it had been abused much and shot little (I hope to reverse both trends!) It has a 21” Remington Police barrel (Cylinder Bore = no choke). Another INGO member and good friend ‘rescued’ this noble shotgun and orchestrated it’s transformation into a great firearm.
After being refinished with an OD Ceracote finish by Nash Gunwerks, it was outfitted with a SpeedFeed short length-of-pull pistol grip stock and a Hogue forend. It has a TruGlo Tactical TFO shotgun sight and Choate +3 magazine extension.
Here is what it looks like today.
It will be used primarily as a home defense firearm by both adult males and females. I hope to also attend some formal or informal training on defensive use of a shotgun.
The purpose of the testing is to see what patterns the ammo delivers in this gun. A secondary interest is to feel the different felt recoil of regular and ‘low-recoil’ shells.
Ammo
All ammo was buckshot in 2 ¾” shells. I chose six brands that I had on-hand. Some were standard loads and some were low recoil shells.
Winchester Buckshot: unplated, 9 pellets
Winchester Ranger: low recoil, 8 pellets
Sellier & Bellot: full power, 12 pellets
Noble Sports: 1290 fps, 12 pellets
Hornady: low recoil
Federal Tactical: LE132-00, low recoil, 9 pellets
Bonus -- Shotgun loading tip:
[I’ve shot shotguns occasionally for many years, but never had someone tell me how to properly load. I used to turn the shotgun upside down, often with the bolt open. This tip comes via VUPDblue.]
Keeping your grip on the stock with your strong hand and with the bolt CLOSED, tuck the butt of the shotgun underneath your armpit. Keep the loading well facing down. Grab a shell with your weak hand. Using the front of the trigger guard as a ‘runway’ of sorts, slide the shell into the magazine. Continue loading shells until the magazine is full! During this process, you shouldn't be looking at your hands or the gun, but keeping your eyes on your target.
Testing
The target stand was set up in front of a dirt wall. A distance of 25’ was measured and a stake set in the ground. This distance was chosen to represent a possible indoor self defense scenario, albeit one that is on the long side. Many possible shots inside a home would be less than 25 feet.
I stapled a new target paper for each ammo brand and then shot four rounds on each paper. [Tip: I used sheets of old wallpaper cut from a roll that my wife no longer wanted. Made cheap single-use targets!] Pictures were taken of each target with the pattern circled.
Winchester Buckshot: 9 pellets
Winchester Ranger: low recoil, 8 pellets
Sellier & Bellot: full power, 12 pellets
The felt recoil was heavy when shooting this load.
Noble Sports: 1290 fps, 12 pellets
Hornady: low recoil
On the Hornady buckshot target, the fourth shot was unusual. It appeared that the shot all stayed together and went through the target followed by the shot cup. I shot a fifth shell and it patterned similarly to the first three. The fifth shot will be included in the analysis. The fourth shot will not.
Federal Tactical: LE132-00, low recoil, 9 pellets
The recoil for this load is noticeably lighter than a full-power load.
Results
Each grouping was measured across and down to create an average diameter for the group. All four shots for each ammo type were averaged to achieve a representative shot diameter for that ammo type.
The results in order of overall average group size (in inches) from smallest to largest:
Federal Tactical LE132-00........1.2
Hornady Low-Recoil ...................2.3
Winchester Ranger ....................3.6
Sellier & Bellot ............................4.8
Noble Sports ...............................5.6
Winchester Buckshot .................5.9
Shot One Brand at Fifty Feet
The Federal Tactical shot so tight at 25 feet, I backed up to 50 feet and shot a target with these results:
The combined average group size at 50 feet was 3.6 inches. (If I ignore one flyer pellet on the second shot the average is 2.0 inches.) It shot tighter at 50 feet than three brands shot at 25 feet!
I am highly impressed with the Federal Tactical low recoil load. It will be my ammo of choice for home defense. It has tight groups allowing for controlled placement. There is a myth that you can’t miss with a shotgun because of a wide shot pattern. Other people think that all you have to do is aim a shotgun in the general vicinity of the bad guy and he’ll go down. That is also a myth. What is true is that it’s not difficult to aim a shotgun at distances under 25 feet. Why not deliver all the pellets and stopping power in a concentrated area. Once those nine pellets hit in their 1.2” circle, they’re going to do amazing damage to whatever they strike.
The low recoil of the Federal load is a plus since my wife is not a regular shooter and does not like heavy recoil. Over penetration is not a big issue for us since we live in a log cabin with 6” thick wood walls. Our main floor is 2+ inches thick. However, for many home applications, the low recoil loading might be an advantage for penetration.
The Hornady buckshot loads will be my second choice.
Throughout the testing, the Remington 870 ran flawlessly!
Shooting stuff is fun!
Just for Fun
There was a pumpkin along our driveway that has been slowly rotting since the middle of October. I decided to put it out of its misery….
Before:
Side view, After:
The Federal Tactical low recoil shell went in near the top of the pumpkin and blew out the whole back half! A few bits of pumpkin guts landed on my shotgun case five feet behind me!
Conclusion: Shooting pumpkins is fun….but messy!
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Original thread here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...he_pattern_of_various_brands_of_buckshot.html
Original thread here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...he_pattern_of_various_brands_of_buckshot.html
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