First of all I've never had 20ga experience before. Then this deal was too good to miss it. Also for some odd reason this gun is very rare for Canada. Argentine dove hunting guides report like these shotguns make 150 000 shots per year with no problem. I don't think I will be able to make at least half of that in my lifetime. Still, knowing that it is one of most reliable shotguns on the market and a quality autoloader, was it possible to resist?..
Today I had chance to test shoot and pattern this gun for 1st time.
It is brand new, its weight is less than 6 lb which is pleasure to carry around. The only little hick up is that the gun store somehow misplaced two extra chokes, so the gun arrived with only a choke flush mount IC pre-installed. They promised to supply two missing chokes (those supposed to be M and F) though, then to dispatch them later. So all the test shots here are made using the IC choke.
First test is to check the point of impact (POI).
For this I mount the gun proper way and shoot it at close distance 12...15 yds which lets me clearly see the center of pattern. Here is what I got:
I tested it with three types of ammunition:
1. Browning BXD Steel #2, 3", 1oz, 1300 FPS (shots 1,2)
2. Challenger lead #5, 2-3/4, 1oz Game and Target, FPS value is not marked on the box (shots 3,4).
3. Winchester lead #6 2-3/4, 1oz. 1165 FPS (shots 5,6,7,8,9)
1,2 - were very first shots for this brand new gun, so I was not sure how to aim. I did 1st shot to the center of cross, and apparently it worked fine. The 2nd was aimed a little below, so being perfectly centered gun it placed the shot the way I aimed it. 3 and 4 are a little off to left. 5,6 - almost perfect. Then I marked three more red little circles and did three more shots using same Winchester ammo. Maybe I gained the feeling on this shotgun, maybe 1165 FPS works better or both, but as you can see last five shots are equally good hits.
Test of pattern at 40 yds.
Challenger lead #5, 2-3/4, 1oz Game and Target - 94 hits, which is 55% of 170 pellets for 1oz #5 lead shot. It is to be expected that lead makes lower density of hits in comparison against steel shot.
Winchester lead #6 2-3/4, 1oz. 1165 FPS - 116 hits is 52% of 225 pellets for 1oz #6 lead shot. 50 to 55% is expected result for IC choke tube when shooting lead.
Gun fit test.
This test is quite interesting one and probably new to some of you. Its purpose is to test the gun fit. To do it I draw a 3...5 inch circle in center of at least A1 sized paper sheet or bigger one, then place it at approx. 20 yards distance. Then take 12...15 shots paying attention to have proper stance, gun mount, etc. Also you need to take these shots special way: move your barrel sight from the edge of paper toward the center, shoot then unmount your gun, then repeat. Every next motion must start from new angle toward center. Ideally, point your barrel at 12 o'clock, move to the center, shoot. Then at 1 o'clock, move, shoot, 2 o'clock, etc, etc, until you reach 11 o'clock, move toward center and take last shot. You must shoot almost like you would do it when shooting trap or skeet: mount - move - shoot, no long aimings like you would do at a still target. So finally you would see where is the highest density of hits in relation to the center of target which suggests you how to adjust your gun fit.
My target shows the highest hit density is a slightly off center toward 8 o'clock, not too much though. Which confirms my thoughts that I need to add 1/2" spacer under the butt stock for this gun. This should correct/move the POI very slightly rightward which would make near perfect fit.
Other conclusions and observations.
The gun slightly slaps my cheek - a symptom of short stock. Like already said above, 1/2" spacer is to be added. 1oz load kicks a little bit. So after the break in (4..5 more boxes of 1oz shots) I should look into using 7/8 oz shots. The drop seem to be OK. I don't see too much of top rail surface, just a little bit, yet the shotgun shoots not too high, not too low. To be tested again after spacer installation.
The Winchester lead #6 2-3/4, 1oz. 1165 FPS shot was the cheapest one but seemed to shoot the best in this test - good news! I do not like to use Winchester shots in my gas driven semi-auto shotguns because those shots burn the dirtiest and make gun cleaning total nightmare. But for this inertia driven gun it is not the case, so I can take these shots back to my list. Moreover, these shots have nice thin wads with collapsible shock absorber (look at the white one below).
The Browning BXD Steel #2, 3", 1oz, 1300 FPS shots are most expensive ones. Yet their pattern leaves something to be desired. When I picked that fancy brown wad and looked inside it - there were four metal pellets stuck and left at its bottom which have never left the wad. It is probably not too big as a problem, still... And forgot to mention, there was no problems to cycle any of shots.
More choke tubes, shot brands and numbers to be tested in future.
June-14 2019
Canada
Today I had chance to test shoot and pattern this gun for 1st time.
It is brand new, its weight is less than 6 lb which is pleasure to carry around. The only little hick up is that the gun store somehow misplaced two extra chokes, so the gun arrived with only a choke flush mount IC pre-installed. They promised to supply two missing chokes (those supposed to be M and F) though, then to dispatch them later. So all the test shots here are made using the IC choke.
First test is to check the point of impact (POI).
For this I mount the gun proper way and shoot it at close distance 12...15 yds which lets me clearly see the center of pattern. Here is what I got:
1. Browning BXD Steel #2, 3", 1oz, 1300 FPS (shots 1,2)
2. Challenger lead #5, 2-3/4, 1oz Game and Target, FPS value is not marked on the box (shots 3,4).
3. Winchester lead #6 2-3/4, 1oz. 1165 FPS (shots 5,6,7,8,9)
1,2 - were very first shots for this brand new gun, so I was not sure how to aim. I did 1st shot to the center of cross, and apparently it worked fine. The 2nd was aimed a little below, so being perfectly centered gun it placed the shot the way I aimed it. 3 and 4 are a little off to left. 5,6 - almost perfect. Then I marked three more red little circles and did three more shots using same Winchester ammo. Maybe I gained the feeling on this shotgun, maybe 1165 FPS works better or both, but as you can see last five shots are equally good hits.
Test of pattern at 40 yds.
Browning BXD Steel #2, 3", 1oz, 1300 FPS - 77 hits, which is 62% (1oz steel shot #2 has approx. 125 pellets). It is probably not too bad especially given that this is not waterfowl shotgun and it has IC choke. #2 is the biggest shot size for 20ga and btw the IC is the tightest choke for steel shot in this caliber. Benelli writes "NO steel" on their M choke which totally makes sense.
Gun fit test.
This test is quite interesting one and probably new to some of you. Its purpose is to test the gun fit. To do it I draw a 3...5 inch circle in center of at least A1 sized paper sheet or bigger one, then place it at approx. 20 yards distance. Then take 12...15 shots paying attention to have proper stance, gun mount, etc. Also you need to take these shots special way: move your barrel sight from the edge of paper toward the center, shoot then unmount your gun, then repeat. Every next motion must start from new angle toward center. Ideally, point your barrel at 12 o'clock, move to the center, shoot. Then at 1 o'clock, move, shoot, 2 o'clock, etc, etc, until you reach 11 o'clock, move toward center and take last shot. You must shoot almost like you would do it when shooting trap or skeet: mount - move - shoot, no long aimings like you would do at a still target. So finally you would see where is the highest density of hits in relation to the center of target which suggests you how to adjust your gun fit.
Other conclusions and observations.
The gun slightly slaps my cheek - a symptom of short stock. Like already said above, 1/2" spacer is to be added. 1oz load kicks a little bit. So after the break in (4..5 more boxes of 1oz shots) I should look into using 7/8 oz shots. The drop seem to be OK. I don't see too much of top rail surface, just a little bit, yet the shotgun shoots not too high, not too low. To be tested again after spacer installation.
The Winchester lead #6 2-3/4, 1oz. 1165 FPS shot was the cheapest one but seemed to shoot the best in this test - good news! I do not like to use Winchester shots in my gas driven semi-auto shotguns because those shots burn the dirtiest and make gun cleaning total nightmare. But for this inertia driven gun it is not the case, so I can take these shots back to my list. Moreover, these shots have nice thin wads with collapsible shock absorber (look at the white one below).
More choke tubes, shot brands and numbers to be tested in future.
June-14 2019
Canada
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий
to avoid spam posters, your message will appear after pre-moderation. Thank you!