16ga.com ~ View topic - Can I significantly tighten choke with reloading components?

Joined: 11 Sep 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Oklahoma

Hi all,
I just registered tonight, though I've visited a bit in the past. My 16 ga is an Ithaca 37 about 6 or 8 years old with a fixed IC vent rib barrel, 26 inches long. I also have a like new older Roto-Forge 28 inch vent rib, choked Full.

I much prefer the 26 inch barrel, but would like a bit more versatility without going to choke tubes. Are there any good component combos out there that can significantly tighten up an Improved Cylinder? I know Green Dot is supposed to have a bit of a tightening effect, and that sometimes reducing velocity can help. I would really like to know if there was something out there like an unslit shot cup that I could play around with. Seems like I've seen those before, but maybe not in 16 ga.

Thanks for any ideas,
Ridge

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 1545 Location: Michigan

This should be what your looking for.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/prodinfo.asp?number=2221680

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2350 Location: West MI

Hello Ridge, welcome to the fold. Have you considered adding a buffering media into your shot column? My suggestion comes from my messing with 10ga steel & tung waterfoul and lead and tung turkey loads. I noticed a pattern change with and without buffer. I dont know if there is any published buffered lead loading data for 16ga but it might be worth some looking around. Adding buffer does elevate preasure a bit but usually not much and if your recipe is in the lower-mid range of the tolerance it may be worth trying. BP sells a couple different styles of media and it may be worth asking thier staff if it would make any difference. Hopefully the avid reloading guys on this sight will chime in on the idea but I think it maybe worth looking into. Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for. Keep us posted I'd like to know what you come up with. Take care, Mike

Member Joined: 28 Oct 2005 Posts: 665 Location: Louisiana

Ridge, you will doubtlessly get several useful replies to your question and I hope you will find this to be one of them.

Reducing velocity can usually be counted on to tighten patterns as can the use of high antimony (harder) shot. You wrote that you didn't care for steel but steel will certainly tighten your pattern and even though it's pretty unpopular with many of us, the #6 and #7 pellets do a fairly good job on upland game.
I have found wad components which enclose the entire shot collum will prevent 'bore scrub' on exposed pellets and reduce the number of flyers, consequently increasing pattern density a bit. One wad that comes immediately to mind is the now discontinued but sometimes still available WAA16.
It also seems to me that lighter payloads tighten patterns somewhat (dropping from 1 oz. to 7/ Cool

.
Buffering has already been mentioned and is certainly a pattern tightener but buffer raises pressures so don't use it indiscriminately.
Certainly propellants play a role but I would hesitate to recommend a powder as different barrels often seem to 'like' different propellants.
Your findings may vary from the experience of others, so in large measure it's really up to you to make your own discoveries as to which of the 'tweaks' you will become aware of work for you in your gun.

Ron

Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 477

I did significant patterning in working up pheasant loadings for a 12 gauge european double I didn't want to push high pressure loads through. You will be shocked at the different patterns the same barrel will throw using different shot, wads and velocity combinations. The gun is choked LMod and ImpMod. I have gotten patterns of Cyl, ExtFull and everything in between out of it. If you get a selection of wads, use chilled and magnum shot and use different hulls and loadings, you can probably get the gun to do anything you want. I ended up with a load that gives me the LMod and ImpMod I wanted with 6's. I also carry some #5's the give me an ImpCyl in the open barrel and a nice Full in the tight barrel. I have four chokes to choose from just by selecting which shells I put in. Finding the load that gives you what you want will just take some time and experimenting. And don't fall for the line that soft shot always pattens more open than hard shot. It ain't necessarily so, but don't ask me to tell you why. It was more fun than it sounds because I became fascinated by the results I was getting.

Joined: 11 Sep 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Oklahoma

Thanks for all the advise. I was hoping to be able to do it all with IC and it looks like a definite possibility. Sneem, your experience is just what I needed to hear!

I guess, judging from the collective experience here, that my next step should be to join the reloading group?

Regards,
Ridge

Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 477

I joined the group about three months ago and they have a massive amount of info. I think it is well worth the money.

Guest

This is an interesting series of posts on the subject. Testing was done with 12 gauge loads but the theory can be transfered to 16 gauge or any other shotgun gauge.

http://www.uplandjournal.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard312a/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=1;t=43367

Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 91

My experiences in patterning and load testing, shows that reducing the shot charges will tighten most patterns. I recently shot 3/4 oz in a 20 ga. and obtained an 18" effective pattern at 30 yards with .010 or IC choke. There were very few fliers. I also find that 7/8 oz in a 16 will make astonishingly long range kills with .010 or IC chokes. I run the 16's at about 1250 fps.

Lenard