Spent the afternoon at my friend's outdoor range at Poverty Knob (PK) just north of me:
Recently a friend and I traded some reloads. So first I shot 20 reloads of .357 Magnum 130 gr FMJ. 19/20 at 8 yards. I'm pretty certain the wayward round went over the top of the cardboard. The bull is 3" hand-drawn. I found that today I needed to work on my front sight elevation....windage was great, but you can see the up and down variance I was doing.
5/10 rounds in splash target, 2 rounds low on the cardboard. Left the other 3 rounds in the woods.
Same two targets here posing in a side-by-side view. Just to provide a perspective that even when shooting the plain cardboard, my POIs were pretty much also within an 8" circle like the DB target.
I forgot to take my camera to PK, so didn't get any photos of my black steel targets. The paint has now wiped them out!
Promise to take camera along next Range Report. But it was a noisy afternoon, and a lot of fun. I shot offhand at 40 yards using a medium-sized steel silhouette target. Shot 5 rounds of Herter's 3/4 oz. rifled slugs (1350fps) and 8 rounds of Rem 5/8 oz. rifled slugs (1800fps). Rang that steel 10/13 times! Quite happy with the number of hits, as this is my main practice yardage for deer hunting. Low recoil on this 20ga compared to the 12ga Nova Tactical Pump I used to have....really like shooting this s/g.
Today was the first time I used my new extended rifled choke tube I got at Carlson's. The specs are a .010 constriction and a 1-in-35 twist. Carlson stated this yields "tight and consistent shots at 70-100 yards." I'm looking forward to backing up from the 40 yards I shot today and do more slug shooting. The choke and slugs worked quite well. It was again fun to be so noisy this afternoon!!
Pattern Board
Set up a 6'x6' cardboard on the wood target board at PK. (No pic -- the 8-shot holes were too small/hard to photograph with my basic Nikon). Tested target load patterns at 16 yards and 25 yards, which is my estimate at the range I can hit some of those trap clays. Shot very few rounds, but the patterns all looked very tight and full. Used 4 rounds of Rem 7/8 oz. 8-shot (1225fps), 3 rounds of Herter's 7/8 oz. 8-shot (1210fps). The choke I used was the stock Benelli "F" choke.
Tactical Ammo Test
I always like to buy the more "unusual" s/g ammo whenever I come across it at my LGS. I'd never use it for HD, but it is very interesting to see the effect of these on targets and/or wood boards. Today I shot at the cardboard with the plywood board as backup.
I shot offhand from 20, 15, and 8 yards. The ammo was Herter's SD Double Round Ball in 20-ga. The shell holds two .540 round balls, and lets them go at 1200fps. I was startled at the size hole and splintered 3/4" plywood at all these yardages. Shotguns really mean business!
It was good to have the chance to get to an outdoor range again. The weather today had fall in the air...mid-60s as I drove late morning to PK, and only reached about 80* as I headed home around 2:30PM. Hope fall hangs around now, and looking forward to my next range time with my Henry SGC!!
