Shotgun Zeroing

[DogmaDog]

Hey all,

Just got my first shotgun...now what do I do with it?  

Mine has adjustable ghost ring sights, and an 18 1/2 inch cylinder bore barrel.  I assume I'll shoot mostly shot out of it, but that I might use some slugs as well.  

The question is:  Do I get some rifled slugs and zero the thing like a rifle?  Or do I get different shotshells and go through this tedious "patterning" process I've read about?  Both?  

If I do "pattern" the gun, and it patterns poorly, what do I do then to improve it?  

Thanks for your help,

DogmaDog

[Patrick Sweeney]

It will pattern differently with different loads.  Once you find a load that delivers a tight enough group, right to the sights, use only that load.

If you want slugs, find a slug that shoots to the center of the pattern of shot.  Otherwise, you're constantly trying to remember where your kentucky windage is for every kind of shot.

shotguns used to be real bad in this regard, but current production guns seem to have less problems in getting everything "under the bead" or in your case, "inside the ghost ring."

[kellyn]

I agree with Patrick except that I do it the opposite way.  I zero with slugs first (usually dead on at 50 yards) and then I check the pattern with shot.  

I don't care for cylinder bore. I prefer improved or modified.

[gm iprod]

Kellyn.

Ive got a Benelli s90 28" and a lot of people down here who should know say run cylinder. I've tried cyl and prefer skeet and had awesome results with 1oz #4 going real fast with pins and steel. Plus the solids go well out to 50 or so. Do you find that Imp Cyl or Mod give better groups with solids as well as good patterns with shot?

thanks

[Patrick Sweeney]

I went with Mod due to pin shooting.  If I shot cyl or I.C., an occasional pellet would stray into the next pin and tip it as I was trying to get on it.  Also, the tighter pattern took pins off faster, a definite advantage when trying to be first to the trophy trough.

Mod works great on steel, but you won't get as many slow-tippers with edge hits.  With mod, it either goes or it doesn't.

I only start with shot first, then check slugs because that's the way I did it first, and I simply didn't change the habit.  Of course, when working with Remingtons, swapping the barrel isn't that costly, so I did a lot of barrel changing before I found one I liked.

[lcarr]

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Quote: from Patrick Sweeney on 6:44 am on May 16, 2002

I went with Mod due to pin shooting.  If I shot cyl or I.C., an occasional pellet would stray into the next pin and tip it as I was trying to get on it.  Also, the tighter pattern took pins off faster, a definite advantage when trying to be first to the trophy trough.

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What do you think the "optimal" pattern is for 3-Gun?  For example, the #8 shot practice load I've always used in classes only prints about 8.5" at 10yds, measuring extreme flyer to extreme flyer the way one would when patterning defensive buckshot.  Is that too tight?

Also, what shot size do you prefer?  The local shotgun side matches around here use a lot of clay pigeons, so I thought putting more pellets in the air with a  smaller shot size might be desirable.

Thanks,

Lincoln

[Patrick Sweeney]

I'll have to go out and shoot and measure mine, because I can't remember.  Depending on #8's to break all the clay birds is fine until some wise guy sticks a 20 yard popper out there.

We don't use clay birds on our shotgun stages, only steel.

[kellyn]

If we are shooting clay birds, I like #8s with an open choke.  If shooting closer steel, I like 7 1/2s with an improved choke.  If shooting farther steel, I like 7 1/2s or sixes with a modified or even a full choke.  Lot sof good 3 gunners, use #4s on steel but I prefer to just use a tigher choke.

Tigher chokes do 2 things for me.  They knock the steel down faster and they make me wait for a better sight picture on the target.  Psychologically for me, tighter chokes make me shoot better because they "make" me slow down and get hits.