#4 Shot for Fox - Patterned info and pics up! What do you think?

Bryan8

Bryan8

New member
So I went to dicks today and they were all out of lead bb and T shot. Even out of #4 buck. So I picked up the thing I though would be the next best. I got 2 boxes of 12 gauge Remington express long range #4’s high brass. How will these perform on grays out to about 20 yards or so? I plan on shooting them though my 870 with a jelly head. We have killed grays while rabbit hunting with low brass #6’s and mod chokes, so I assume #4’s high brass with a jelly head would do the trick. I normally shoot BB lead or T shot if I can get it, or #4bk. But ive also used steel #2’s before. Any input?

Edit: Okay so I went out and patterned my gun today with the loads.


I was useing my Remington 870 with 26" barrel. I tried a Remington brand full choke and a Primos jelly head choke.
Here is a chart I made on the Amount of hits and so on.

foxloads-1.jpg


I used some calculations online and I found my loads have about 168 pellets in them, so I included the percentages.

Shots are at 20,30,and 40 yards. Shooting at a 9 inch circle with a 5 inch center ring. (Paper plate haha)

I then counted the number of hits on the plate total and then in the 5" ring. Id say this is a kill zone for fox. How many pellets in this size ring would be necessary for killing it?

Here is a picture of the plates starting with the primos choke then the next set of pictures is the full choke.

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I was surprised to see more overall hits with the full choke. at 20 yards the pattern on the full choke was better, but past 20 yards the pattern opened up, while the jelly head remained tight and put more pellets in the 5" ring even with less overall hits sometimes.

What do you think of these patterns for fox killing power? Which would you go with? and finally would this be able to take a yote if one accidentally showed up while fox hunting?

~Bryan
 
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Quote:How will these perform on grays out to about 20 yards or so?
If they are in the center of your pattern, you will flat lay them out!!
Are you gunna save fur? Might have lots of little holes.
 
Originally Posted By: Bryan8So I went to dicks today and they were all out of lead bb and T shot. Even out of #4 buck. So I picked up the thing I though would be the next best. I got 2 boxes of 12 gauge Remington express long range #4’s high brass. How will these perform on grays out to about 20 yards or so? I plan on shooting them though my 870 with a jelly head. We have killed grays while rabbit hunting with low brass #6’s and mod chokes, so I assume #4’s high brass with a jelly head would do the trick. I normally shoot BB lead or T shot if I can get it, or #4bk. But ive also used steel #2’s before. Any input?

~Bryan


Bryan, just so you know .... the brass height doesn't mean SQUAT. Years ago it was a definite factor, but it's nothing but hype now. There are a few budget manufacturers of shotgun ammunition that use "high brass" on everything they make. Even their target loads. It's nothing but a sales gimmick. And ... it works. People don't understand that the brass is nothing but dressing. As an example, I've loaded 1 3/8 lead waterfowl loads in Winchester AA Target hulls ("low" brass) that were moving along at 1450fps. The brass height is moot. All the brass does is support the base wad and the metal of the head. Don't get all caught up in the brass height when choosing ammunition. Pay attention to the load weight and velocity numbers.

Not trying to embarrass you or anything like that. Just wanted to let you know.
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Originally Posted By: HidalgoOriginally Posted By: Bryan8So I went to dicks today and they were all out of lead bb and T shot. Even out of #4 buck. So I picked up the thing I though would be the next best. I got 2 boxes of 12 gauge Remington express long range #4’s high brass. How will these perform on grays out to about 20 yards or so? I plan on shooting them though my 870 with a jelly head. We have killed grays while rabbit hunting with low brass #6’s and mod chokes, so I assume #4’s high brass with a jelly head would do the trick. I normally shoot BB lead or T shot if I can get it, or #4bk. But ive also used steel #2’s before. Any input?

~Bryan


Bryan, just so you know .... the brass height doesn't mean SQUAT. Years ago it was a definite factor, but it's nothing but hype now. There are a few budget manufacturers of shotgun ammunition that use "high brass" on everything they make. Even their target loads. It's nothing but a sales gimmick. And ... it works. People don't understand that the brass is nothing but dressing on the cake. As an example, I've loaded 1 3/8 lead waterfowl loads in Winchester AA Target hulls ("low" brass) that were moving along at 1450fps. The brass height is moot. All the brass does is support the base wad and the metal of the head. Don't get all caught up in the brass height when choosing ammunition. Pay attention to the load weight and velocity numbers.

Not trying to embarrass you or anything like that. Just wanted to let you know.
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I always though high brass meant more powder. Thanks for letting me know. On the box its says 2 3/3Inch 1 1/4oz load at 1330 fps #4 shot

~Bryan
 
Killed tons of fox with high brass #4 shot in front of the hounds when I was younger. Plenty of power, fox really aren't that difficult to kill.
 
thanks for the imput guys!

Im going to pattern tmw before i work at 3:30 so expect some pattern pictures tmw night.

Im going to shooting a paper plate from 10-50 yards

~Bryan
 
#4 will smoke the crap out of a fox. They are so small that any decent load of #4s will work fine.

Expounding a little more on what Hidalgo brought up, the brass height means absoulutely nothing as far as what the shell produces. There are shotshells that have no exterior brass at all. What is important is the size of the interior base of the shell and unless you reload, you will never know.

Just pick a good load and go for it.
 
High brass loads of #4 (1 1/4 oz @ 1330 fps) were the benchmark for fox when we had them around here. I might recommend that you go with a not so tight choke. For years I used a rem 11-48 with a fixed modified choke and it did everything I ever asked it to do for fox. That Extra full choke, if your hunting for profit will put a bunch of shot in a concentrated area, might get you docked at the auction.
 
Looks like either will work for the task at hand. Now we just need you to post some pictures of all the foxes after you shoot them.
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