.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3" Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote T
40 yards #2
Notes: Shows the variance between shots, much more distributed here and not very good.
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Remington Wingmaster HD T
40 yards #1
Notes: Not bad, but again a lot of gaps
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Remington Wingmaster HD T
40 yards #2
Notes: Some strikes in the center, but the majority of the pattern is left and high.
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Remington Wingmaster HD BB
40 yards #1
Notes: Too distributed IMO, too many gaps.
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Remington Wingmaster HD BB
40 yards #2
Notes: 7 hits in the center, but empty space all around it for 2-4". Decent cluster pattern to the right though.
Predator Shot Conclusions:
--------------------------
Not really blown away with any of the patterns, but perhaps my expectations are too high?
Some patterns are certainly straight up horrible, whereas other are probably acceptable for 40 yard and under coyote hunting.
Many patterns have a lot of gaps, which could be problematic for foxes.
POI is high for a lot of the shots, just how this SBE2 seems to be, but can be remedied.
I'm primarily looking for a nice dense, even pattern. If I had that, I could at least shift the POI to bring it to the center.
While patterning, I felt the .685 Primos Dead Deer with the 3.5" Dead Coyote T were doing the best, so I took a few more shots with that combo.
Likewise for the .685 Kicks Ind Buck Kicker Choke Full with the Wingmaster HD BB primarily, but also T.
Overall, nothing really blew my mind or excited me as my new "go-to" pattern.
And the biggest disappointment is this is at 40 yards. I can't even imagine what these look like at 50 or 60 yards.
The one thing that seemed to stand out was in the .685 range, where the Kicks steadily improved as the constriction increased.
Likewise the Primos Dead Deer in .685 seems to achieve reasonable patterns, so perhaps that's an indication of consistency for increasing constrictions.
Random Buckshot Results:
------------------------
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Remington Express 1235B 00 12 3 1/2" 1125 00 18
40 yards
Notes: High and somewhat grouped, but some flyers and nothing mind blowing.
.685 Primos Dead Deer Choke (Ported)
3.5" Federal Vital-Shok 00
40 yards
Notes: Fair with a lot of flyers
.685 Kicks Ind Buck Kicker Choke Full (Ported)
3.5" Remington Express 1235B 00 12 3 1/2" 1125 00 18
40 yards
Notes: Some good center with 4 strikes, but gapped until the 8-12" radius. Also with some flyers.
.685 Kicks Ind Buck Kicker Choke Full (Ported)
3.5" Federal Vital-Shok 00
40 yards
Notes: Fair number of pellets high and relatively grouped but also a lot of flyers
Buckshot Conclusions:
---------------------
Too early to tell, need more patterning time and a lot more shells. Again, I'd rather shoot 3.5" if I can, but shotshells in this size are somewhat limited, so I'll add what I have in 3" to the next buckshot specific session. No plans to continue buckshot testing heavily other than randomly mixing it in with some new chokes to see if something stellar jumps out. Next time I'll include my Rhino .660 pattern results for comparison, since that is the combo I'm currently using.
Follow-up Plan:
---------------
For the sake of thoroughness and since I have the chokes anyway, my next session will include the following:
Untested choke I own:
---------------------
.660 Primos Jelly Head Choke Tube (Ported)
.665 Carlson PORTED TURKEY CHOKE TUBE (Ported)
.??? Carlson CRIO PLUS Dead Coyote Choke (Non Ported)
Untested choke I've ordered:
----------------------------
.685 HS Undertaker (Ported)
.690 Kick's Light Full (Ported)
.695 HS Undertaker Hevi-shot (Ported)
Shotshells Being Re-tested:
---------------------------
Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote 12 3 1/2" T
Remington Wingmaster HD RW1235VT 12 3 1/2" 1350 1 5/8 T
Remington Wingmaster HD RW1235MB 12 3 1/2" 1300 1 3/4 BB
Shotshells Being Added:
-----------------------
Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote 12 3" T
Remington Wingmaster HD RW12VT 12 3" 1300 1 1/2 T
Remington Wingmaster HD RW12HMB 12 3" 1300 1 1/2 BB
I'm hoping the larger constrictions will help improve the patterns, hence my HS and Kicks selection above.
I didn't get the Primos Jellyhead in time, but this is a very popular choke for both turkey and buckshot for the SBE2. I've heard great things about it and it's the "go-to" choke for a lot of SBE2 owners, so I'm hoping it throws some good patterns for the T/BB and buckshot range.
I'm obviously struggling with this gun and running out of options.
I called Benelli today and they did say I could get an RA number and send the gun back in to them for patterning and review.
They said they use the stock Benelli chokes with basic buckshot/turkey shot (I'm assuming all lead, she mentioned Winchester and Federal).
So if my next patterning session doesn't work out well, and I can't think of any other options...I'll be sending it in for them to review.
Beyond that, if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions, or recommendations based on my test results thus far, please let me know.
