Quote:
I think those particular loads are going to be custom loads and probably pretty darned expensive. But who knows, technology is amazing and they may find a way to make a reliable 75 - 80 yard shotgun load/choke combo that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. If they do, it'll probably be like shooting a slug for the first 40 yards, so I'm not sure that is really all that great either.
I think the shooter's expectations are probably a bit overly high, especially considering the gun he is using. I have, generally, found the standard 12ga. bores, and the overbored guns, pattern better than the tight bores like those used in the SBE, subject, of course to variations due to differing choke designs and chokes used in them.
When I pattern large shot at 40 yards, I look more at the number of pellets within the center 15 - 20 inches, than overall distribution, if I am interested in longer range performance. The shot in the fringes will normally be well out of the 30" circle by the time the pattern reaches 50 yards, whereas, the shot in the center of the pattern will form your 30" pattern at 50 yards. (Regular Hevishot does seem to vary somewhat from this rule, however.) And, there are so few pellets in these loads that it takes very little to have a good pattern one shot, a mediocre pattern the second shot, and a very good pattern the third shot, with differing pellet distributions in each.
You are just can't count on getting nice, evenly distributed, round patterns with small number of large pellets every time you pull the trigger.
