Big Decisions on the BBF97 for 2017

[mchughcb]

Agreed Bob. Unfortunately it looks like the shops advertising they have it actually don't.

[stokesrj]

Do I have to fly to Australia with a case of hevi-shot :0 Just shoot them at 35 yards and under then

[mchughcb]

Probably, we don't get enough of the extra good stuff down here

Anyway we'll see how we go tomorrow, I'm keen to test my lady loads of 1oz of BBs out of the 20g.

[mchughcb]

Well option 6 just really didn't have the range to even slow down ole renard More trying to cut the fox off before it got to the next farm. Next week we deploy the drilling.

[bbvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/j3TB_bWdbUk[/bbvideo]

[stokesrj]

How far do you figure the fox was when you took the shot? It's hard to tell on video.

[mchughcb]

Probably 70+ yards . Unfortunately by not turning it had me into the evening trying catch dogs that had run through two neigbouring farms chasing it. Doesnt matter a day spent hunting is better than sitting at home on the couch. I carried that 20g 7 hours today and carring one hand without a sling its a joy.

[SPEEDY]

I was going to say I wouldn't have pulled the trigger on that one, my pop used to refer to those shots as educating them
I'm thinking rather then chasing hevishot it might be a better idea to find a few more guys to tighten up the stands so there isn't so many big spaces for them to slip through.

It's pretty open country so that makes it harder, we would sit along the fence at holes they use or double up on stands in country like that.

Of course it's a little hard to tell from the videos how people are deployed along flushing lanes, but then we used to shoot and work the land so we knew from frequent observation what lines they would take when they bolted.

[mchughcb]

How much educating do you need to give a fox when it has 9 dogs after it, two blasts from a shottie is the last thing its worried about

We had about 5-10mm of rain and it was 6 degrees today. I wonder how many people were keen to go hunting walking through slush, I'll give you a tip - not many

[SPEEDY]

I used to do that every winter on top of the great dividing range, wind chill was like a knife

But we always got a good crew, sometimes it would be more productive to do a few more drives and shrink the area of each down.

My preferred method was to flush the BlackBerry patches with a dog or by throwing stones into them.
It was pretty damn effective.

[MM]

My experience is that it is not the kind of shot but the number of pellets on target that matters,and that is a function of the wad matched to the choke on your gun. I use my BBF97 on turkey, coyote and foxes. I also have an old Beretta folding single shot I use for turkey. I tested many many rounds and shot types and what I discovered in my guns is that at 35 yards and under it makes zero practical difference what you use, but beyond that differences show up exponentially to the increase in distance. The half or modified choke on my gun measures .665 constriction which puts it in the range of some "turkey and varmint" chokes. I found that Federal and Hornady loads that use the "flight Control" wad work best in my guns for extended range varmint and turkey loads. This wad was supposedly designed around moderate chokes without ports or rifling and in fact patterns get worse the tighter the choke. Game killing patterns out to 60 yards no problem , but at 70 yards things get sketchy. I have yet to find a reliable (6-9 pellets) in kill zone at 70 yards in my guns including with Heavy shot which will not pattern well in my guns. I have found that each gun is an individual and you have to find a combination it likes then buy a case. I always try to find a couple people to divide up the cost of ammo samples but most people are not interested because it is a shotgun so I have all kinds of random shells that do not pattern well in my guns. Should we talk slug loads next?

[stokesrj]

My experience is that it is not the kind of shot but the number of pellets on target that matters

For turkey where only the neck head need to be penetrated I agree, for fur bears, I think you would change your mind if you were to shoot ballistic gel at 70 or 75 yards. The hevi-shot #5 will penetrate deeper than lead shot several sizes larger.

Luckily my gun(s) like the hevi-shot really well and patten much better than any lead loads I've tried, including the loads using flight control. Things get markedly better using .662" diameter choke tubes.

Like you, I have hundreds of shells from broken lots that don't pattern well at extended range, to many they are all good enough. And as you said, at 35 yards it doesn't really matter, at extended range, few take the time to understand what works and what doesn't.

[mchughcb]

A blaserbud following this thread has kindly offered me 3" , 36gr No2 shot for the 20g to see its performance as well.

[SPEEDY]

That should make a big difference, 36gm loads are traditionally the 12ga heavy load so in a 20ga are definitely a magnum load.
The 12ga patterns 36gm #2 shot well but the 20ga is well known for having a better pattern then the 12ga so it should be a nice dense even pattern that should stretch out to 50m with any luck.

If they are still out of range then it might be time to either but a 10ga or start loading the rifle barrel too.

[MM]

12guage 50 yards and under, 22 Hornet barrel 50 yards and over. Viva BBF97!