effective range of a shotgun

[DrBaker]

I was shooting clay pigeons yesterday and some cows were in the wrong pasture. Luckily they were behind our shooting area rather than in front. I was born/raised in the city and wouldn't know how to round them up and move them.

It got me to wondering, how far are my shots traveling.

Rem 870P 18in
Moss 590 20in

Winchester 12ga 2 3/4in #7shot

[blake711]

I saw you said you got an 870p yesterday what did you give for it? You can look at this link REmington Explination of Chokes (http://www.remington.com/NR/exeres/000016bfgtnylmsuunweoyoz/WhatsNew.asp?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fwhatsnew%2fbrrls_choke%2fsgbct_3% 2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7b8E0D5F34-0239-4090-8B04-1431FB31A744%7d&NRQUERYTERMINATOR=1&cookie%5Ftest=1) Notice the last two. Its states that Cylinder Bore: No constriction (approximately 40% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards). Most often used by law enforcement for service shotguns.

Skeet Choke: a specialty choke (approximately 50% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 25 yards) designed to deliver optimum patterns for close-range skeet shooting. So take into account that your gun has no choke then add to that you guns are 6-10 inches shorter on your barrels than most skeet or bird guns. The longer the barrel the tighter and longer it holds your pattern together. This is why Duck guns are so long. I am not sure how much that plays into effect but I would guess that if you arn't on target around 15 yards you are spread out to much to do any good with your guns. I have seen a kid use a 410 with 20 in barrel and blast skeet out of the sky but he does if fast. My 20 gauge with 28 in barrel has a drastically futher distance. But the biggest key is be on target. you can also do a google search on shootgun patterns and you can see how to easily do some home grown patterning tests. Try shooting with some 8 shot as that will give you more pellets my exp is that it takes minimum of 3 pellets to break the bird. Hope that gives you some help.

[DrBaker]

You may have me confused with somebody else on just getting an 870P. My 870 is one of my older guns. A guy at work recently sold a like new one for $275.

Your info is helpful. I don't have any hunting/skeet guns. Just some HD type guns. It was fun anyway. I'm assuming the lack of choke and short barrels must have made a really wide spread. I hit too many birds for a beginner.

[Mack45]

I think that Dr Baker's question is more about peppering the cows than busting the clays. Max range instead of max effective range.

[DrBaker]

I think that Dr Baker's question is more about peppering the cows than busting the clays. Max range instead of max effective range.


Your right. I should have been more specific.

[bfoster]

For lead shot Journée's formula is a useful approximation. It simply states that the maximum range of a pellet may be found by multiplying the diameter of a pellet by 2200. For instance:

#7½ pellet diameter is 0.095", nominal

0.095 * 2200 = 209 yards

Tables have been developed through test firings by the U.S. Army and others. All tables I've seen give approximately the same results; of interest is that where the tables differ from the results predicted by Journée's formula varies from empirically derived table to empirically derived table.

Many clay sport facilities limit shot size to #7½ and provide a 300 yard shot fall zone, a generous safety factor.

Niether Journée's formula nor any table I've seen allows for the very rare, but occasionally observed phenomena of shot "clumping" or "balling". Shot can sometimes be fused into a large mass due a wad failure which allows hot gas to penetrate into the shot column. When this happens the range of the resulting massive pellet is far greater than that expected for small shot: property damage and injuries have been recorded as a result. The widespread use of polyethylene wads and better quality control protocols by the cartridge manufacturers have greatly decreased the frequency where this sort of ammunition failure is recorded.

Bob

[DrBaker]

Thanks for the info. If I blast grandma's emu or deer, I'm gonna be in trouble.

[blake711]

Opps my bad man I didn't catch that .. I was gonna say I have always understood you better have 200 yards free space behind what your shooting at minimum to be safe. Which looks like that fancy formula eqautes to. ;)