12 Gauge Winchester SX3 Longbeard v. TSS #9s or #8's

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » January 5th, 2016, 6:02 pm

Hello GobblerNation! I'm new here and looking for some advice on chokes and also some pattern pics if anyone's got em.

So last season my old faithful Mossberg 835 succumbed to 15 years of abuse, neglect and hard living and I had to put her down. I'll miss her, of course, (but not her latest tendency to misfire if carried over 3 miles) but now I'm fondly in love with my new outfit: a 12 gauge Winchester SX3 Longbeard outfitted with an Aimpoint 9000SC. I absolutely love it.

I'm looking to play around with TSS and wanted to know if anyone had a choke to recommend for running TSS through this pretty little lady. I have some #9 TSS in the 3 inch 2 ounce and 3 ½ inch 2 ½ ounce loads. I also have some #8.5s to load.

I shot one round with 2 1/2 ounces of #9s through the factory briley xf invector choke but the pattern was worse than the 20 gauge sx3 patterns I've seen posted. Thought I'd ask around before slinging more tungsten.

Any advice on what would be a good TSS choke for this gun would be appreciated (plus pattern pics if you've got em!).

Johndoe · Post by **Johndoe** » January 5th, 2016, 7:45 pm

Somewhere near 675 or so.

el diablo · Post by **el diablo** » January 5th, 2016, 8:03 pm

In my Invector plus barrels the .696 browning trap special does great. It seems to be a little too open for other guys. If ya want to try out the choke I will gladly loan ya one. I have had good results from .685 kicks as well.

KPcalls · Post by **KPcalls** » January 5th, 2016, 8:12 pm

Welcome to the forum...I basically have the same gun, mine is the SX3 coyote with a 24" barrel. I tried several different chokes, loads and 8.5's and 9's. This is the load and combination I decided to stay with.

Gar Commander · Post by **Gar Commander** » January 5th, 2016, 8:12 pm

I am running the Aimpoint 9000SC also and love it. Are your threads invector plus? If so, I have a couple chokes you can try.

Shooter · Post by **Shooter** » January 5th, 2016, 10:29 pm

Maybe not be your choke at all.
I have seen 3 guns that shot the 2 1/2 ozer terribly. Two were GN members here, and all within the last few years.
When I say terrible, I'm talking 140 hits in the 10 or worse at 40.
Thank God I have two loads for this shell. Switched to the other load and, Bingo,... back over 340 hits in the 10.
Some guns like the one load, and some like the other. Doesn't even seem to matter what brand gun either.
Most of em were Benelli's and Rem's though.
Just my 2 cents.

Johndoe · Post by **Johndoe** » January 5th, 2016, 10:35 pm

Yeah. Don't shoot that 2.5oz load. It's a waste. We are killing birds at ridiculous distances in with 1 5/8oz in 20ga. The 2 oz should work well. 2.5oz might be too much to push thru that barrel.

Shooter · Post by **Shooter** » January 5th, 2016, 10:50 pm

Johndoe wrote:Yeah. Don't shoot that 2.5oz load. It's a waste. We are killing birds at ridiculous distances in with 1 5/8oz in 20ga. The 2 oz should work well. 2.5oz might be too much to push thru that barrel.

Yep, probably a lot of truth to that!

KPcalls · Post by **KPcalls** » January 5th, 2016, 11:33 pm

My Winchester SXP 20 shoots the same pellet count with 1 5/8 oz's of 9's. In the three 12 gauge guns I played with, none of them would come close to my 20 gauge patterns using the 12 gauge 2 oz. loads I tried, and that was with numerous chokes. They were all killing patterns without a doubt and I killed several with the loads last year. My SX3 just seemed to like Hal's 3" federal hull load using 2.25 oz. of TSS the best. I never tried the 2.5 oz. I like it where its at and I plan on leaving it alone...

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » January 6th, 2016, 1:29 am

Thanks for the info guys.

My pattern was 168 in a 10 inch circle at 40 using the invector plus with the 2 1/2 ounce loads. Might be the loads, but I think I'll upgrade chokes before the next shot. KP - I certainly like your combo alot better. I'll have to get the recipe from hal; originally bought the TSS for mossberg loads and dont have that one. What fps does that combo shoot at?

Do you have any pattern pics Diablo?

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » January 6th, 2016, 1:43 am

Gar Commander wrote:I am running the Aimpoint 9000SC also and love it. Are your threads invector plus? If so, I have a couple chokes you can try.

Yeah, it brings everything together. A guy in my old hunting club had the previous model in that line and it kept a zero for 15 years. What I also like is that with its battery you can keep it on all season and its still going. The hog hunting video is what sold me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3FlhmoesHw

One thing I did was bought the see-through scope covers to keep the rain out and keep the lenses from getting scratched.

davisd9 · Post by **davisd9** » January 6th, 2016, 7:46 am

SwampDrummin wrote:Hello GobblerNation! I'm new here and looking for some advice on chokes and also some pattern pics if anyone's got em.

So last season my old faithful Mossberg 835 succumbed to 15 years of abuse, neglect and hard living and I had to put her down. I'll miss her, of course, (but not her latest tendency to misfire if carried over 3 miles) but now I'm fondly in love with my new outfit: a 12 gauge Winchester SX3 Longbeard outfitted with an Aimpoint 9000SC. I absolutely love it.

I'm looking to play around with TSS and wanted to know if anyone had a choke to recommend for running TSS through this pretty little lady. I have some #9 TSS in the 3 inch 2 ounce and 3 ½ inch 2 ½ ounce loads. I also have some #8.5s to load.

I shot one round with 2 1/2 ounces of #9s through the factory briley xf invector choke but the pattern was worse than the 20 gauge sx3 patterns I've seen posted. Thought I'd ask around before slinging more tungsten.

Any advice on what would be a good TSS choke for this gun would be appreciated (plus pattern pics if you've got em!).

Good looking rig!

Sent from the Strut Zone

davisd9 · Post by **davisd9** » January 6th, 2016, 7:47 am

Johndoe wrote:Yeah. Don't shoot that 2.5oz load. It's a waste. We are killing birds at ridiculous distances in with 1 5/8oz in 20ga. The 2 oz should work well. 2.5oz might be too much to push thru that barrel.

That is basically a 10 ga load in a smaller shell.

Sent from the Strut Zone

Turkinator · Post by **Turkinator** » January 6th, 2016, 9:49 am

Welcome to G.N.

Turkinator · Post by **Turkinator** » January 6th, 2016, 9:59 am

I never had great results from TSS out of my 12ga encore. It was far and away better than anything else available, but nothing like what most were getting out of 20ga guns. I went to a 20ga rem 870 and am constantly getting 300 range in 10 at 40 with Hal's 1 5/8 load of 9s. The 12ga would have probably done better had I tried more choke options out, but I'm thrilled as can be with the 20ga. Want to get a 410 going this season.

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » January 18th, 2016, 12:07 am

So, I'm thinking the coyote and the longbeard SX3 gotta be different.

Here's what I've got so far:

1.) 168 hits with 2 1/2 oz #9s at 40 yards, factory briley invector plus (.665)
2.) 166 hits with 2 oz #9s at 40 yards, trulock .680 invector plus (.680) (Barrel cleaned and polished x5)

3.) ____ hits with ________ at 40 yards, indian creek invector plus (.665) - to be determined

KPcalls · Post by **KPcalls** » January 18th, 2016, 1:03 am

Swampdrummin...The only difference in the two guns are camo finish and the coyote has a vent rib barrel versus the cantilever barrel you have. I believe your gun has a 24" barrel also.

I just went through the pics on my phone...The lowest count I ever had in the 10" was 220 and that was with 8.5's. My Stoeger M3000 was 196 with the same Fiocci hull TSS load. The same load with straight 9's gave me approx, 270-280 in the 10". I decided to play around with the SX3 a little more after turkey season when the Federal hulls came available. The 2 oz. federal hull TSS load shot about the same as the Fiocci hull load in my gun. I loaded up a couple of the 2.25 oz. federal hull loads with one once of 8.5's and 1.25 oz. of 9's and the first shot is the pic above. I would think your count should be alot higher with what you are shooting, but I can't tell you why. Hopefully some of the loading guru's on here can help you figure it out. I did try several chokes in the range you shot with .665 being the tightest up to the factory full that the SX3 came with. The trulock .680 just seemed to shoot a little better. I didn't see very much difference in the tighter chokes.

KPcalls · Post by **KPcalls** » January 18th, 2016, 1:06 am

I just looked at your pic again....6 degrees..WOW... that's cold ,which could have alot to do with it.

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » January 18th, 2016, 2:03 am

KPcalls wrote:Swampdrummin...The only difference in the two guns are camo finish and the coyote has a vent rib barrel versus the cantilever barrel you have. I believe your gun has a 24" barrel also.

I just went through the pics on my phone...The lowest count I ever had in the 10" was 220 and that was with 8.5's. My Stoeger M3000 was 196 with the same Fiocci hull TSS load. The same load with straight 9's gave me approx, 270-280 in the 10". I decided to play around with the SX3 a little more after turkey season when the Federal hulls came available. The 2 oz. federal hull TSS load shot about the same as the Fiocci hull load in my gun. I loaded up a couple of the 2.25 oz. federal hull loads with one once of 8.5's and 1.25 oz. of 9's and the first shot is the pic above. I would think your count should be alot higher with what you are shooting, but I can't tell you why. Hopefully some of the loading guru's on here can help you figure it out. I did try several chokes in the range you shot with .665 being the tightest up to the factory full that the SX3 came with. The trulock .680 just seemed to shoot a little better. I didn't see very much difference in the tighter chokes.

You're right on them being the same KP...I guess I was just hoping someone would point out some secret factory difference.

(Still time people...) Your numbers are right where I wanted to get too.

Cold is definitely doing something, but it about 32 degrees when I shot the 2 1/2 oz load (in fairness, the barrel wasn't as clean as the second round though). Next weekend it'll be between 30-40, and I'm gonna try a few different loads out. Gonna definitely make the TSS trap a priority this week though.

SwampDrummin · Post by **SwampDrummin** » February 24th, 2016, 5:34 pm

Update:

I tried a few more load recipes and the winner was Hal's 2.25 oz, 3 1/2" load, duplexed with .25 ounces of 8.5s stacked over 2 ounces of #9s. It's the tighter of the two patterns below. The other pattern is 2 ounces of #9.5s (420 count). I forgot to clean the barrel between shots so no head to head comparison.

The pellet count was only 3 higher in the stacked load, but got 53 more in the 10 inch (again, dirty barrel so no true head to head comparison). Both of these loads incorporated cork or cork and felt. That seems to have made a major difference.

watchemflop · Post by **watchemflop** » February 25th, 2016, 8:00 pm

My bps loves the 2.5 oz load, duplex 7x8.5. 60% of load in the 10 consistently. IC .665.

KPcalls · Post by **KPcalls** » February 26th, 2016, 9:54 am

Good deal swamp....

el diablo · Post by **el diablo** » February 26th, 2016, 10:05 am

Looks nasty Swamp!

hawglips · Post by **hawglips** » February 26th, 2016, 2:15 pm

Very nice 20" pattern.

Hooksnhorns · Post by **Hooksnhorns** » February 26th, 2016, 11:39 pm

Those are some fine patterns there, mighty fine.

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