Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

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Justin W
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Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

I shot two shots each and averaged. I’m not gonna bother posting pics because there are too many patterns to fool with. I believe if this gun had a tighter choke, it could do better. I’m not really wanting to shoot straight 10s because of the Potential of penetration issues, but straight 10s had a very good pattern out of this particular gun. Interestingly enough, most folks I talked to said straight 9s would pattern the best and were in fact the worst. Just goes to show every gun is different. I’m getting another choke for it, whoever can get me one first (Jebs, Indian creek, or trulock).


9.5x10 (121.5)
9x9.5 (150.5)
9x10 (130)
9’s (109.5)
9.5 (157.5)
10s (166.5)


Everything was done at 40 yards lasered, off sandbags at a shot trap.
The load is Hal’s 370NM
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appalachianassassin
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by appalachianassassin »

I believe I would be happy with the 9x9.5 load.
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kythunter
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by kythunter »

Yeah 9.5's are strong, good numbers.
Justin W
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

I agree. I think it could do a little better. I didn’t count the 20”, as it really got sporadic. Maybe a different choke would help contain the amount of strays I was seeing.
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Southern Sportsman
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Southern Sportsman »

Either the 9x9.5 or 9.5 load are really strong IMO.
I go stubbornly into error by myself, and reach my own fallacious conclusions using my own faulty data. ~Tom Kelly
Justin W
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

So now that I posted the results, I will say this. Those numbers are the average, but I did see some strange stuff with this gun. Between the two shots of each shot size load, one shot was roughly 20 pellets higher than the other shot. That happened with nearly every shot size combo I tried. One shot would have very high numbers, and threw a good uniform pattern, and the next shot was be lower numbers with a sporadic pattern. Also, poa stayed the same but poi changed quite a bit from shot to shot, even with the same size shot, sometimes as much as 12”. All the shells were loaded the exact size way, with the same components, and they were 4 grains weight difference from the lightest shell to the heaviest, (including differences in Hull weight, wad, etc.) fully assembled. I’ll do some investigating to figure out what’s going on. I don’t like the inconsistency with it. The problem is that I don’t know if it’s the gun or the load at this point.

Image

9.5 pattern at 40 yards. 175 in the 10”. Highest pattern I saw.
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kythunter
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by kythunter »

Are you cleaning the barrel between shots? I normally run a bore snake thru mine between shots.
POI may move a little but changing 12" is odd.
coconut
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by coconut »

12 inches off would be a problem for me
duurmeehr
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by duurmeehr »

Justin W wrote: February 26th, 2019, 11:47 am So now that I posted the results, I will say this. Those numbers are the average, but I did see some strange stuff with this gun. Between the two shots of each shot size load, one shot was roughly 20 pellets higher than the other shot. That happened with nearly every shot size combo I tried. One shot would have very high numbers, and threw a good uniform pattern, and the next shot was be lower numbers with a sporadic pattern. Also, poa stayed the same but poi changed quite a bit from shot to shot, even with the same size shot, sometimes as much as 12”. All the shells were loaded the exact size way, with the same components, and they were 4 grains weight difference from the lightest shell to the heaviest, (including differences in Hull weight, wad, etc.) fully assembled. I’ll do some investigating to figure out what’s going on. I don’t like the inconsistency with it. The problem is that I don’t know if it’s the gun or the load at this point.

Image

9.5 pattern at 40 yards. 175 in the 10”. Highest pattern I saw.
Do you know what the Extra Full choke is they say comes with that gun? I mean the actual ID, not the constriction.

Are you using TPS wads?

Last year I went through nightmare problems with the .410 before learning the TPS wads had one slit not cut at all on some of them. Looked like it was but not cut through.
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howl
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by howl »

T10 penetration issues?
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Spuriosity
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Spuriosity »

howl wrote: February 27th, 2019, 6:11 am T10 penetration issues?
1.25" at 54 yds @ 1100 fps
Justin W
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

duurmeehr wrote: February 27th, 2019, 4:31 am
Justin W wrote: February 26th, 2019, 11:47 am So now that I posted the results, I will say this. Those numbers are the average, but I did see some strange stuff with this gun. Between the two shots of each shot size load, one shot was roughly 20 pellets higher than the other shot. That happened with nearly every shot size combo I tried. One shot would have very high numbers, and threw a good uniform pattern, and the next shot was be lower numbers with a sporadic pattern. Also, poa stayed the same but poi changed quite a bit from shot to shot, even with the same size shot, sometimes as much as 12”. All the shells were loaded the exact size way, with the same components, and they were 4 grains weight difference from the lightest shell to the heaviest, (including differences in Hull weight, wad, etc.) fully assembled. I’ll do some investigating to figure out what’s going on. I don’t like the inconsistency with it. The problem is that I don’t know if it’s the gun or the load at this point.

Image

9.5 pattern at 40 yards. 175 in the 10”. Highest pattern I saw.
Do you know what the Extra Full choke is they say comes with that gun? I mean the actual ID, not the constriction.

Are you using TPS wads?

Last year I went through nightmare problems with the .410 before learning the TPS wads had one slit not cut at all on some of them. Looked like it was but not cut through.
The choke is the factory choke, and I mic’d it at .394. I am using the TPS wads, and I split each petal apart and cleaned them up before loading each wad. I went back and weighed 10 9.5s I loaded. Average weight of the loaded shells was 378.4 grains, with a difference of 1.4 grains from the lightest to the heaviest, which is most likely variations in wad weight or hull weights. These shells are identical basically. I am very meticulous in loading Turkey shells, too meticulous I think. I read the horror stories about the tps wads before hand, so I made sure to fix that issue before I ever pulled the trigger.
duurmeehr
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by duurmeehr »

Hal told me to use 9.5's in the .410.

I would shoot 175 in 10" all day long.

.410 will make you crazy.
Justin W
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

duurmeehr wrote: February 27th, 2019, 11:14 am Hal told me to use 9.5's in the .410.

I would shoot 175 in 10" all day long.

.410 will make you crazy.
I’ve been crazy for a while! :dontknow:
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howl
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by howl »

Spuriosity wrote: February 27th, 2019, 8:35 am
howl wrote: February 27th, 2019, 6:11 am T10 penetration issues?
1.25" at 54 yds @ 1100 fps
:thumbup:
Justin W
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Location: Alabama

Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

I shot the gun again today after cleaning it and tightening the choke as tight as I could get it so that it wouldn’t work loose. Every shot increased pellet count as I went, which tells me that it shoots better dirty. It shot more consistent and is fully capable of killing turkeys. Poi stayed more consistent this go around and is exactly where I want it.

Image

10”=150
20”=140
Hal’s 370NM
9.5s
nmsshooter
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Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by nmsshooter »

I could defiantly live with that.
Do you think the cleaning between shots is what was changing the poi
Justin W
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Location: Alabama

Re: Stevens 301T .410 pattern results

Post by Justin W »

I never cleaned between shots. I cleaned before testing this time, and made 4 shots without cleaning. Each shot put up higher pellet count numbers than the previous.

The first round of testing I never cleaned the gun. Just picked it up from the store and started shooting. It had never been cleaned at all before this latest round of testing.

I think the choke loosing during the shot was affecting poi. After each shot the choke would be a half round loose.
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