Poor Shotgun Pattern

Here is a tip from your old uncle Art. Got my daughter a new Mossberg 500 Bantam. She is smaller in stature than her brother and I, so getting her a turkey gun that fit her better seemed like a good idea. Turkey season is fast coming on us. Finding a load that would pattern good in her new 12ga. was at the top of the list of things to do. Loaded up her two brothers, a couple guns and more ammo then we could really carry. I purchased Federal, Winchester, Heavy Shot and others. All in an attempt to find the right load for her gun. 

Well after trying every brand of shot gun shell we purchased. Then looking carefully over her targets, only one of two things could be wrong. She can't shoot, or the gun just doesn't pattern worth a darn. I already knew she could shoot, so it must be the gun. I tried my hand at a few shots with the same out come. My son Nathan laughed and said, "you guys just suck." He decided to try a few rounds and still the same thing. After a lot of frustration and about $100 worth of ammo, we decided she would just have to shoot my gun on the hunt and we would find another use for her new toy. After getting back home and looking over some of the photos I took for the web site, I found the problem. Take a good look at the photo of her barrel. Here is the tip: If you are going to pattern your turkey gun, it isn't a bad idea to make sure you put the extra full choke tube in...