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Longbeards....wow !

Posted: October 6th, 2016, 7:32 pm
by Frankinthelaurels
Finally got my old W/W 1300 nwtf to the range today for a tune up, switched over to the W/W Longbeards 1 3/4 oz #5's...using the choke that was in the gun for decades, .655 hastings, I was stunned how much better it shot than the Federal 2oz loads I've been using and killing tons of turkeys with for decades..they shot six inches left and 3 inches low, a quick turn of the Nikon turkey pro and it was centered....at least 50% more hits at 35 yards than before with less pellets, trurly an amazing shell...glad I bought a case of 100 for $67.00 during clearance at Midway...can't wait to shoot one Sat in Ohio...an amazing shell , impressed an old timer that's not easily impressed by much..

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: October 6th, 2016, 8:28 pm
by Fatmo
They are very good, but it seems like every time I comment on them. Others try and shoot them down.
When I first got them, I patterned them at 40 and was pretty excited with my results. I then started moving the target out and ended up at 60, before my pattern started to go away. I have killed 9 birds since switching, all under 40 except one. I was in a low spot and miss judged the distance, more like 55. :slap:
I was also in Florida on a turkey hunt and killed a 140# boar hog at 35, dead as a door nail.
So, yes in my opinion, they are junk shells and nothing special about them. Keep thinking that, so I too can get more at Midway next year.. :LMAO:
The only shell in my opinion out there that is a better ( Factory ) load, is Federal HW..$$$$

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: October 6th, 2016, 8:35 pm
by KPcalls
Frank, your telling your age with the Federal 2 oz. 6"s....LOL The long beards are very impressive for sure.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: October 6th, 2016, 8:43 pm
by swampchicken
They are impressive for lead shells! Have seen a couple birds die with them.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: October 7th, 2016, 3:54 am
by Frankinthelaurels
Best part kp is they are were the last of the case in the original blue/gold boxes !!! Not the red...yeah and that age is 60+, seen about it all in the turkey woods, these shells are amazing for $0.67 cents each !!

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 8:20 am
by benellilover
if you like them you WILL LOVE the Magnum Blends

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 8:39 am
by SumToy
They work good. I do see a problem with them. The guys that hang out on the forums do good with them but the new guys or the facebook guy what worry me. They see the pattern and think they can kill a bird in other state. They forget it is lead.


The 20ga is the one that really worries me.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 9:44 am
by 870 Shooter
benellilover wrote:if you like them you WILL LOVE the Magnum Blends
You work for hevishot?....second post I've you pushing this stuff pretty hard. Tell you what, you load up some tss and you'll throw that hevi shot in the trash where it belongs.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 10:46 am
by Turkinator
SumToy wrote:They work good. I do see a problem with them. The guys that hang out on the forums do good with them but the new guys or the facebook guy what worry me. They see the pattern and think they can kill a bird in other state. They forget it is lead.


The 20ga is the one that really worries me.
1 1/4 oz of shot at 1000fps out of a test barrel. Doesn't sound like much of a load

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 10:57 pm
by Johndoe
benellilover wrote:if you like them you WILL LOVE the Magnum Blends
In fact, you may bend over and have some Mag Blends up you're AZZ.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 11:00 pm
by OLE RASPY
Johndoe wrote:
benellilover wrote:if you like them you WILL LOVE the Magnum Blends
In fact, you may bend over and have some Mag Blends up you're AZZ.
:o :o
:lol:

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 9th, 2017, 4:08 pm
by GOLD HUNTER
:thumbup:

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 18th, 2017, 7:16 am
by Frankinthelaurels
I have no problem with hevi-shot or TSS, use what you want and what patterns and kills best for YOU...I just can't see myself spendinding $7:00 a shot when $0.67 works fine for any distance I shoot...to each there own, remember those famous words "can't we all just get along"...

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 18th, 2017, 4:46 pm
by ole5beards
Frankinthelaurels wrote:I have no problem with hevi-shot or TSS, use what you want and what patterns and kills best for YOU...I just can't see myself spendinding $7:00 a shot when $0.67 works fine for any distance I shoot...to each there own, remember those famous words "can't we all just get along"...

There's arguments on both sides, and I definitely see the price argument. If I had the time, setup, and money I could see myself being addicted to loading shells as well as TSS. It would be pretty cool to find the best possible load and then turning around and topping that one, therefore creating a never ending, always improving cycle, I see that and get it. But many turkey haved died at the hands of Factory lead or Factory HTL loads. And I agree with sumtoy, the problem I see as well are the newbies to the sport, those that skim through the actual printed text and see pics of these patterns and think if this shell does this at 40 yards, then I should be able to kill birds out to 70 yards. And the shots start ringing out at ridiculous distances, some will be successful but there's a higher percentage of wounded birds and that's the part I don't like. It's almost like they're wanting to hit the FFwd button, skip through the learning years where you struggled to even get a bird within 100 yards, and go right to the killing part. And honestly that's how a lot of guys are these days that are just now starting to turkey hunt, they don't want to put in their time and effort and do the work now necessary to be successful in the future, they just want a dead bird so they can snap tons of pics and blast it all over social media. Hell the learning years to me were by far my favorite! I learned a lot and it has made me a better hunter because of those years spent roaming lost and struggling, made me want to bust my tail and get better, I got very tired of wasting my damn time :lol: But like it's been said time and time again, not everyone is alike and again to each his own.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 5:45 pm
by Spurhunter
I agree, there is too much emphasis on shooting out to 70 yards + with shot shell and choke tubes realizing those possibilities. When I started hunting turkey's years ago there were only a couple of companies making "turkey loads" and very few choke tube companies. We learned and were taught to call the gobbler as close as you can (within 35 yards), that is part of the hunt!! I too am afraid a lot of gobblers will be injured and die a slow death. For me personally I like to call them close.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 6:54 pm
by Johndoe
Frank. That remark was towards Benelli lover. That guy is a troll for Hevi shot like that Upland Rules guy.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 9:08 pm
by CamoMan4025
OK, here's the deal. Shoot what you want and voice your opinion on how it performs, etc for you. We will not all agree on guns, loads, distances, etc., that's what makes this forum interesting. We don't need to be bashing each other on an open forum about their opinion. I'm not taking sides, but we don't need to be talking about certain loads coming out of people's backsides. Also, I don't think 2 posts qualifies for "pushing something pretty hard". Be assured that Doug along with the moderators will continue to keep an eye on certain individuals and their practices.

Thanks,

Kevin

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 20th, 2017, 12:15 pm
by Johndoe
I actually think people missed the point about long beards. In the 20 gauge they're going awfully slow for Lead and if you go to fives or fours the pattern will be super sparse. Add to that the practice of supertight chokes to make extra tight patterns and you have loads that are just too tight

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: February 20th, 2017, 12:21 pm
by Johndoe
Sorry, I posted this before I was finished. If you read any of the posts regarding patterns of long beard shells the vast majority of them tout the very high 10 inch numbers. However no one speaks of the 20 inch numbers because they are so very thin. It makes it look like it's a similar pattern and a similar shell when it is nowhere close. The tungsten based shots mostly have 150 to 200 fairly evenly spaced pellets in the 20 inch circle where long beards with their super high ten inch numbers cannot have good even 20 inch numbers because there aren't enough pellets there to make it possible. I stated a couple of years ago when I pattern the long beard shells that I thought that would be very good shells if people were to go back to extra full and full chokes and get away from these super tight chokes with supertight patterns I just think what it ends up being is the opposite of what we've been doing for the last 20 years trying to tighten patterns up the Longbeard shells make us need to open them up a little bit

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: March 5th, 2017, 9:48 am
by Spurtaker
12ga. 3-1/2" longbeard did drop one last year at 52 yards and it never flopped. I was impressed from a factory load. I shot federal flight control for years and then changed to longbeard. I almost get same pattern with heavy shot magnablend. I'm loading TSS this year just to see.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: March 5th, 2017, 12:40 pm
by howl
While patterning hevi 7s out of a 12 ga the other day, I tried a Win Supreme 1.75oz #5 (old box, not double xx) at a taped 50 yards. I stopped counting at 130. I see no point in the longbeards considering they increase the chance of an occasional weird pattern. Maybe it's a confidence thing, but the old 3.5" Win Supreme 2oz #6s did it to fifty in all conditions reliably, so I wouldn't bother with longbeards unless I had a strong craving to shoot #4s.

Same thing with the 20 gauge. The Win Supreme 20ga 1 5/16oz #5 1200fps is 40 yard capable in the right setup. I'm not trying to dog pile on the longbeards. This is just to point out that there's more necessary for a turkey load than forty yards in good conditions. It has to do it in the heat, in the cold, and in the rain with someone who misjudges distance sometimes.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: March 5th, 2017, 6:25 pm
by Tail Feathers
At 67 cents per round, I'd be loaded up on Longbeards too!
That is a bargain.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: March 5th, 2017, 7:29 pm
by CamoMan4025
Has anyone shot the Longbeards thru a 20 gauge? I thought about trying some, but my buddy RaspyD told me to shut the front door and stick with the Federal Heavyweight 7's!!!!!!!!

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: March 5th, 2017, 10:53 pm
by Shooter
CamoMan4025 wrote:Has anyone shot the Longbeards thru a 20 gauge? I thought about trying some, but my buddy RaspyD told me to shut the front door and stick with the Federal Heavyweight 7's!!!!!!!!
That's good advice from Raspy.

Re: Longbeards....wow !

Posted: May 24th, 2017, 1:59 pm
by Fizz
Tried the longbeard 5's thru my twenty Affinity sumtoy choke only because I can't get the fed. Heavy 7's any where. I shot it at 35 yards. I was not impressed when compared to the fed 7's there was no comparison.
I did kill a bird with one . Not saying the longbeards are not good shells. IMO they just aren't as good as the hevi 13 or the fed 7's. The pattern was decent put sparse looking. Just used to looking at the 7,s pattern maybe.