Federal Heavyweight Question

Double28 · Post by **Double28** » December 16th, 2012, 12:40 pm

I am shooting a SBEII and am thinking of trying the Federal Heavyweight out for the heck of it. I ordered a few boxes of 3.5" #7's, does anyone here shoot this combo, and if so what choke(s) have you had luck with? Currently the only NON PORTED choke I have is a PG Tempest .670", which I am planning on patterning, but any other suggestions are welcome! Thank you!

ICDEDTURKES · Post by **ICDEDTURKES** » December 16th, 2012, 12:53 pm

With that particular gun I would strongly urge you to contact Rob Roberts at Gobbler Guns.. Rob is responsible for setting up the SBE custom shop turkey guns with that particular shell.. I sure would hope with the amount of shells he has put through that particular gun, he will be able to fix ya up.

chatterbox · Post by **chatterbox** » December 16th, 2012, 1:09 pm

Not to hijack a thread, but I'm thinking about giving that shell a run through my 835.
I just heard back from William at SumToy, and he feels my .675 and that shell should give me decent results.

toasty · Post by **toasty** » December 16th, 2012, 9:48 pm

I've shot it with a Carlson EF (.675) with good results for the FC wad which I do not like. Reloading the same shot and powder with a different wad increase my 10" percentage by like 20%.

Shooter · Post by **Shooter** » December 16th, 2012, 10:29 pm

Benellis,Berettas, Brownings, and Stoegers seem to like a choke between .680 to .695 when using any of the heavy tungsten shot loads.

turkeykiller12 · Post by **turkeykiller12** » December 16th, 2012, 11:39 pm

One of my turkey guns is a SBE and I use a .665 Indian creek choke in it and shoot 3.5" hevi 13 #7's. I have got great results from this setup.

ICDEDTURKES · Post by **ICDEDTURKES** » December 17th, 2012, 9:21 am

Shooter wrote:Benellis,Berettas, Brownings, and Stoegers seem to like a choke between .680 to .695 when using any of the heavy tungsten shot loads.

Their is one glaring difference between the handloaded shells and the 15 g/cc tungsten in these shells.. The Flight Control Wad

sugarray · Post by **sugarray** » December 17th, 2012, 8:09 pm

After seeing what Lee did here in WV with that load and an 870, I'd go tighter. He is shooting a Trulock .650

Rockhound · Post by **Rockhound** » January 11th, 2013, 3:15 am

My 10 ga. Put up 235 in a 10 at 40 with a kicks. 690

YellaJacket · Post by **YellaJacket** » January 11th, 2013, 9:16 am

.650

vaturkey · Post by **vaturkey** » January 11th, 2013, 9:49 am

After talking to several different choke tube makers & also talking to Federal Tech Services. They all say the exact same thing. DO NOT shoot the Fed HW out of a ported choke tube. There have been cases of split choke tubes & siezed up threads & swelled up barrels. Im just stating what I've been told. I've also been told that a factory flush choke tube works better on these shells because of the flight control wad. There are no wad catchers in the factory tubes. Trulock Choke Co has a special non ported choke tube that is recommended just for the FED HW's. Trulock already has the 12 ga tube avaliable & they are making the 20 ga. tube as I write this. It will be avaliable at the end of this month. I have been doing alot of research on the Fed HW shells. I have to admit that I too have shot the Fed HW shells in a ported tube. Other than TSS I think I have shot every turkey load out there & I'm here to tell ya that the FED HW loads out perform all others hands down. I shot a coyote last month @ 35 yds with a 3 1/2" 1 7/8 oz of # 5's & the shot went completly through both shoulders. I have shot several other critters with it & folks Im telling ya it's the real deal. Of course you wont get the big #'s but IMO the killing power makes up for the big #'s.

Just a Headsup

Ricky :struttin:

vaturkey · Post by **vaturkey** » January 11th, 2013, 11:00 am

Post by **Hoobilly** » January 11th, 2013, 11:26 am

there is a guy on the nwtf forum who shoots the fed hw 7's through his IndianCreek tube. for years, with no failure nor swelling.

I dont see how shooting a ported tube, or not, could effect sweliing of the threads and causing problems. Seems to me it would be more like
a lower grade steel used in the tube that would cause seized threads.

ICDEDTURKES · Post by **ICDEDTURKES** » January 11th, 2013, 11:41 am

vaturkey wrote:I've also been told that a factory flush choke tube works better on these shells because of the flight control wad.

Not trying to kill you as the messenger.

Marketing 101 for the FCW.. Basically they are implying that the FCW serves the purpose of an extended turkey choke tube.. This has been proven false over and over.. Federal is trying to convince folks shooting these shells they no longer have to spend 20-100 dollars on an aftermarket tube.. The problem lies in the fact that alot of folks whom are willing to pony up the cash for the HW seek a higher level of performance that is not attained from a factory flush choke tube.

Its no different when Remington started marketing their loadings of Hevi Shot and showed all kinds of charts and stuff stating that .675 was optimal and anything else tighter blew patterns.

It would be fun to sit down with the "R&D" team oh wait the marketing team with some of these guns on these forums and have them shoot their factory tubes with the same shells and compare notes.

vaturkey · Post by **vaturkey** » January 11th, 2013, 11:56 am

I recently bought a Benelli M2 20Ga. As soon as I got it I bought an Indian Creek.555 tube for it. With the Hevi 13 7's it does real good. When I shot the Fed HW 7's through the IC choke it shot not so good. So far the factory full flush choke tube that came with the gun shoots the best. 125 in a 10 @ 40 yds. I'm waiting on the Trulock tube to see if I will get better results.

Ricky :struttin:

ICDEDTURKES · Post by **ICDEDTURKES** » January 11th, 2013, 11:59 am

vaturkey wrote: DO NOT shoot the Fed HW out of a ported choke tube. There have been cases of split choke tubes & siezed up threads & swelled up barrels.

I think alot of this hysteria was founded on the Black Cloud steel loadings with this wad.. Folks were putting them in Patternmasters with the high raised wad stopping studs, a wad would lodge on studs and on the follow up shot cause problems.

Yet many of us are shooting SSX, IC and Sum Toys with some form of wad stopper and have had no ill effects.

el diablo · Post by **el diablo** » January 11th, 2013, 12:02 pm

vaturkey wrote:I recently bought a Benelli M2 20Ga. As soon as I got it I bought an Indian Creek.555 tube for it. With the Hevi 13 7's it does real good. When I shot the Fed HW 7's through the IC choke it shot not so good. So far the factory full flush choke tube that came with the gun shoots the best. 125 in a 10 @ 40 yds. I'm waiting on the Trulock tube to see if I will get better results.

Ricky

I have the same gun and choke. I don't know if you are even interested, but you could handload some TSS with the combo you have and I think you would be more than pleased. It's a little more expensive per shell, but might be cheaper than choke searching.

Johndoe · Post by **Johndoe** » January 11th, 2013, 12:09 pm

el diablo wrote:
vaturkey wrote:I recently bought a Benelli M2 20Ga. As soon as I got it I bought an Indian Creek.555 tube for it. With the Hevi 13 7's it does real good. When I shot the Fed HW 7's through the IC choke it shot not so good. So far the factory full flush choke tube that came with the gun shoots the best. 125 in a 10 @ 40 yds. I'm waiting on the Trulock tube to see if I will get better results.

Ricky
I have the same gun and choke. I don't know if you are even interested, but you could handload some TSS with the combo you have and I think you would be more than pleased. It's a little more expensive per shell, but might be cheaper than choke searching.

Ricky can get all the TSS loads he wanted thru Gold Hunter. I guess he chooses Fed HW. And now Fed HW is not cheaper than Brian can load the TSS.

vaturkey · Post by **vaturkey** » January 11th, 2013, 12:21 pm

Johndoe wrote:
el diablo wrote:
vaturkey wrote:I recently bought a Benelli M2 20Ga. As soon as I got it I bought an Indian Creek.555 tube for it. With the Hevi 13 7's it does real good. When I shot the Fed HW 7's through the IC choke it shot not so good. So far the factory full flush choke tube that came with the gun shoots the best. 125 in a 10 @ 40 yds. I'm waiting on the Trulock tube to see if I will get better results.

Ricky
I have the same gun and choke. I don't know if you are even interested, but you could handload some TSS with the combo you have and I think you would be more than pleased. It's a little more expensive per shell, but might be cheaper than choke searching.
Ricky can get all the TSS loads he wanted thru Gold Hunter. I guess he chooses Fed HW. And now Fed HW is not cheaper than Brian can load the TSS.

Gold Hunter doesnt load 20 ga shells. I sure wish he did !

Johndoe · Post by **Johndoe** » January 11th, 2013, 3:43 pm

But he could with little to no effort.

vaturkey · Post by **vaturkey** » January 11th, 2013, 4:56 pm

Johndoe wrote:But he could with little to no effort.

If he had a 20 Ga I know he would !

GOLD HUNTER · Post by **GOLD HUNTER** » January 11th, 2013, 6:50 pm

Johndoe wrote:But he could with little to no effort.

Im not set up for 20ga. loads, but i can start any day and Rick knows id load all them 20ga. tss loads that that gun would ever shoot.

Johndoe · Post by **Johndoe** » January 11th, 2013, 7:30 pm

See, If I tell you a Fly can pull a plow, dont ask no stupid questions, just find a harness that fits him. LOL

SumToy · Post by **SumToy** » January 14th, 2013, 9:09 pm

chatterbox wrote:Not to hijack a thread, but I'm thinking about giving that shell a run through my 835.
I just heard back from William at SumToy, and he feels my .675 and that shell should give me decent results.

Yup but you have a big bore gun. I dont have a choke for the small bore gun for them shells. It not if it is when. Look at the duck forums. The Wad is .730 and the bore is .722.

I chose to lose money no the sale rather then try to explain. Safety is FIRST

Sloppy_Snood · Post by **Sloppy_Snood** » January 14th, 2013, 10:39 pm

SumToy wrote:Yup but you have a big bore gun. I dont have a choke for the small bore gun for them shells. It not if it is when. Look at the duck forums. The Wad is .730 and the bore is .722.

I chose to lose money no the sale rather then try to explain. Safety is FIRST

Thanks for posting that William!

As you well know, not all 12 gauges are right at .729"-.730" (or larger) in the barrel bore internal diameter.

12 gauge shotgun barrel bores can range from .720" ("tight" a la blowback Benellis, Berettas, etc.) to .729-.730" ("normal" a la Remington, Ithaca, etc.) to .742" ("backbored" a la Browning Invector Plus) to 10 gauge (a la Mossberg 835/935).

As you so accurately stated, there is simply too much wad compression on the .730" Flite Control wad when one tries to blast it down a sub-.729" bore barrel. This is the "perfect recipe" for the dreaded inconsistent performance with Flite Control Heavyweight shotshells (i.e. not desired).

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