January, 1923 
17 
N ever-increasing proportion of our eight inches in diameter at ten yards. 50 to 100 per cent naturally the chances 
A hunters buy full choke guns for 
field shooting because of the universal 
craze for extra-close, long-range pat¬ 
terns. They never stop to realize that 
few rabbits, quail, or grouse are killed at 
forty or fifty yards in proportion to 
those that are shot at—and very often 
missed—at five to fifteen yards. Before 
Whatever is centered with such a mass 
of projectiles is not only killed but is 
also so badly mangled that it ceases to 
be game to anyone except a game war¬ 
den. An improved cylindcr-bored, 12- 
gauge gun, on the other hand, throws 
5-yard patterns of 3 to 4j/2 inches in 
diameter and 10-yard patterns of 9 to 
The effect of a change in the size of shot upon 10-yard shotgun patterns 
Upper row, left to right: Improved cylinder patterns made with Nos. 714 , 6, and 4 shot. Lower row, left 
to right: Choke patterns made with Nos. 7*4. 6, and 4 shot. Notice how much closer 
the large shot shoot, particularly in the open-bored barrel. 
13 inches. At fifteen yards the propor¬ 
tions are as 9 or 10, are to 15 or 17. 
The photographs shown herewith—of 
patterns made with strong-modified and 
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[J deciding that you arc not one of those 
who shoot at game at such “easy” 
ranges, go out and measure at least ten 
distances of five to fifteen yards each, 
have at least half of them in briars and 
brush, or across or along small brushy 
creeks or runs, and see whether it is not 
true that a 25-yard shot in a briar patch 
or chopping is nearly always out of 
sight. A couple of years of experience 
in timber land surveying has given me a 
good deal more respect for the length 
of a 100-foot steel chain than most 
shooters possess. Therefore, I stand 
pat on the assertion that the kind of 
pattern a shotgun will throw between 
five and twenty yards is very much more 
important than what it will do at forty 
' yards—if the gun is used for quail, 
rabbit or grouse shooting. 
This is because at least one-half of 
the chances in most cases, particularly 
when hunting without a dog, are within 
these ranges—at least for the first shot 
or two. You either take a snap shot at 
these ranges or you don’t shoot at that 
bird or rabbit. 
The disadvantage of using a close- 
pattern is self-evident. Due to the high 
muzzle velocity of all shot, even 8s or 
10s, practically every shot in the pattern 
at five to fifteen yards will kill small 
game if it hits a vital spot, so will the 
I wads for that matter, if you’re close 
enough; and the small pattern will miss improved-cylinder barrels of the same 
i a heap of game that the wide pattern g Un will show more clearly the relative 
will gather in. spreads of the two most effective types of 
At close ranges, like five or ten yards, boring for average field shooting. 1 hey 
full choke patterns contain practically show the great superiority of the more 
a solid mass of metal two to four inches open pattern for close-range shooting, 
in diameter at five yards, and five to If the area of the pattern is increased 
of hitting a swiftly-moving object are 
increased almost in the same proportion, 
and the chances of having something 
left to pick up are also greatly in your 
favor. 
Small shot, particularly if they are 
being driven at high velocity, or if 
loaded in large charges like \]/\ ounces 
in a 12, or 1 ounce in a 20, will throw 
wider patterns than large shot, particu¬ 
larly in the more open bored barrels. 
Such patterns will also be somewhat 
more patchy, at least at short ranges, 
than those made by, let us say, \ l /% 
ounces in a 12. The nice looking short- 
range patterns are those made by loads 
like 3 drams, l pi ounces of chilled 6s. 
Such loads throw very few wild shot. 
Suppose we are hunting cottontail 
rabbits in a dense mass of grass, leaves 
or brush that is at least knee deep. 
Every country boy knows how hard it 
is to see even—much less kill a rabbit 
under these circumstances. If the grass 
is waist high and is very fine and 
stands thickly on the ground, a rabbit 
ten feet from the shooter and running 
straight away from him, is practically 
as safe from a full-choke gun as if he 
were ten miles off. The reason is that 
you can’t see a rabbit, and all you do see 
is the motion of the tops of the grass. 
The man who shoots a 3-inch pattern is 
out of luck under these circumstances. 
The net result of such shooting is usu¬ 
ally a disgusted and quite emphatic 
“damned if I didn’t miss another one.” 
A high velocity charge of fine shot 
fired from a cylinder-bored gun will be 
the only real solution of such a problem 
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The effect of distance upon pattern 
Upper Row: Five, ten, and fifteen-yard patterns: improved cylinder bore, 12 gauge. Lower Row—Five, 
ten, and fifteen-yard patterns; strong-modified choke, 12 gauge. 
Load: 3 drams E. C., 1/4 02 • No. 7}4 Chilled. 
—if you insist on eating what s left of 
the rabbit. You get the maximum shot 
spread; there is plenty of velocity and 
pellet weight to make clean kills; and 
the result is a very much larger per¬ 
centage of kills. 
(Continued on page 31) 
