Franchi affinity 20 ga patterns?????

[emptymag]

My chokes

Barrel dia .624
Full dia .595
Mod dia .611
Imp cly dia .616
Carlsons BC MID .601

I picked up a new Franchi Affinity 20 ga the other week at spent a hour or so at the range doing some patterning. All loads tested shot good from Winchester 2 3/4'' 3/4oz Drylock #4, Estate 3" 1oz #2 and #4 and Remington 3" 1oz #4. The only load that didnt pattern that well was Hevi metal 3'' 1oz #3. The Hevis shot under 50% pattern at 30 and 40 yards.

Anyways, I've patterned a lot of 12 gauge loads but never seen any this tight or high of % from chokes that are bigger than they are supposed to be. I know my bore at .624 is bigger than it should be by .004 but still 65%+ with a IC at 40 yards is tight. I wanted a 20 gauge for a while. Most ducks I shoot are under 30-35 yards. Any ideas on getting this to open up some?

[cstemig]

That is a dilemma. Have you tried a Skeet tube? I've also read that shooting a faster load (i.e. more than 1,400 fps) may open up the pattern. Also you may want to try a Bismuth load as they tend to open more than a steel load.

[emptymag]

I patterned the Carlson's black cloud mid range and was highly impressed today. it measures .601". I know its a tighter choke yet but, the gun threw a much more even pattern with it. The biggest improvement was with the Hevi metal #3's. They went from right around 50% pattern at 30 yards to 88% at 30 and 60% at 40. The rest of the loads threw a good pattern with this choke as well, might use it on more open water hunts. Next up is to order a skeet choke from Trulock. They claim if their choke doesn't pattern how you want it to you can exchange it for a different one. I figure if i get the skeet I can trade it back for a CYL or IC if need be.

[cstemig]

Sounds like you are on the right track.

[mnduckhunter]

I picked up the same gun. Haven't shot it yet.

Nice to know what you are getting for patterns and where I can start with mine.

I would order a skeet and an ic chokes.