Had a client nearly blow his gun up in his face last week.

Gun, Winchester SX3 shooting black cloud through a patternmaster labeled black cloud choke in full.

Why he was shooting a full choke at ducks in the timber is another question, the issue:

Choke caught the wad at the end of the barrel, luckily the shooter did not try and shoot another round and noticed it. We eventually had to put the choke in a vice and wrench out the wad it was so tightly stuck.

Ran the gun over to Spooner, the gun smith at Macks in Stuttgart. His words were this... "See it two or three times a week." "Half notice and half blow their barrels out."

I asked how Federal has been handling it and he said they have been good about replacing the guns but it takes about 6 months.

His words of advice... do not shoot black cloud. If you insist on shooting it, do so only out of a black cloud designated choke in IC or MOD NEVER a full.

Heed the advice, could have been bad for the shooter as well as the guy standing two feet to the side of him.

I keep hearing stories about this. Appreciate the heads up.

thanks. So far my cheap RIO's never have done that.

Yikes! Thanx for the heads up.

When I was talking to the federal guy he said to never shoot them out of a pattern master.

Wow

thanks for looking out

I switched to Hevi Metal and have been very happy happy happy...

No more BlackCloud for this guy...

Agree...heavy shot is where it's at

Too many issues with those loads for my tastes. I don't know why they don't just use a more normal wad. Most people buy em for the flitestopper pellets anyway, that funky wad causes all the problems.

As an aside, yes, hevimetal shells rock my socks off.

got some i would be willing to part with for cheap if any interest

pm me

Thanks for looking out. I've heard a few stories like this before.

I've shot black cloud 3.5 inch for years but I use a choke designed for black cloud.

Saw this happen twice the other day. Acted like it didn't have a proper powder load. BB's just barely made it out the barrel.
Wad stuck in barrel.

That wad is the only reason that those shells will hold any kind of pattern past 30 yards. Shotgunners have always payed more to get round uniform shot so pattern is more consistant when shooting clays. Flight stopper pellets as well as the square ones by Winchester are a gimmick. Sure they cause more damage when they connect with a bird, but the non aero dynamic shapes shed velocity like a mother. The trick in holding the shot together for any length is the wad.

We aren't shooting BC anymore but have gone to Hevi Metal, but I still have my BC set up for a back up. I bought a a mid range Trulok BC choke tube when we decided to go with BC......

Wow, kinda scary. I've been running BC since 08 and never had an issue through the Carlson's BC tubes are factory IC or mod chokes. I did repattern with hevimetal for a goose hunt tomorrow since I was out of Bb BC loads. Ill run them until they are gone, but looks like hevimetal may get the nod if they perform as well on birds as they did on paper.

If you are going to pay that much for a box if shells I recommend blind side they are awesome

I have never heard a problem w black cloud choke. Bet patternmaster was ported. That is a big no no.