Winchester Xpert #6.5 Steel Load

[Joe Hunter]

I saw some of these shells at an Academy today. It looks like the Winchester's Marketing Dept. has been busy trying to build a better mouse trap. At one time Remington marketed a #6 1/2 steel load as a trap load so I thought some on here would be interested in hearing about this load.

I purchased a few and dissected some of these low-cost factory steel shotshells to assess their component consistency and quality. I’ll be patterning them in the coming weeks to assess their patterning performance against other Xpert #6 and #7 steel loads so stay tuned in for those result's.

Powder and shot data were obtained by cutting open five shells from the same box as the shells to be patterned and counting and weighing the components.

12 GA 2 ¾" WINCHESTER XPERT STEEL LOAD
1 oz #6 ½ steel (371 pellets) @ 1325 fps
PELLETS/SHELL (1 ounce = 437.5 gr)
In-shell pellet count / weight (grains)
379 / 461.3 gr
373 / 455.2 gr
370 / 453.9 gr
367 / 451.6 gr
365 / 451.4 gr
Aver. 370.8 / 454.68 gr

PELLET SIZE (25 pellets, 5/shell, #6 ½ = .105” dia.)
.118”, .113”, .113”, .113, .112”, .111”, .111”, .111”, .110”, .110”, .108”, .108”, .108”, .107”, .106”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .104”, .103”, .103”, .102”, .100
Average pellet diameter / .10784”

POWDER/SHELL
19.3 gr
19.3 gr
19.2 gr
19.0 gr
18.8 gr
Aver. / 19.12 gr

 

[Joe Hunter]

I shot 20 patterns today through 4 chokes (5/choke) with the 6.5 steel load. It will take a couple days to read the patterns and put the numbers together so stay tuned!

 

[Joe Hunter]

12ga 2 ¾” #6.5 Winchester Xpert Game & Target Steel Load

Pattern results from a 12-gauge Browning Citori with 28" Invector-plus barrels using Briley flush chokes (patterns average of five, 30" post-shot scribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

12 GA 2 ¾" WINCHESTER XPERT GAME & TARGET STEEL LOAD
1 oz #6 ½ steel (371 pellets) @ 1325 fps

PELLETS / SHELL (1 ounce = 437.5 gr)
In-shell pellet count / weight (grains)
379 / 461.3 gr
373 / 455.2 gr
370 / 453.9 gr
367 / 451.6 gr
365 / 451.4 gr
Aver. 370.8 / 454.68 gr

PELLET SIZE (25 pellets, 5 / shell, #6 ½ = .105” dia.)
.118”, .113”, .113”, .113, .112”, .111”, .111”, .111”, .110”, .110”, .108”, .108”, .108”, .107”, .106”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .105”, .104”, .103”, .103”, .102”, .100
Average pellet diameter .10784”

POWDER / SHELL
19.3 gr
19.3 gr
19.2 gr
19.0 gr
18.8 gr
Aver. 9.12 gr

CHOKES / PATTERNS (Average from 5 patterns/choke)
30 YARDS
SK / 255.4 (68.9%)
IC / 309.2 (83.4%)

40 YARDS
LM / 242.4 (65.4%)
M / 253.2 (68.3%)

PS: If I was going to shoot this load at dove, I'd have a SK (~.005")/Mod (~.020") choke combo in my O/U and if I had a single barreled gun, I'd probably have an IC (~.010") choke installed.

Hope this helps, good luck!