By Glen Wunderlich

At the end of a day’s session at the firing range, a friend plopped down a 12 x 18-inch turkey target thoroughly covered with shot from Winchester’s new Long Beard XR 12-gauge load.  “60 yards!” he exclaimed.

12-Gauge Winchester Long Beard XR, No. 5 Shot, 60 Yards

I knew right then that further review was necessary.

Winchester obliged by supplying some of its Long Beard XR copper plated, 3-inch loads of 4s and 6s and some test targets.  It was time for the testing to begin.

With a “scant” 1 ¾-ounce load of shot, it’s almost incomprehensible how science could make it more effective than much heavier loads.  A proprietary Shot-Lok compound insures the plated pellets’ roundness under impact in the barrel.  The result:  more pellets on target.

Since it doesn’t need as much costly shot to get the job done, the price of $23 for a box of 10 rounds is significantly less than other high-end shotshells.  Plus, the felt recoil seemed to be a bit less punishing – even with the added weight of an additional ¼ ounce of shot buffer material.  Winchester claims the load offers 10 percent greater penetration over standard loads beyond 50 yards and twice the number of pellets in a 10-inch circle out to 60 yards.

Here’s what I learned.  At 40 yards, a charge of #4 shot put 39 pellets on target in the head and neck.  I backed up to 50 yards and 16 pellets resulted in the kill zone.

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