LONG BEARD XR

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P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F W H I T E TA I L P R O P E R T I E S
L O N G B E A R D™ X R™
LONG BEARD XR:
TM
L O K ’ D
A N D
L E T H A L™
Winchester has achieved the pinnacle
of lead turkey load performance.
by Jay Skoglund
W I N C H E S T E R .C O M
P H O T O B Y R YA N K I R B Y
T
Winchester’s new Long BeardTM XRTM
is redefining the long accepted
40-yard limit of a lead turkey load’s
lethal range with technology that can
reliably stretch the distance another
20 to 25 yards.
he sizzling Kentucky
sun didn’t have a
cloud to fight as
its afternoon rays
ripped through a pictureperfect spring sky.
I strategically placed two decoys—a breeder
hen and an aggressive jake—in an idle food
plot, 35 yards from my carefully concealed
setup on a hardwood edge. It was an ideal
strut zone. I had a vest full of turkey tricks,
hoping to tease a tom’s testosterone and
draw him into the field for battle.
Just minutes after settling into position,
subtle rustling in the dry leaves caught
my attention. Suddenly, a triple threat of
angry gobblers marched out of the woods,
directly toward my decoys, in a fit of rage.
The bold birds talked trash with arrogant
purrs and began spurring the fake jake into
submission. Then, just when they thought
the fair-weather fight was finished, a hailstorm erupted from the chamber of my 12
gauge and the tom with the longest beard
collapsed in the dirt.
The following evening, two of my
turkey hunting brethren sat patiently in
the comfort of a ground blind,
waiting for a long-spurred strutter
to arrive. Just as the scouting
camera had promised, the bird
showed up like clockwork. The
wise ol’ gobbler resisted the seductive yelps of an invisible lady
and kept his distance. It wasn’t
far enough. With no need for deliberation,
the triggerman took action and set fire to
a payload of No. 5s. The bird dropped with
hardly a quiver at 65 yards.
The final chapter for these two great
gobblers was just the beginning of a larger
story that’s developing in the turkey world,
and it’s being written by Winchester.
Innovative Injection
Decoy setups at 35 yards? Ethical shots at
65 yards? You heard right, and that’s merely scratching the surface of Winchester’s
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new turkey taker. It’s called Long Beard™
XR™ —a bold cartridge that redefines the
killing power of a scattergun.
From Winchester’s research and
development facility in East Alton, Ill.,
Product Manager Brad Criner sat down at
a shooting bench and dissected the heart of
this new load.
“We’ve designed the most efficient
lead turkey hunting cartridge in history,”
he said, thumping his fist on the table
with elated conviction. “Our proprietary
Shot-Lok resin has virtually eliminated the
effects of set-back forces, and that’s the key
to Long Beard™ XR™.” Criner shouldered
his pump gun and tore a remarkable pattern into a turkey target at 50 yards. With
smoke still drifting from the hot muzzle, he
went on to reveal the secrets behind this
revolutionary round.
The most important ingredient in
Long Beard™ XR™ rounds is a proprietary
honey-like substance that’s being coined
as “Shot-Lok.” When these cartridges roll
down the assembly line, their wads are
injected with Shot-Lok resin before getting
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P H O T O C O U R T E S Y D R U R Y O U T D O O R S , I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y R YA N K I R B Y
LONG BE AR D
™
filled with copper-plated lead pellets. The
Shot-Lok hardens and effectively fills all
the tiny gaps between the pellets, preserving them in a protected solid mass. That’s
where things get interesting.
When you load a shotshell into the
chamber of your turkey gun and squeeze
the trigger, a lightning-fast series of
organized chaos occurs. A firing pin strikes
a primer, which detonates and immediately
ignites a larger charge of gunpowder.
Almost instantly a column of pellets is
forced out of the business end of your
shotgun. During the initial milliseconds
of this beautiful explosion, those pellets
undergo set-back forces. Put simply, the
pellets are forced backwards like a person
on a high-speed rollercoaster. Trouble is,
the pellets sitting at the rear end of this
ride become smashed and deformed—and
that’s where the infamous “flyers” come
into play. Flyers are the pellets that lose
their aerodynamic round shape and cause
all sorts of trouble in downrange patterns.
Shot-Lok prevents pellet deformation by
XR
™
Why do I have flyers in
my pattern?
STANDARD LEAD SHOT AT 40 YDS
DEFORMED
ROUND
ROUND
SEMI-ROUND
GAS FORCE
SET-BACK FORCE
DEFORMED
Even with standard Grex buffer, air pockets between pellets remain in the shot
column. Set-back forces created during ignition cause shot to deform until the
air spaces are filled up.
Set-back forces have a greater effect at the rear of the shot column versus
the front. The result is a portion of the shot exits the barrel deformed, which
opens up the pattern and creates flyers.
locking the pellets in place during the
critical moments when set-back forces are
trying to wreak havoc on your pattern. By
the time these pristine pellets leave the
barrel, the Shot-Lok has already fractured
into a micro-buffer.
The result of this deadly
recipe is Long Beard™ XR™ —
the most advanced lead turkey
IS TRULY A
load on the planet.
WITHOUT
"LONG BEARD XR
GAME CHANGER.
QUESTION, THIS LOAD
CAN INCREASE A TURKEY
HUNTER’S EFFECTIVE
RANGE 20 TO 30 YARDS.
THAT’S A HUGE LEAP
FORWARD FROM
EXISTING SHOTSHELLS."
Mark & Terry Drury
SEMI-ROUND
Professional Perspectives
Step outside the official walls of Winchester for a moment and into the boots
of the Drury brothers—two gentlemen
who have made a legendary mark in the
turkey hunting community. The Drurys
have been chasing America’s grandest
game bird for more than three decades,
documenting their adventures every step
of the way to share with loyal followers
of Drury Outdoors. And throughout their
hardcore hunting careers, the Drury's have
tried most of the bird-busting tools on the
market. Terry Drury’s face lit up with giddy
excitement as he discussed Winchester’s
new load.
“It takes a lot to bump the needle for us
when it comes to turkey ammo, but Long
Beard™ XR™ ammunition is truly a game
changer,” he said. “Without question, this
load can increase a turkey hunter’s effective range 20 to 30 yards. That’s a huge
leap forward from existing shotshells.”
Deformed pellets increase the probability
of inconsistent patterns.
But coupled with such a dramatic longrange improvement, Mark Drury noted that
hunters are best served by taking a fresh
look at their complete shotgunning setup.
“Winchester is shifting the paradigm of
the turkey ammo market,” he explained.
“Hunters need to realize this is advanced
ammunition, so it’s very important to
spend time at the shooting range to reevaluate your current shotgun/choke tube/
sighting system in combination with these
loads. Long Beard™ XR™ will improve just
about any shotgun’s performance, but with
some experimentation, careful tweaks and
most importantly practice, you could legitimately end up expanding your effective
range by more than 20 yards. At the end
of the day, this cartridge will provide more
ethical, clean kills, and that’s the best part.”
Reflecting on their personal time spent
with Long Beard™ XR™ in the spring turkey
woods, Mark shared some thrilling stories—one of which involved a trio of savvy
W I N C H E S T E R .C O M
SHOT-LOK™ SHOT AT 40 YDS
INTRODUCING
SHOT-LOK™
TECHNOLOGY
ROUND
Shot-Lok™ fills all of the space between pellets to
protect shot during in-bore acceleration, resulting in
consistently tighter patterns at longer distances.
• Devastating terminal on-target performances
• Shot launches from barrel near perfectly round
for extremely tight long-range patterns • Twice the number of pellets in a 10-inch
circle out to 60 yards
• 10 percent greater penetration over standard
lead beyond 50 yards
Shot-Lok™ Technology prevents pellets
from deforming due to the effects of load
acceleration, keeping all pellets round
and allowing them to remain on a tight,
consistent path toward the target.
toms that were treated with Winchester’s
new medicine.
“We worked these birds early in the
season, but they hung up at about 100
yards, gobbling their heads off, and they
wouldn’t come a step closer,” he recalled
with a sense of frustration only a turkey
hunter could understand. “A month later,
we were hunting in the same area and
encountered the same three gobblers. I
thought I’d fool ’em by setting up with a
caller way behind me, but they locked up
again, strutting at 70 yards. Eventually,
they closed the distance to 50 yards and
started to lose interest. Before they could
walk away, I focused on the lead longbeard and shot without a second thought.
He was lifted up and set back down with
12 pellets in his head and neck. That is
what these new loads do to turkeys.”
The Drury brothers are united on
their opinion of Long Beard™ XR™: It
offers unmatched, devastating performance.
Best Lead Load For Your Buck
The most potent turkey cartridges on
the market typically come with a painfully high price tag. That’s not the case
with Long Beard™ XR™. Winchester
developed this groundbreaking lead
load to offer top-shelf performance
with the consumer’s pocketbook in
mind. You can pick up a box of Long
Beard™ XR™ shotshells for a fraction
of what you’ll pay for “high-density”
turkey loads, and you’ll still get the
same or better downrange patterns
and knockdown power.
Shell Length: 3"
Shot Weight: 13⁄4 oz.
Shot Size: 5
Range: 40 yards
Choke: .665"
Firearm: Winchester SX3®
Standard Lead Shot
Hi-Dense Shot
Winchester recommends
patterning your shotgun at
various yardages with the
load, shot size and choke
prior to turkey season. The
decision on maximum effective range is ultimately the
turkey hunter’s responsibility.
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L O N G B E A R D™ X R™
The author’s friend
collected this long-range
Kentucky limbhanger
with help from Long
Beard™ XR™.
Winchester Remains Committed
To Wild Turkey Conservation
By Jay Skoglund
E
very time you’re shaken by a thundering gobble in
the spring woods, tip your hat to the National Wild
Turkey Federation. The NWTF has fought tirelessly
The NWTF has
since 1973 to restore and sustain wild turkey populations
conserved 17 million
nationwide, and Winchester has proudly aided this great
organization every step of the way.
acres of habitat and
Among Winchester’s major contributions to the Fedmore than 7 million
eration, it was the first company to step up as a Lifetime
wild turkeys, and
Million Dollar Sponsor. Winchester was also the primary
Winchester has
investor in the construction of the NWTF’s aptly named
proudly aided this
Winchester Museum—a top-notch educational facility
dedicated to the triumphant history of wild turkey mangreat organization
agement. Because of such staunch support, the NWTF
every step of the way.
has conserved 17 million acres of habitat and more than
7 million wild turkeys are making tracks across North America.
One of the most critical fundraising components for the NWTF is its Hunting Heritage Banquet program. Each year, 2,000-plus NWTF chapters organize these booming
banquets across the country with upwards of 100,000 individuals in attendance. Through
If you want to see Winchester’s latest
development in turkey ammo from another angle, one might look to Dr. Grant
Woods. He views the turkey woods
through the lens of a video camera and
under the magnifying glass of a scientist.
As a noted land manager, wildlife biologist and host of GrowingDeer.TV, when
Dr. Woods isn’t helping folks shape their
properties to produce prime deer and turkey habitat, he’s pursuing spring strutters
to fulfill his own turkey hunting hunger.
Dr. Woods was also among the first
hunters enlisted by Winchester to test Long
Beard™ XR™ at the range and in the field.
After successfully tagging a few toms of
IT’S SIMPLE: PLACE
YOUR SHOT IN THE KILL
ZONE AND THE BIRD
DROPS IMMEDIATELY—
STONE DEAD.
his own, the results he saw on paper were
confirmed in the flesh.
“I enjoy calling in birds and watching
them up close before I pull the trigger,”
Dr. Woods said. “Even with a load that’s
designed to reach out and drop birds at a
Look for Winchester's
Long Beard™ XR™ Grand
Slam Giveaway at NWTF
banquets across North
America in 2014.
action-packed auctions, games
and raffles, millions of dollars
are raised to benefit wild turkey
conservation efforts and hunter
support measures.
For 2014, Winchester is providing 80,000 rounds of
Long Beard™ XR™ ammunition to 800 Hunting Heritage
Banquets. Attendees will be given the opportunity to bid
on boxes of the ammo at each event for the chance to
win. At the end of the year, winners will be entered into
a premium grand-prize drawing to take place at the 2015
NWTF Convention and Sport Show. Four winners will be
drawn, and each will be sent on an all-inclusive turkey
hunt for one of the primary subspecies of wild turkeys—
Osceola, Eastern, Rio Grande and Merriam’s.
Moving forward, the NWTF will spend the majority of
its budget for a promising new initiative: “Save the Habitat, Save the Hunt.” The goal is to conserve and enhance
4 million acres of turkey habitat and recruit 1.5 million
fresh faces into the hunting community through strategic
outreach. Winchester will work with the NWTF to ensure
this mission is accomplished.
W I N C H E S T E R .C O M
BRAND
RDS/BX
SYMBOL
GAUGE
LENGTH
VELOCITY
SHOT WT
SHOT SIZE
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB12L4
12
3 1⁄2
1200
2
4
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB12L5
12
1
3 ⁄2
1200
2
5
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB12L6
12
3 1⁄2
1200
2
6
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB1234
12
3
1200
3
1 ⁄4
4
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB1235
12
3
1200
1 3⁄4
5
LONG BEARD XR
10
STLB1236
12
3
1200
1 ⁄4
6
distance, I still expect to shoot most of my
birds within 30 yards. What really excites
me about Long Beard™ XR™ brand is its
knockdown power. It’s simple: Place your
shot in the kill zone and the bird drops
immediately—stone dead.”
However, even as a self-proclaimed
“traditionalist” turkey hunter, Woods
didn’t discount the long-range capabilities
of Long Beard™ XR™.
“There’s an insurance package built
into this cartridge,” Dr. Woods noted.
“You can make clean kills every single
time up to 40 yards, but you know this
cartridge is proven to provide dependable
patterns at much farther distances.”
A Sweet Start
From South Carolina to Nebraska, Wisconsin and Kentucky, I trucked through
my final day of spring turkey season
trying to collect one more set of spurs in
Maine. Sweat coated my camo and the
blazing 84-degree air left me panting and
parched. Only a couple hundred yards
stood between me and a public land park-
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ing lot where I’d pitch my unfilled tag into
a trashcan. I had hunted hard, but the birds
would claim this victory. Or maybe not.
I rounded a corner and instantly recognized two red heads bobbing clumsily along
a power line clear-cut. This was my last
chance. I slinked through the edge of the
forest and across a creek—its roaring current masked my nervous steps. I reached
the end of my diagonal path, hoping it had
put me within range of the birds. I steadied
my boots in the dirt, double-checked the
illumination of my red-dot sight and popped
out of the dense cover. There they were.
A foolishly curious pair of jakes extended
their rubber necks and paused at 60 yards
to study my shadowy figure. I centered a
single jellyhead in my reticle, controlled
my breathing and unleashed a load of Long
Beard™ XR™. The bird tipped over without
taking another step.
As I took a knee to admire my beautiful
feathered bounty, I rolled an empty black
shotgun shell in my hands. I held it to my
nose and all I could smell was the sweet
aroma of Winchester success.
Upland hunters rely on long-range lethality when it comes to flushing ringnecks.
Winchester introduces its most innovative pheasant load, Rooster XR™, featuring
the same Shot-Lok technology as found in Winchester Long Beard™ XR™, which
delivers tighter, more consistent patterns at longer ranges, deeper penetration
and extreme knockdown power. Rooster XR™ is ideal for upland hunters who
experience challenging shots in tough conditions.
BRAND
RDS/BX
SYMBOL
GAUGE
LENGTH
VELOCITY
SHOT WT
SHOT SIZE
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR1234
12
3
1300
1
1 ⁄2
4
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR1235
12
3
1300
11⁄2
5
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR1236
12
3
1300
11⁄2
6
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR124
12
3
2 ⁄4
1300
11⁄4
4
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR125
12
3
2 ⁄4
1300
1
1 ⁄4
5
ROOSTER XR
15
SRXR126
12
2 3⁄4
1300
11⁄4
6
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