Fiocchi F Black 28g plas, 8.5, (UK 8)

[Will Hewland]

I took to my back field this afternoon and (given my form lately was very glad to) hit some cardboard with these cartridges; kindly supplied by Nicky T.

Somewhere on this site is a review I did of the FBlu a while back (which I cannot find). Unfortunately that did start a bit of heated discussion, so please understand that I am not out to upset anybody, I am not sponsored by a cartridge brand; I am merely doing a simple 'user review'. I am not qualified any further than I have sampled and patterned a fair few cartridges, so I speak in comparative terms and only from my simple pattern testing.

So, the F Black. Lovely packaging and cartridge case. Iconic brand name. I have yet to try any on clays, so cannot comment on recoil as this always feels bloody odd stood in a field shooting cardboard. I will update this when I have been to a shoot with them.

I patterned them at 15, 20 and 25 yards. It's not a long story, so I can summarise them as being slightly tight (smaller overall 'diameter' of pattern) than many other comparable cartridges. Nothing extreme, but on the tight side.

Unfortunately (and this is where I don my tin hat) I was not impressed by the pattern of pellet distribution. Consistently at different ranges, they have a dense centre, surrounded by an uneven outer 'layer'. Plus a fair few pellets you could only call fliers. From a user point of view, there will be great kills when you are on centre and this will leave you feeling impressed. There will be many who say that they want a dense centre and I don't disagree per se, but the outer layer should be even and reliably usable ideally, which It simply is not with the FBlack. This was a characteristic of the FBlu also, but that was with a 7 shot.

I am not sure what these cost now, (£190?) but through my half choke Perazzi they look a bad investment against Rio Target 20, which at £160? have a much more even pattern.

There are other elements that I am simply not testing here, namely velocity, but I just don't see the great importance of this. (An old discussion..).

So in summary, not a bad cartridge if you want a dense centre plus some lucky outer pellets. Just not what makes sense in my head..

At anything under 30 yards I would be tempted to use 1/4 choke or even skeet with them.

Please folks. Not aimed at anybody, just a user review through my gun. Ignore as required.

 

[Hamster]

Looking forward to your opinion after you've shot them at targets. :hunter:  

 

[40UP]

I tested some 24gm recently and just testing if the upload will make them visible. F-Black twice 30yd Perazzi half choke Italian 7.5s then F-Blu twice same barrel.

http://www.shootclayforum.com/uploads/monthly_08_2013/post-54-0-76767900-1377711225.jpg  http://www.shootclayforum.com/uploads/monthly_08_2013/post-54-0-94752200-1377711287.jpg 

http://www.shootclayforum.com/uploads/monthly_08_2013/post-54-0-56696300-1377711348.jpg 

Quite frankly I found the process disheartening as I can obviously slot an edge on clay through the pattern within 6" of the centre [shotcloud - don't go there] It just has to be lucky.

This applied to RedShot, OROs, ShootOff etc

 

[Will Hewland]

I tested some 24gm recently and just testing if the upload will make them visible. F-Black twice 30yd Perazzi half choke Italian 7.5s then F-Blu twice same barrel.

FbluBlack24 002.JPG

FbluBlack24 003.JPG

FbluBlack24 004.JPG

FbluBlack24 005.JPG

Quite frankly I found the process disheartening as I can obviously slot an edge on clay through the pattern within 6" of the centre [shotcloud - don't go there] It just has to be lucky.

This applied to RedShot, OROs etc

It does show that you mostly shoot left of centre too! You may not at clays..

 

[Dog Tyred]

Gulp!! You could drive a coach and horses through some of those gaps!! What ever happened to 'dense in the centre'??

No wonder I was crap at UT practice last weekend. I was using 24g Fblus! That's my new excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Incoming h34r:

DT

 

[40UP]

I think it's best not to look - cartridge is as cartridge does. It's no use going to smaller shot because they lose energy faster and you can hear English 8s ping off receding trench targets. Whatever gave you your best round of results - stick with it.

 

[Will Hewland]

this is a FOB viper fibre thru a krieghoff steel choke 3/4 at 25yds

the marker pen stripe is about 4 inch long to get a perspective of pattern size

makes them fiocchi seem some real spreaders

That's a fairly even pellet spread. Looks like 7 shot to me.

 

[Hamster]

:startle:  I knew there was a reason I didn't like 24g's................or 7's ! 

 

[ips]

Not wanting to sound like a smart arse but I said months ago that F black gave me the impression after shooting them that they patterned very tight. This is not a bad thing on fast trap disciplines which is why I still shoot them, but I can see it may be an issue at closer stuff but of course I shoot "F black Trap" 7s not 8.5s

Very nice to have it confirmed so thanks for taking the time to do so Mr clever most interesting.

 

[Will Hewland]

I shot a box of these this morning.

They do look nice when you drop them in the gun!

Firstly, the recoil was what I paid attention to, as this is a potential show-stopper for me. I'm just not interested in being thumped. It is always important to judge recoil AGAINST other cartridges I think. Shoot a few pairs of your brand X then immediately try the brand Y, which is what I did. I compared them to my usual Rios, which I call a medium recoil shell (just a touch snappier than a Clever T2 if that helps anybody). The FBlack gave me slightly more recoil than the Rio, so I would class them as being `medium recoil or just a touch above medium`. This isn't science folks, just my feel. I would certainly not call them high recoilers and from memory they are a bit smoother than FBlu. 

I shot various targets, nothing extreme. I feel they worked exactly as pattern testing suggested they would. There was an edge on falling crosser at 25yds that I was hitting, but with variable kills. Some were smashed to tiny pieces showing that the middle of the pattern is indeed very heavy hitting. Equally a less precise shot gave a more chippy kill from that more dispersed `outer edge` of the pattern.

In summary, I would say they are pretty nice to shoot and do reward you when you are spot on. If only I could get that slightly worrying pattern test out of my head. 

 

[Hawkeye]

 If only I could get that slightly worrying pattern test out of my head.

That's why I've never used a pattern plate to judge cartridges . Judge them by the way the target break's with the gun that your using

 

[Will Hewland]

 If only I could get that slightly worrying pattern test out of my head.

That's why I've never used a pattern plate to judge cartridges . Judge them by the way the target break's with the gun that your using

You are right. Avoid wondering if the one you just missed went through that huge gap that you know exists..

 

[** Pending Removal **]

I only use pattern plate to see if a gun is shooting high, low, left or right.....if I have made a change or put on weight on the face.

I have 100% confidence in my shells.

What people should worry about is putting it in the right place.

And don't get me on moving targets, flyers etc. I wonder if someone can point out the flyers on a pattern test.......they all arrive at the same place :laugh: on a pattern plate :laugh:

Busy busy bee......bye bye. Got to dash. Off to Spanish....Ole..!!

 

[ips]

Busy busy bee......bye bye. Got to dash. Off to Spanish....Ole..!!

Asta luego seniora

 

[ips]

Hasta ... Ok nic sweety but one must remember even my English is suspect

 

[jwpzx9r]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egBdRMiW0ag

Yes you hear some tosh about shot string. Such as think about the shot string as a jet of water from a hose see how when played over a pond you get a spray across the water. Yes the water is moving at 10m/s and the shot at 400 ish ! It vey unlikely that you will miss in front its all to do with the length of the shot string, no you will definitely miss if you are behind but you have a chance if you are in front, some of those fliers you were talking about !

I think there is a miss interpretation of what I said here. I did not say don't shoot in front because you would be a fool to try and hit shooting behind! What was said was you have a chance of missing if you are in front. As to the shot string over to a resident hero Gil Ash above!

 

[Nicky T]

Not patterned the FBlack Sportings through my 682 Gold E but more than happy with kill quality so far :buba:

 

[Geordieboy]

For my ten pence worth, I patterned F-Blu 24gram 7.5s and found exactly the same pattern as 40UP did.  Centre dense with a raggy outside pattern through my Mk38 Half teagues.  Nice enough cartridges though.  Hit them and they break sure enough.  Best I have patterned were the Express Olympians 24gram 7.5's and 8's.  However, since I am still rubbish I will use a reasonably priced 24gram cartridge that patterns okay in my gun. If one clay manages to sneak through my pattern then it is welcome!  I will just have to get closer to it!!!

Regarding breaks, there are a couple of chaps where I shoot (both really rather good shots) that use Fiocchi 28gram Top 1's in 7.5's and their breaks on clays are just simply superb.  One chap uses 1/4 and 3/8ths the other uses 3/4 and full!   Every bird is left in lots of little bits.  No doubt at all that it was a kill!! 

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Having lived on Salisbury Plain for some years earlier....I can confirm that when they are testing their .....'special big nutter buster blow your pantaloons off shell'.....the shell explodes before you hear it fired......it is a very strange feeling. The ground and windows shake as the shell explodes on the ground.....and seconds later you hear it fired.

For doubters out there....they do not fire shell after shell. There is a good half hour between firing this Bad Ass MF.