No!

So I had a spare hour today between rain showers and thought I’d finally pattern plate my chokes with my current choice of cartridge and check my POI…..I rang AGL and asked if I could spend 1/2 an hour on theirs? The answer was ‘no’ not unless I book (pay) for a coach to take me on it! Call me cynical but I assume that’s an upsell tactic, to give the coach an oppportunity to rubbish my gun fit/technique and tell me I need to book lessons/time with the gunsmith! Needless to say, I said ‘no thanks’.

They are more than happy to have me drop £60 on practice, £10 on coffee and breakfast roll, also book onto their next comp and pay the £65 upfront. But I can’t use the empty pattern plate for half an hour in my own?

Testing at a pattern plate doesn't really tell you much because you never shoot at a stationary target with a shotgun. You will be subconsciously pushing your cheek down on the stock and lining up the rib. Try to find a stand with a straight away target neither rising or dropping at 25 yards and shoot it with full choke if you smoke it job done. 

chippy said:

Testing at a pattern plate doesn't really tell you much because you never shoot at a stationary target with a shotgun. You will be subconsciously pushing your cheek down on the stock and lining up the rib. Try to find a stand with a straight away target neither rising or dropping at 25 yards and shoot it with full choke if you smoke it job done. 

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25 dtl targets tells you all you need to know  about your patterns !

If you do want to get on a pattern plate, Sporting Targets don't charge to use theirs. IIRC it's £2.50 for a "proper" pattern card, or just put up something of your own

I often shoot at Sporting Targets, I can’t say I’ve spotted their plate before? I must say the staff at ST are always really helpful though, so I’ll definitely ask next time I’m up there. As for the targets, I’ve already made up half a dozen, I used decorators lining paper, so I’ve got that covered

Thanks for the heads-up Daz!

It's in a fenced off by the air rifle range area, almost behind the clubhouse. Walk as if your going to Clubhouse Sportrap, and there's a panelled gate in the fence. Ask for the keys behind reception. Pic below is from just above the grouse butt 

I use a pattern plate to check cartridge performance for spread and distribution etc. I then tend to use a 20 yard sitting crow for gun fit. I run a beretta 12 and miroku 20 bore. The beretta i shoot at the bottom edge, the miroku 20 I have to shoot 6 to 12 inches below.

Jonny English said:

I use a pattern plate to check cartridge performance for spread and distribution etc. I then tend to use a 20 yard sitting crow for gun fit. I run a beretta 12 and miroku 20 bore. The beretta i shoot at the bottom edge, the miroku 20 I have to shoot 6 to 12 inches below.

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That’s exactly what I’m looking to learn !! That and how my chosen cartridge is patterning through various chokes

Daz W said:

It's in a fenced off by the air rifle range area, almost behind the clubhouse. Walk as if your going to Clubhouse Sportrap, and there's a panelled gate in the fence. Ask for the keys behind reception. Pic below is from just above the grouse butt 

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Thanks Daz, very helpful indeed and know exactly the area you refer to

I agree with a lot of the comments about the usefulness of a pattern plate but one thing it can tell you is how tight the different chokes are relative to one another.

I had a certain make of gun one time that I tested at 30 yards and every choke over a quarter patterned very tightly with the same degree of tightness.

I shot that gun very successfully at sporting with skeet and a quarter or quarter/quarter and only stopped using it due to reliability issues. If there were extreme targets I would put 3/8’s in.

With regards to the usefulness of a pattern plate, it was once the 'go to' method of gunfit for a lot of English gunmakers and it seemed to work well enough for them  !

In the late 1970's I purchased a long awaited Westley Richards side by side 12 bore. I knew it was cast for a left handers, but only the stock and not the triggers etc. After 2 years of local gunsmiths bending it and it returning to left handed of its own accord, I took it to Westley's in Birmingham. Their one armed stock fitter took me out to the rear of their premises and had me shoot at a pattern plate with my gun. He made some adjustments to their 'try gun' and had me fire 2 more cartridges at the plate. THAT was it  !   4 weeks later and my gun was ready for collection. I should have gone back to finally check and collect my gun but due to 'civil unrest' in Liverpool in 1981, I was unable to get any days off (which went on for 3 months !). They sent my gun back by Securicor.  That gun fitted perfectly and I have never shot so well with any gun that I have owned, and that still applies to this day. My physique has most certainly altered, but I still shoot exceptionally well with that gun. I believe that most of the 'old school' stock fitters could achieve this level of success, as long as the shooter had a CONSISTENT gun mounting technique.  Sadly most are now gone, taking their skills with them.

Bearing in mind that Westley Richards were in the middle of Birmingham, a pattern plate was the only option for gunfitting.