Waterfowl shells

[bear]

Anyone want some Apex #2 shot?  Hasn’t been good for me.  Might have shot a box or two out of the case.  I switched to Federal Sea Duck 4/6 and Migra 4/6

[mboyle0828]

Anyone want some Apex #2 shot?  Hasn’t been good for me.  Might have shot a box or two out of the case.  I switched to Federal Sea Duck 4/6 and Migra 4/6

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[mboyle0828]

The Migra 2/4s are really good. Never shot the 4/6s

[bear]

The Migra 2/4s are really good. Never shot the 4/6s

Ya.  Really loud though.  Kick like a mule too. But the reach on passing birds is very nice with a longer range choke.

[zwickeyman]

The Migra 2/4s are really good. Never shot the 4/6s

I shot a bunch of birds last week with the Migra 2/BB. Pretty impressed

[C-Money]

From what I remember, I've never shot the blindside line of ammo. Sure sounds like you are not alone noticing poor performance. Like I said in my previous post, I like at least 1 1/4oz loads in Rem, Fed or Win. I must ad, I've shot Fiocchi, and Rio as well, with equal success. Where I live, the waterfowl ammo gets pretty scarce. Sometimes I just have to buy what's on the shelf. I truly urge you to try at least an 1 1/4oz of BBs in any brand and see if you get less cripples. Shoot a modified choke, or one of the fancy mid range aftermarket chokes. I shoot the Carlson Delta Waterfowl Extended Choke Tube in a .720, Here is a link to the choke I use https://www.choketube.com/product/browning-invector-plus-delta-waterfowl-extended-choke-tubes/
Modified choke and a good dose of BB shot, I really think will up anyone's recovery rate.

[h2ofowlr]

Blind side is a gimic.  Tears up the birds at close range and patterns like crap at long range.  If you are consitently shooting at longer ranges, go with a high density shot.  If your shooting birds over the decoys, most rounds about 1,400 fps will work just fine.  Find something you like and shoot well and get a case or several and shoot the same load for everything.  Consistency is key for good accuracy and wing shooting.  When I chase big geese, I do step up my load to a larger pellet size to minimize the potential for cripples.

[Wetwoodshunter]

Thanks everyone so far. I am shooing modified from a Benelli SBE3. A buddy had a half case of Rio 3.5” #3 steel I’m going to shoot. Then I’ll make the switch to something else. I have shot Rio 3” #3s, Federal 3”  BB & #2, and Kent Fasteel #3 but that was last season out of my Remington 11-87.

[Kola16]

I bought a box of blindside at Walmart once cause it was what they had. I thought I was shooting blanks it was so bad. And of the birds that went down, I don't know that any of them were stone cold dead. That was a while ago.

I have been shooting Migra 2/4 steel at ducks and the occasional Canada the last 3 years and I love them. 3 weeks ago I shot 9 shells for my 7 ducks and 1 of those 9 shots was a cleanup shot. 9 shells is good for my shooting. My gripe with Migras are you MUST keep them dry. Any water can turn them into duds which is so annoying.

I also occasionally take out my own reloads of TSS shells, and use it as my 3rd shell. I use it as my 3rd shell since they are expensive ($2.50 a shot) and they have a long range which is what is needed often for the third shot. They are so lethal it is laughable. It is lethal beyond any range I can shoot. Ducks and geese thump the ground hard after being stone cold dead from that high up.

[HaydenHunter]

I had been shooting Rio 2s and BBs in recent years through the mod choke on my SBE1.  I had no complaints other than my shooting at times.  My buddy shoots the same load through a pretty tight Terror choke and is deadly.  This year I switched to the Kent layered shells and I don't know if I am on a better shooting streak or the loads are that much better through my gun but I have been blown away with the results on ducks.  The load is a layered 2/4 and I am killing more ducks that are DOA when they hit the water.  I just bought another case of these loads.  I also shoot the Kent layered BB/2 for geese but haven't had much opportunity to gauge this load's success.  I am usually loaded for duck and manage to knock down geese at close ranges with the 2/4.  I will find out in the spring on SD snows how the BB/2s work. 

[Phishead]

I also shoot SBE3 and went through lots of brands to finally settle on what shoots best for my setup. I’ve seen consistent improvement in dead birds hitting the water with fewer crips, shooting the Kent Fast Steel 2.0. I mostly shoot 3”- 2s & 4s and 3.5” BBs for geese. Haven’t tried the layered shells but good to hear the reviews here

[ASHQUACK]

I shoot a Browning Maxus 28" with an aftermarket Hevishot extended range choke tube.
I shoot the Hevi-steel 3" 2's for ducks and their 3" BB loads for geese. My gun shoots those shells really well.

[Oldguy]

The only way to tell how well your particular shotshell is performing is to use a pattern board. In my case my shotgun patterns Federal #2 better than #3. (same choke)