OZ of steel

[X-Force]

I just have a quick question. when hunting do you guys go for speed or steel to fling? i see that kent 3 1/2" comes in 1 9/16, 1 3/8, 1 1/4 oz number 2.
My question is do you want speed or more pellets?

[Tealer]

Yes.

[rebar]

I agree   

[banannaclip]

neither,i lay down out in the barley field cover up and  wait,decoys all around me ,then when they come in  hot feet down  i grab 'em by thier feet,save on shells that way,though sometimes they beat me pretty good with thier wings.

[X-Force]

Ive seen a guy hit a goose with his barrel as it flew in but i havent seen grabbing their feet... I may need to try it if money runs to short.

I broke down and bought the mid range 1 3/8 oz 3 1/2" #2... now i have to wait until next year to use them

[ducksdoom12]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

[teal101]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

They sure help on birds around 40yds.

[ducksdoom12]

i kill birds just fine in the 40 to 50 yard range with 1 oz of shot.

[Chesapeake]

I'm all about pellets in the air. For me its 1 3/8 oz or Federal Heavy High velocity 1 1/2 oz of #2's. 1500 fps and 1 1/2 oz of pellets is the reason for 3 1/2" shells. You cant stuff that kind of performance in a 3" shell.

1 oz of #2 is about 125 pellets. 1 1/2 oz(187) has about 30 more pellets than 1 1/4 oz(156). Thats 30 more chances to kill the bird. Or about a 16% improvement in performance.

[boots]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

I wouldnt necessarily say that it is a waste of money. 2 3/4 can get the job done, yes, but i feel like i have better knockdown power with 3". Could just be mental but i seem to get more one shot/one kill/dead when they hit the water when i use 3".  Obviously if you are within 20 yds its going to plaster the ducks either way.

As far as oz of shot, i prefer 1 1/8 with more velocity but thats personal preference

[wrangler]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

yeah you know they banned lead 15 years ago right???   seirously though, if your using 2 3/4 with an oz of steel your just asking for cripples, unless your shootin powder puff local birds. just my  

i kill birds just fine in the 40 to 50 yard range with 1 oz of shot.

[X-Force]

I usually shoot 3" but my brother in law is all hyped on 3.5" so I bought them just to entertain him... it is 4 more dollars a box but now i have an excuse to buy more shells. 

Who sells 2 3/4" steel?

[Chesapeake]

I usually shoot 3" but my brother in law is all hyped on 3.5" so I bought them just to entertain him... it is 4 more dollars a box but now i have an excuse to buy more shells. 

Who sells 2 3/4" steel?

Mosts places sell 2 3/4. I know you were probably being factious.

This is how I look at it.

I like to have as cloase as I can get to 200 pellets in my pattern for good pattern density. With steel you have to use big pellets and send them fast to get the energy. The large pellets limit how many you can get in a shell.

1 1/8 of lead #6 is 250 pellets and a great load.  A load of 1 1/8 oz #4 lead has about 150 pellets. No body will argue these werent good loads, or that the #6 load filled the pattern better. But the same 1 1/8 oz of #2 steel is only about 140 pellets.

To match what was had with lead (200 plus pellets with good energy) you need about as close as you can get to 200 pellets for pattern density, #2 size steel and 1500 fps to get the energy.

Nobody would have ever recomended 7/8 oz load of lead #4 for ducks back in the day, but thats what you get with 1 1/8 oz of #2 steel, and people recomend it all the time.

Another thing to look at. The SAAMI spec for 3" 12 gauge is 11500 psi and for 3 1/2" its 14000. That alone adds a gain in performance 3" shells just cant play with.



 

[boots]

Another thing to look at. The SAAMI spec for 3" 12 gauge is 11500 psi and for 3 1/2" its 14000. That alone adds a gain in performance 3" shells just cant play with.

This is true, my shoulder will vouch for the extra performance 

[carpsniperg2]

i like 3.5 fast steel very quick but if you shooting at mid ranges a 2 3/4 will do fine, and ounce of shot is not as important as your pattern get a good choke tube and you should be o.k. with 2 3/4 shells but the quicker the more energy and knock down with steel shot

[Rick]

With steel shot speed is your friend. Steel doesn't maintain its velocity like lead or other non-toxic loads do.

I'll take light loads of hi-velocity steel over "magnum" loads of lower speed stuff anyday.

[ducksdoom12]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

yeah you know they banned lead 15 years ago right???   seirously though, if your using 2 3/4 with an oz of steel your just asking for cripples, unless your shootin powder puff local birds. just my  

i kill birds just fine in the 40 to 50 yard range with 1 oz of shot.

i reload hevi-shot, it is denser then lead and has greater down range energy then lead

[WSU]

if i was you i would not even bother with 3 1/2 get 2 3/4 inch 1 1/8 oz. thats all you need. the rest of the pellets are just a wast of money

yeah you know they banned lead 15 years ago right???   seirously though, if your using 2 3/4 with an oz of steel your just asking for cripples, unless your shootin powder puff local birds. just my  

i kill birds just fine in the 40 to 50 yard range with 1 oz of shot.

i reload hevi-shot, it is denser then lead and has greater down range energy then lead

So how does that help with his question about steel shot?

[WSU]

To be honest, I haven't found the answer.  I've been playing with some different loads lately (store bought), and haven't found one that will consistently make clean kills.  Seems like you have to shoot a lot of birds 2 or 3 times to bring them down, even at relatively close range.  What has everyone found to be their best load?  I do seem to have a little better luck with the 1 1/4 oz loads than I do with the faster 1 1/8 oz loads. 

[ducksdoom12]

if you dont reload it gets expensive but hevi-*censored* works really good. i have heard that that new hevi-steel is not bad either.  no matter what you shoot you have to make sure you are leading the bird enough to get a clean kill. if you shoot the ass off of them then they wont die right off. shoot at the head and you will get more constant clean kills no matter what u are shooting.

[WSU]

how much does it end up costing per shell to reload heavy shot, etc.?

[CP]

10 pounds of Hevi-shot runs about $195 plug shipping, that’s $1.22 per oz.  Add about 15 cents for powder, 3 cents for primer, 5 cent for a wad and you get about $1.45 per 1 oz shell, plus any tax & shipping.  If I was going to the trouble of loading it I’d load 1 ¼ oz for another 31 cents per.

1.25 oz of #6 Hevi is about 300 pellets, load that to 1350 fps and you would have a very good shell.  But for $1.75 per shell it better be good.

[ducksdoom12]

compared to $2.50 a shell before shipping if you buy them from the store. that puts them around $3.00 a shell bought. about $1.25 savings per shell

[Ragged Outdoors]

We shoot Kent Fasteel 3", 1 1/8 oz #3's & 4's.  You keep your speed and increase the pellet numbers without the extra wallop of a #3 1/2" shell.  Those smaller pellets are very deadly on ducks, especially with an aftermarket choke like a patternmaster, kick's, etc.

[gadwall]

When we were first faced with shooting steel years ago, I did some research on the lighter loads as many of the guys I hunt with shoot 2 3/4" guns.  The late Bob Brister who wrote for years about shotgunning did more practical and impartial pattern research early on than anyone else.  I took advice from one of his books and shot 1 1/8 oz of 2's and 4's for years and did very well out to 40 on decoying and jump shot birds.  I still shoot them because the lighter recoil makes for a better second shot sometimes.  My favorite load these days for decoying birds is Winchester Xpert 1 1/16 oz of 3's or 4's at 1550 FPS.

Gadwall

[X-Force]

Id like to get into reloading shotshell sometime but i dont have the money or time right now. Hevisteel is what i shot the past 2 years but buying that stuff gets expensive...

I may need to go and order some 3 in... im not even hunting and im thinking of the 3.5" kick..

Is anyone going out this weekend?

A question for the Sages on here... Why does the washington season end in the middle of winter? why not have the season from december- february?

[gadwall]

Id like to get into reloading shotshell sometime but i dont have the money or time right now. Hevisteel is what i shot the past 2 years but buying that stuff gets expensive...

I may need to go and order some 3 in... im not even hunting and im thinking of the 3.5" kick..

Is anyone going out this weekend?

A question for the Sages on here... Why does the washington season end in the middle of winter? why not have the season from december- february?

The number of days we are allowed to hunt in each flyway is governed by the USFWS.  The season has always kicked off in October and goes until the alloted days are used up.  I am not sure how much later into winter the Feds would let us hunt if the season started later.

Gadwall

[teal101]

Id like to get into reloading shotshell sometime but i dont have the money or time right now. Hevisteel is what i shot the past 2 years but buying that stuff gets expensive...

I may need to go and order some 3 in... im not even hunting and im thinking of the 3.5" kick..

Is anyone going out this weekend?

A question for the Sages on here... Why does the washington season end in the middle of winter? why not have the season from december- february?

We get 107 days to hunt waterfowl between september and march.  The state governs what days we're allowed to hunt.  If we hunted into february we'd have to have a gap in the season or make it start later.

[X-Force]

thats good to know. thanks gadwall and teal101

now that we have that covered do you like the season the way it is now? or would you want to shift it earlier, later or split it into a early and late season?

[ducksdoom12]

it depends on the winter. if we have a really warm start to the winter and the birds dont start coming down till later in the season then i would want it to go longer. but if it gets cold early and pushes the birds down early season then early start