Steel Shot Sucks!

[Sportfury]

Due to time constraints we end up going out to the pheasant release sites on the West side. With the new rules this year I went and bought some Winchester steel. I took my son out for the youth hunt and we should have been done hunting within the first ten minutes. Out of five birds that we put up he only ended up getting one. At first I thought it was him, but I really started watching and seeing where his wads went. On one bird the wad was in the birds tail feathers and it flew off like nothing happened. I saw another youth dust a bird with a 12 gauge. From where I was standing it was a good hit with feathers flying off, but again the bird kept flying. The bird landed in front of my son and the dog. The dog was on it and the bird ran and then flushed wild. My son told me he could see blood on the back of the birds head.

This weekend I went with my dad and son and we had a rooster fly over about 35 to 40 feet off the ground. I watched my dad bounce two wads off the birds belly and he continued flying out of sight. Just amazing. My dad who also had been during the senior hunt found birds in the field that had been shot and not found and were semi-alive. The birds were in such bad shape he wouldn't even take them home.

I guess it is time to spend some real money and pony up for the good stuff. Hevi-Shot is coming out with Hevi-Metal and I have heard some good things about it. I talked with a prostaffer at Cabelas and he told me it was so good that he would consider taking his beloved 20 gauge back out in the duck fields. My dad also called down to Oregon and talked with the company. One of their prostaffers reported back that with steel shot that they could shoot a box of 25 and get maybe 12 ducks. With the new Hevi-Metal they are getting 19 to 20 ducks a box. I checked prices and it is running around $199.99 for a case of 20 gauge #4's (not sure of the price for 12's). With all the new regulations on non-toxic shot and there being so many of us hunters we should see if we could put together a group buy and get a better price on ammunition. Anyone interested?

[scudmaster]

I have been shooting heavy-steel for a couple years. If it is new, maybe they reformulated.  Anyway, they are good shells and do perform much better than standard steel and they are more acceptably priced for volume shooting.  So, depending on how much you shoot, it may be worth it to pony up for heavishot.  It is lethal as hell and will greatly extend your range.  Another bonus, I have never had a pellet of heavishot retained in the bird, they pass clean through. No more biting into a missed pellet. Lastly, I do duck hunt over decoys with a 20ga using hevishot 3", works great. Good luck.

[fethrduster]

I shoot #5 custom tungsten reloads out of an 1880's damascus 16ga hammer gun.   Steel does suck.  There are a lot of alternatives out there besides steel that work much better.  Itx, nice shot, tungsten, hevi shot, etc. etc.   I rarely shoot more than a few shells to get a couple bird limit at a release site.  At that rate, it is worth it to pony up for a box.  Small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.

[bobcat]

Pheasants on release sites are wimps and are generally easy to knock down. I can't imagine regular steel shot not being effective if you limit your shots to about 35 yards. If you're not knocking them down then I'd blame it on the shooter, not the shells.

[Camp David]

Pheasants on release sites are wimps and are generally easy to knock down. I can't imagine regular steel shot not being effective if you limit your shots to about 35 yards. If you're not knocking them down then I'd blame it on the shooter, not the shells.

I have to agree with Bobcat especially since your talking about wads hitting the bird. The wad is traveling much slower than the shot once it leaves the barrel.  Remember steel shot muzzle velocity is faster than lead, but slows quicker. I used #6 steel 2 3/4" on the release site for years with great success. Release site birds are wimpy and easy to nock down. A suggestion is to find a place and throw some clays (most ranges do not allow steel) and see how well you do. Lots of people bad mouth steel, but for the most part the shooter could use a little more practice with it.

[CP]

After about 5 yards the wad is nowhere near the shot string.  If the wads are hitting the birds the shooter over lead and the shot string went in front of the target.  Yep, steel sucks but any brand of steel #2 will put pheasants down, dead right there, within reasonable ranges.  I’d rather shoot 1 1/4oz of number 5 lead but 1 1/8oz of steel #2 does the job.

[BOWHUNTER45]

SportFury .... It does suck when you take to long of shots ...and I do not believe you bounced wads of the rooster at 35 to 40 yards just because the wad leaves the shot before it goes that far ...I know we have more wounded birds do to steel shot because of all the sky busting that goes on .. I have tought myself to let birds decoy more and limit my shots to 30 yrds ...I use a 12 ga with 3" mags in #2 shot seems to work well for me ...good luck !

[dawei]

My current upland gun is a Remington® SPR220 (Baikal IZH-43) 20ga SxS. I can tell you after several hunts on Thurston County Pheasant Release Sites that I am doing just fine with steel shot. Specifically I use Federal® Prairie Storm® Flitestopper® Steel in #3, and 4 shot. I banged roosters out to 40yds with the steel #4's and they were dead before they hit the ground! These loads were specifically developed for pheasant hunting.

I've used Kent®, Remington®, and Winchester® steel in the past. For waterfowl the Kent®s and Federal® BlackCloud® performed well; they patterned way too tight for upland birds however. The other two have not performed well for me at all.

I'm sold on Federal® BlackCloud® steel for waterfowl, and Prairie Storm® steel for pheasants.

[CP]

So what would be the difference between Prairie Storm steel and Black Cloud?  Besides the box that is.

[ORCA_SIX]

I have always done fine with the Remington Hypersonic Steel in no.4's. It seems to do the trick just fine.

[dawei]

CP, BlackCloud® and Prairie Storm® both use standard steel and "Flitestopper®" steel in the Flitecontrol® wad. BlackCloud® offers many different shot sizes; BBB, BB,  2, 3, & 4. Prairie Storm® is only available in #3, & 4. BlackCloud® contains 60% Standard Steel and 40% Flitestopper® Steel. With Prairie Storm® the mix is 50% Steel & 50% Flitestopper® Steel. I don't know about 12 ga but in 20ga the BlackCloud® is 1350fps & Prairie Storm® is 1500fps. BC is a 1oz load; PS is a ⅞oz load.

[Cascade_fisher]

Steel works finebutdoes take some adjustment.  I think this was a case of shooter error - no offense.  Just remember that chokes are one tighter with steel in most cases.

BlackCloud is the waterfowl load and has a FPS of 1450 in 12g #2 shot 1 1/4 oz. 3". It is a 60/ 40 mix of standard steel and FS steel.

Prairie Storm is the upland load and has a FPS of 1500 in20g #4 shot 7/8 oz. 3". It is a 50/50 mix of standard and FS steel.

Hevi-Metal is a waterfowl load and has a FPS of 1350 in 20g #4 shot in 1oz. 3"

My group of hunting buddies used BlackCloud last year and LOVED it.  Rarely a pellet left in the meat and little to no black residue.

Better luck next time and sounds like your dogs were working fine finding the birds anyway.

Just taking this off the boxes that I had nearby.  I use all of these and find that the "premium" steel loads are worth it compared to standard. 

[270Shooter]

If you weren't seeing feathers come off of the birds then your son was missing them, sorry. I shoot steel shot for almost everything now, except quail and doves (unless we were hunting in a wildlife area where it was required). I like kent 4's for just about everything. You didn't mention what shot size your son was shooting but i don't see how he wouldn't be able to kill those whimpy westside pheasants with anything size 6 or larger. Hell I've killed wild roosters with steel 7's.

Also, i think you should pattern those shells in his gun, remember that steel patterns much tighter than lead. IC is a good choice for most cases.

[dawei]

Cascade_fisher, You are so right, the premium loads are far better than the standard stuff!

[AWS]

For years now we've used steel for all our upland hunting because we jump a lot of ducks while pheasant hunting, haven't had any problems.  I use BC 4's and Kent 3's in my 20ga and my partner what ever is cheapest in his 12ga, Winchester Xpert, Rio, Estate and Fiocchi and have had no problems.  I use the same cheap loads in my 12ga for waterfowl and they work fine but I shoot my ducks over decoys and keep them in the 20-30yrd range. 

We're headed to SD for a couple weeks of Pheasant and Sharptail and all public land in SD is non-toxic for upland, I think we'll do just fine.  I am going to try some ITX and Nice Shot 7/8oz hand loads in an old and very light 12ga(under 6#) there.

AWS