snowdog2

I like "anecdotal evidence". It proves so little!!!

Compared to Superstrutter's hunting buddy anecdotal reports is my experience. Last year I shot three toms at various ranges (25-37 yards)with Federal 3 1/2" #6 Heavyweight with Flite Control wad. All three went down instantly, "no flop"!!! That, to me, is impressive. I've shot a lot of turkeys, and most of them wind up flopping for some time after they have been shot. To have all three birds crumple in a heap and just lay there tells me I nailed them dead solid perfect, which means the pellet penetration, with its about 1.5 (or greater, can't remember) times the weight of lead mass per pellet, was greater and resulted in a more humane death for the turkey, more nerve damage, more spinal column penetration. Until I have a contrary experience, I'm sticking with Federal Heavyweight.

As for Remington's HeviShot, I tried that a few years ago, and was really disgusted that the buffer leaked into and all over my vest. I don't know if they've done anything to seal the shell/crimp, but I thought that was pretty crappy, especially for shells that cost $2.50 each. AND, I didn't really experience a 4 to 5 times the price of leadimprovement in pattern or knockdown power, so, all in all, I thought the Remington HeviShot was a pretty poor purchase.

Same deal goes with Nitro shells. Any of their custom loads, the duplexes, etc, get pretty expensive, up to six times the cost of a 3 1/2" 2 oz. #6 lead, and, in return, you really get not a muchbetter shell, certainly not six times as good. I really like the duplex/triplex concept, and their shells don't leak buffer all over, but I thought they were WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for what little improvement they offered over a lead shell.

I think the Federal HeavyWeight shell IS that much better than a lead shell, is worth the extra cost, and worth the much higher-than-lead price because it makes for "no-flop" kills!!

So much for anecdotal evidence about which/what shell is better than the other!!!!