Interesting discussion. I've been having the same one with friends of mine who think that Faststeel is too expensive. The only way to go for them is the winchester super x steel at $ 90.00/case. Personally, I don't think the answer to the issue is price. If you compare the cheapest steel to the most expensive alternatives, and you hunt a fair amount, you will see an aggregate difference of what? Let's say $ 200 for the season? Assuming that's fair, and you take all the other costs associated with waterfowl hunting into the picture, is $ 200 over the course of the season that much? Speaking for where I hunt, I'll drive an hour and a half to get to the spot, and an hour and a half back. That right there is already $ 40 in gas. Then there's food, clothing, equipment, etc. and I just don't think there's a significant enough difference in the various types of metal to make the decision on price alone.

I think the issue is that either the ammunition companies have not done an effective enough job educating us what the differences are with their new products or there just isn't that much of a difference and they are counting on the "hype" factor to drive revenue.

I think you figure out what shoots best in your gun, and go nuts.

Good luck,