inhuntr

I have had some problems with steel shot. It doesn't have any knockdown power. My buddy and I both use steel for ducks and geese. Last time we went out we buckled a mallard anda goose in the airbut was unable to bring it down. They flew off like nothing happened. I am looking into bismuth I have heard some really good things about it. What areyou shooting at ducks and geese. I will be sooting a 3" shell.

ryanaller

Right now since the geese have moved in I carry around 3.5" BB, and 3" 2's. Either one will drop a duck or goose. Are you taking your shots too early? Maybe let them come in a little more so you can get some more energy into them!

duramaxnay6

All I shoot it steel. I don't have the cash to use heavy shot. 3" or 3 1/2" #2's is all I use, ducks or the occational goose.

johnch

I shoot some Hevi shot .
But normaly I shoot 3" BB backed up with 3.5" BBB
Never had a problem killing geese .
Even if they don't finish
Shoot I use 2 3/4" 1 oz of B at 1550 fps when the geese are decoying well

3things
Have you patterened your gun / choke / shells ?
What may shoot great in my gun , may suck big time in your .
Even if we are both shooting the same gun / choke and shells

As others have said , how far are you shooting ?

How fast are your loads ?
With Steel , speed kills
You will kill more geese with a good patterening , fast 1 1/8 or 1 1/4 oz , over a slow 1 3/8 oz
That is why you rarely see 2 3/4" 1 1/4 oz , 3" 1 3/8 oz or 3.5" 1 9/16 loads any more .
They are just to slow to kill efectively

Johnch

Alsatian

inhuntr: Your problem is well known and well understood. Steel is less dense. As a result, steel penetrates game birds less effectively. There are several solutions: (1) shoot your game birds at closer range, giving up on longer shots; (2) use steel shot of larger size (a trade off: the larger shot will penetrate more readily than smaller shot, but there are fewer shot pellets in the pattern, probably also requires you to limit the range of your shots); (3) use high density shot loads such as Hevi-shot, Remington HD, Winchester's high density load, Kent's Tungsten Matrix load. Hevi-shot is expensive, however, and the others are even more expensive, I think.

I vote for shotgun shells shooting non-toxic shot that has density twice that of lead at velocities of 1650 fps that has negligible recoil that is soft enough to use in classic shotgun barrels that patterns well and costs only $0.05/shell. Now I will wake up and return to reality.

losthwy

What Al said. I would just add bismuth to the list along with the tungsten loads. Good stuff.

ryanaller

If you do this be prepared to open up your wallet, checking account, saving account, credit cards, home equity, get a 2nd job, and then sell your first born.

Alsatian

ryanaller: Hevi-shot costs about $22/10 shells, so maybe you shoot 20 shells a day maximum taking your limit of 6 ducks, which is say $50 for a day of duck hunting, when the hunting is good and you are seeing action. I guess I don't see that to be a prohibitive cost. I spend a lot of money duck hunting -- waders, driving 250 miles to hunt ducks for a weekend, calls, clothes, out-of-state hunting license, duck stamps -- and it ain't cheap. More to the point, my time and availability for these duck hunting activities are limited, I can only do this a small number of weekends per year. Spending a little more to improve the results of my duck hunting doesn't seem an unwise way to spend this portion of my duck hunting budget.

I am a novice duck hunter. I imagine that seasoned, knowledgable duck hunters have much greater control of their hunts in several ways than I do. Seasoned hunters can probably bring ducks in close over their decoys much more reliably than I can and can rely on the short range penetration power of steel and not require the benefit of denser shot to kill their ducks. Seasoned hunters probably have more self-control and discipline for waiting for the ducks to come in and better judgment in assessing what range the ducks are at than a novice duck hunter like me. I think I can have better success using Hevi-shot and so I am using it. If I ever get to the point where I feel I can take as many ducks shooting steel versus the expensive high density shot, I'll be saving my money and buying steel shot ammunition! I agree that for some people in some situations steel gets the job done. I think when I become a more skilled and knowledgable duck hunter I will be able to better use steel than now.

Or at least that is my thinking today. I have read a lot of posts by others that indicate high levels of satisfcation with the denser shot, even while acknowledging the painful cost of this ammunition.