Hevi Shot

[huntwriter]

Heavy shot is nice for a back up in the event that you're trying to sneak up on a flock of geese and you want maximum range, or you're chasing down a cripple without a dog and he's getting away on you. Over decoys 20-40 yards on geese there is no reason why steel BB at 1400+ feet per second wont knock them down.

If you want a tighter pattern I suggest you spend the money on a pattern master choke system in your shotgun. I have one for my Beretta and it greatly tightens up the pattern for those longer range shots as they just skirt the dekes.

I've actually moved down a size to #3 steel this season as I'm reloading them to 1550 fps and should be plenty knock down power for any duck in range of the dekes.

I picked up a new super mag shotty this summer so I decided to try the new 3 1/2 loads and picked up a box of federal BB with 1 3/8 oz of steel traveling at 1550 fps. If that doesn't crumple geese out to 40 yards I give up.

I am glad to read the information available here. After 18 years I am going back to hunt ducks and geese this year. After my father passed away I just couldn’t bear the emotions of waterfowl hunting without him.

Sine then calling and ammunition have greatly advanced. I brushed up on calling to the point where I am able to produce decent feeding chatter, come back and greeting sounds.

As for the ammunition choice it took me quite a while to figure out what steel shot I should choose and I am still not sure (Up to now I only hunted upland birds, turkey and small game with lead shot). Yesterday I purchased, on recommendation, Federal Ultra Shock 12 gauge 3” BB for geese and Federal Ultra Shock 12 gauge 3” #3 shells for ducks. I still have to go to the range to pattern the gun for this load. The gun of choice is the 535 ATS™. Currently I use Mossberg chokes that have worked well for me on upland birds and turkeys. Mossberg chokes are made for steel shots too. At least that is what they say.

Any advice or comments from the waterfowl experts would be welcome.

[Crazy_Farmer]

You've got a great combo there with guns and ammo and you should have no problems killing any duck or goose. Theres also nothing wrong with the stock mossberg chokes, if you got a couple of them when you bought the gun, they'll probably be IC, M, IM, Full. And most do say on them whether to you steel with it. I think most full chokes from the factory will say for "lead shot only" but you can get some full designed to shoot steel.

So most guys will either run the IC(Improved Cylinder) for closer shots say on ducks or a modified or improved modified for geese depending on range. You cant go with either choice really, they've designed the guns to be used with those chokes.

[huntwriter]

Thanks Crazy_Farmer. The gun came with four chokes IC, M, IM and Full. For turkey hunting the full choke performs the best pattern for the ammo I use and for upland birds and game the modified choke performs the best pattern. As to the full choke that came with the gun it says that it also can be used for steel shot.

But as I said in my earlier post, I first have to go to the range tommorow and figure out which load-choke combinations perform best. Thanks for your valuable advice I appreciate it very much.

[HuntNHookSports]

"optimum loads for any type of waterfowl hunting is likely proportional to the square of the number of hunters in the discussion."

Delta Waterfowl, Spring 2005

[PGK]

Hey Crazy Farmer are you suggesting using a larger choke like an I/C for BlackCloud then? I patterned #2 BlackCloud out of my Wingmaster with MOD and FULL. Full was pretty tight, but not as tight as I expected at 25 yards from a shell thats supposed to be 'different' with that Flitestopper wad. It basically patterned the same as Federal #2's.
Should I try the I/C choke just to see if restricting the Flitestopper wad with a mod or full is screwing up the pattern??

[Crazy_Farmer]

You should only get a more open pattern if you move down to an IC choke, a mod or even a full for steel should give you alot more tighter pattern then an IC.

What I was more refering too was black cloud used with aftermarket wad-slowing choke tubes. Pattern Master and Wad Wizard are the two biggest companies with the two main patents. Compared to normal chokes that contrict the wad as it comes out, they have a ring around the inside of the choke that holds the wad for a split second allowing the pellets to all leave in one tight group instead of a longer shot string.

I've seen it about 50/50 to guys who love black cloud to those who could care less about it. More and more guys it seems are starting to think these "new" pellets and flitestopper wad are just another marketing ploy to get you to buy their new ammo.

[PGK]

Yeah I haven't had a chance to try it yet but you got me thinking. I'll stick with the full steel choke and see how it drops em

[Marc]

Well, I was given some Remington Heavy shot #2 HD and I put some down the pipe this morning in my new Remington XCS ultimag and it just crumpled the geese. Two geese stone dead by the time they hit the ground. I was using a modified choke

[The 'Hummer']

Well, I was given some Remington Heavy shot #2 HD and I put some down the pipe this morning in my new Remington XCS ultimag and it just crumpled the geese. Two geese stone dead by the time they hit the ground. I was using a modified choke

How does it compare to Bismuth? Availability and price wise? I have an AYA 10ga. SxS to load for and rather than modify the chokes to allow shooting steel, I was thinking of possible shot alternatives. It puts out pretty tight patterns with the old Federal Premium loads so I'd prefer not to 'touch' the chokes. Is heavy shot availvble locally?

[Marc]

I'm not sure if the HD is available for reloading but I do remember the heavy shot being $140 for 7 lbs .

It's not cheap by any means but if you're on target it's coming down.

The stuff I was using yesterday had a price tag of $44 for 10 shells so about $5 a shot with taxes. I fired 3 shells and took 2 geese, was it worth the $15? In this case I would have to say yes. The average hunter uses 4 shells for every bird he shoots.