steel shot

[Vaughan]

A question for the experienced shotgunners - of which I am not one.

We are being increasingly forced to use non-lead shot alternatives. On a recent trip I had enough opportunities to shoot to make a comparison between lead and steel shot. I was using No. 5s for both in the 20g.

I routinely use steel shot for practice and have never noticed any change in breaking success relative to lead.

However, shooting over my dog and making a rough calculation based on shots taken and birds retrieved - I maintained a knockdown and retrieved rate of 80% or a little higher with lead over the 5 days I hunted. With steel it was at best 20%, I estimated it was closer to 15%.

Given I hit clays at similar rates regardless of shot type, I see no reason that I was suddenly missing the birds at such an increased rate. I have not tested shot patterns, so that I need to do. But even so, not a good result. I'm not sure what nonlead alternative to steel might be better or if there is a "fix" for this, such as using tighter chokes? I was shooting Briley's improved skeet and improved cyclinder, so very open. Those of you who like to chase ducks must have been dealing with this problem for a while, so any thoughts you have would be helpful!

[SPEEDY]

I've noticed birds shrug off steel shot, even when swatting them on water, you can see they are in the center of the pattern but they just seem to ignore the hit.
Up close steel is very good, still doesn't hit as hard, but once the range extends a bit to more standard shooting ranges, they just don't have the legs.

[Vaughan]

That fits with my observations. I'll need to find a solution to it - that does not include tungsten shot

[Joe338ST]

Gold pellets might work

[mchughcb]

Rule of thumb for steel is to go up 2 sizes from lead to maintain same killing power. All my IC chokes come out like FC in steel

[Olsen]

We been using steel in Denmark for 28 years now, and they work perfect. In the beginning it was Federal and Winchester, with way to high pressure, but later they was much better. Today you can use steel in even really old shotguns, I use it in my danish made Poulsen, from 1900, no problem.

As an old hunter told me, when bird hunting, hit them where they eat, dont where they manure, then everything is good

[Vaughan]

We been using steel in Denmark for 28 years now, and they work perfect. In the beginning it was Federal and Winchester, with way to high pressure, but later they was much better. Today you can use steel in even really old shotguns, I use it in my danish made Poulsen, from 1900, no problem.

As an old hunter told me, when bird hunting, hit them where they eat, dont where they manure, then everything is good

Well, I guess if I was good enough to headshoot them, steel would work fine. Clearly, I am not

[Vaughan]

Rule of thumb for steel is to go up 2 sizes from lead to maintain same killing power. All my IC chokes come out like FC in steel

Thanks. that helps.

[Joe338ST]

Are some chokes not suitable for steel shot? Does steel shot damage them?

[SPEEDY]

Definitely, I've seen non steel shot shot safe chokes split the end of the barrel up in the nt during goose season, the other thing to remember is some steel shot safe tubes are only safe for shot sizes under BB or even #2 in some cases.
At close range on geese #2 works well, but BB's are better all round especially once the range gets out a bit.
But back when I was young I used to use lead, and on the rice in nsw you can still use lead, although I haven't done that for a few years now. But there's no contest between lead and steel, lead wins hands down.
But those days aren't coming back, so it's make the best use of steel that you can.

For me if the ducks are coming in close to moderate, #2 in a 34gm load is the best, if they are hanging out a bit or your hunting geese then 3" 36gm BB's are the only load I use.

I also find only the center pattern drops them and working out the lead with different shells can be a pain, so find one that patterns well in your gun, stock up on them and only shoot that brand and shot size, that helps a lot with consistency.

[mchughcb]

Are some chokes not suitable for steel shot? Does steel shot damage them?

Yes. They will usually tell you if your choke is suitable for steel.

[Rod]

I just got home from a few days of geese shooting. I used my F16 and a few types of steel shot cartridges. I ran the IC and LM chokes. I found that the 3” shells with No.2 shot worked the best for me. As to how they compare to lead? I can’t say. But I did see some birds shot with 2 3/4 “ Bismuth No 3 shot IIRC and I couldn’t notice any real difference.

But who knows. My experience is negligible.

Rod