Duck Hunters!! Steel vs Hevi Shot vs. Tungsten

[South FLA]

I am about to load up on 20g and 12g shotgun shells for the upcoming duck season and I am having a hard time justifying cost of Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten over steel shot.  Although, I swear Hevi Shot can really pack a punch for ole' Donald.  

[Catt]

A gun is as good as the person standing behind it so if you need to adjust for a lack of your shooting ability then by all means go with Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten.  

[Tom H.]

Heavy Shot and Tungsten have knockdown power , but as long as you put the shot in the right place steel'll kill em every time .

[South FLA]

A gun is as good as the person standing behind it so if you need to adjust for a lack of your shooting ability then by all means go with Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten.

If you were any closer I'd have to school you with my 28 gauge on the dove field.  I've been hunting since I was 4 years old and I consistently shoot Trap, Skeet and Sporting clays, so shooting ability is not a factor.  

I feel bad using the 12 gauge on anything smaller than a mottled duck, but since my duck buddies carry 12g into the blind I want to make sure I have the same ammo in case of a gun malfunction.

If you read on how I phrased the post I was only asking duck hunters how they felt about the price difference and whether it was justified or not.  

For example I can knock'em dead with a Kent's Faststeel (Cheap, but good stuff), but when I or my partner has cripple and Donald is getting away its nice to know that the denser stuff can take them out at longer distances.  Thus, the quandary.

[burleytog]

Tungsten.  It has great feel.  You can feel them way out there.  Try it with a flourocarbon wad and a Loomis barrel.  

[fourbizz]

A gun is as good as the person standing behind it so if you need to adjust for a lack of your shooting ability then by all means go with Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten.  

If you were any closer I'd have to school you with my 28 gauge on the dove field.  I've been hunting since I was 4 years old and I consistently shoot Trap, Skeet and Sporting clays, so shooting ability is not a factor.  

I feel bad using the 12 gauge on anything smaller than a mottled duck, but since my duck buddies carry 12g into the blind I want to make sure I have the same ammo in case of a gun malfunction.

If you read on how I phrased the post I was only asking duck hunters how they felt about the price difference and whether it was justified or not.  

For example I can knock'em dead with a Kent's Faststeel (Cheap, but good stuff), but when I or my partner has cripple and Donald is getting away its nice to know that the denser stuff can take them out at longer distances.  Thus, the quandary.

Its all good catt, if he outshoots you, i'll take him on the sporting clays course

[Catt]

You school me? Now that funny right there I don't care who you are!

You wanted a justification for Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten over steel shot and in my option there is none. Before you challenge someone you should know something about them, I'm 56 yrs old and grew up in the marshes of Southwest Louisiana so if you want to school me you are welcome to try.

[burleytog]

Y'all need a tape measure?

[South FLA]

You school me? Now that funny right there I don't care who you are!

You wanted a justification for Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten over steel shot and in my option there is none. Before you challenge someone you should know something about them, I'm 56 yrs old and grew up in the marshes of Southwest Louisiana so if you want to school me you are welcome to try.

No hard feelings here Sir, but you're the one that insinuated lack of shooting ability, without knowing who I am.

I wouldn't care if you are George Digweed, did you expect a Florida Cracker that grew up hunting ducks on the Everglades and the Big "O" to take the insult laying down? I was simply defending myself.

You could have simply phrased your post in this matter:

"SE_FL_Bassaddict, I have shot all three types of shells and in my opinion there is no appreciable difference, so save your money for the bait monkey and go with steel"

Anyway I am going with the Steel. I still have a couple of boxes of Hevi Shot, so I can take some shells just in case the wind is blowing a bit too hard or the ducks are flying a little further away. Can't wait for early Teal!!

Fourbizz what do you shot?

[Catt]

No insults were intended but your response of thinking you could school me at duck hunting is plain & simply hilarious.

[Siebert Outdoors]

This is only my opinion but there is no need for anything but steel for decoying birds.  The others make real good skybustin shells.  Never bought a box.  Not worth it IMO.  I just shoot steel.

[South FLA]

Did I say duck hunting?  :-?

I thought the post clearly read 28gauge in a "DOVE FIELD." I was trying to tip the scales in something I actually do well, as far as Ducking you'd probably school me since my calling scares away even the bravest of Donalds.

Anyway thanks for the input those Kent Fast Steels are on their way from Able Ammo.  ;D

[Catt]

Just a little fuel for thought this is what I shoot doves with

Custom Winchester Model 42 .410Ga. slide Action shotgun. 3" chamber

23 1/2" bbl. with 3 Colonial thin choke tubes Imp Cyl. Mod & Full by Mike Orlen

Simmons vent rib

Weight 5 lbs 15Oz.

I duck hunt with a ITHACA 37 12 GAUGE DELUXE SOLID RIB

FULL CHOKE. 2 3/4" CHAMBER

[South FLA]

Darn a .410, that is a great gun I just looked it up, it must quick to the shoulder and whippy.  If you can consistently hit doves with that thing past 20 yards, than your in another league  .

I take my .28g for kicks, but it gets a bit expensive shooting since I am not a reloader.  I may be out of luck if the range goes non-toxic with the little 28, unless I get into reloading.  Anyway here is my quiver.

12g Beretta Urika 2 (Workhorse, duck)

12g Browning BPS Stalker Model (First Gun I bought using my own money back in High School, keeping it as a Turkey Blaster)

12g Beretta Silver Pigeon III (Pull!)

20g Benelli M2 Field (Favorite Dove/Duck Gun)

20g Benelli Montefeltro (Kind of like above but with real wood, but selling it to my brother)

28g Browning Citori 525 (Sweeeeeet)

Had a Browning Sweet 16, but some crack head stole it from my buddies house  >

I have had the M2 for about 3 years now since I bought it when it first came out.  I love the stealth black look and not having to worry about beating it up too bad and getting it wet.

[fourbizz]

Really like your selection!

My main girls are a Beretta 390 Gold and a Beretta 682. Have close to a dozen others but they are all ho hums. 870's, 1100s, Model 12's, etc

Haven't shot competitively for almost 5 years. My last league I finished with 91.3 average. Highest round ever-94 ( i think it was actually 95, i think i clipped one of the misses)

[South FLA]

Really like your selection!

My main girls are a Beretta 390 Gold and a Beretta 682. Have close to a dozen others but they are all ho hums. 870's, 1100s, Model 12's, etc

Haven't shot competitively for almost 5 years. My last league I finished with 91.3 average. Highest round ever-94 ( i think it was actually 95, i think i clipped one of the misses)

Your way better than I am.  I think the "best I ever shot was 87", I am closer to mid/upper 70s consistently on the Sporting Clay Course.  Never a competitive NCSA shooter mostly hunting, figure class A or AA on a good day.  

As far as the Ho Hums, I've seen plenty of older dudes shot the crap out of clays with an 1187/1100, albeit they have to clean their guns pretty often  

[Catt]

I could never figure out how to cook clay pigeons to where they get tinder plus they make awfully thin gravy. While my expertise with a rod in hand is very will documented it is dwarfed by my expertise with a gun in hand. My gun collection like my reel collection is quite simple with the Winchester Model 42 .410 for doves, quail, snipe, & woodcock, the ITHACA 37 12 GAUGE 2 3/4 for ducks/geese, and a pre1964 Winchester Model 70 chambered in .270 for deer. While some may shoot at farther distances I pride myself in my ability to get closer to my quarry.  

[WTRDOG]

It's all about the choke ,lots of variables..(steel) any of those tungston and hevi shot loads are not needed unless you plan on skybustin.Buy a good choke for the type of shooting you are doing ,close in or midrange to no more than 40 yrds.Buy a few diffent loads and shoot paper to see which load gives you the best pattern and stick with it....good luck

[preach4bass]

Where do you guys buy your clay pigeons?  How much are they?

[fourbizz]

I always got mine for free. Wally world usually has 90 of them for about $4. That was 5 years ago though. Havent shot for quite awhile.

[Hookemdown.]

Where do you guys buy your clay pigeons? How much are they?

$15 for 120 skeet is the cheapest around here.

[Tim Kelly]

You guys need to get a proper gun. Barrels sitting nicely next to each other and two triggers. ?

[gim]

I use steel when I waterfowl hunt because its federal law.  I prefer a high velocity load like Kent or Winchester.  Faster gets there quicker so even sometimes when you shoot a little behind the bird, the high velocity helps make up for that error.  Of course, when you shoot behind a bird too far, there's no type of ammo that's going to fix that problem.

 

There's other types of non-toxic ammo available such as tungsten or bismuth.  Its very expensive though and I can't justify the cost.

[WRB]

Duck & goose hunting at one time was up there with fishing for our family. Back in the 50’s we could hunt on our home lake.

My dad gave me his Ithaca model 37, 16 gage at age 16, the year we built our duck boats.

We always used #4 mag loads for Canvasbacks and 6’s for decoy puddle ducks shooting, 2’s geese.

When my son was old enough to hunt steel shot was monitory so that is what we used.

Sold all my guns last year, still have about 75 decoys in the attic. My late brothers and I traveled up and down the State to hunt ducks and geese, we loved it.

Tom

 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On 9/7/2008 at 9:46 PM, Catt said:

A gun is as good as the person standing behind it so if you need to adjust for a lack of your shooting ability then by all means go with Hevi Shot and/or Tungsten.  

Shooting ability has nothing to do with it.  The ballistics of steel is inferior when compared to other shot types.  Steel is lighter then Bismuth, Tungsten and lead so it loses velocity much quicker.  20 years ago there were many loads that were around 1300 fps now just about everyone has a hot rod load @1650 to try to compensate for the short range and limited knockdown power of steel. 

Lead and Bismuth are soft and have a tendency to flatten out on impact which transfers more energy into the target and creates a larger wound cavities.  Both steel and tungsten shot are hard, and have a tendency to push through the target.  The big difference between the knockdown power of tungsten compared to steel is that tungsten retains more energy and far longer then steel. 

Any ethical hunter will tell you that crippling a bird is one of the worst feelings there is.  Hybrid loads like Hevi Metal kill cleaner at just about all ranges, so a it was worth buying.  Now that the price has gone up and the ratio of tunsgten to steel has gone down in Hevi Metal loads, Im not so sure its worth the money.

What really matters in the end is range.  If your like me and want to see the birds finish in the dekes (thats where the skill comes in) you can get away with a 20 or 28 bismuth loads.  On the other end, sky busters who knock 1 bird down every 5 or 6 shots wont ever consider investing in TSS.